Given the pressures of global changes, productive approaches to use local resources present a pathway to sustain or improve living standards. One of these productive approaches is the Local Content Development (LCD) policy, which refers to government policy to promote local sustainable development. Local content development policy can enhance government processes, promote public-private partnerships, advance the business environment, and expand value creation. This dissertation addressed how Local Content Development is an opportunity for countries and organizations to adapt development to local conditions, assets, and talent. This study aimed to evaluate the factors associated with the implementation of local content policy in Oman. The study used the oil and gas industry in Oman as an example of a typical Local Content Development policy that exemplified implementation factors, while the tourism industry is a case study of a target industry to replicate LCD policy. Research questions were answered using evidence collected from open-ended surveys with Omani stakeholders in government and business. Thematic analysis was used to compare concepts derived from literature with data derived from the survey. The findings are based on the rich experiences of major companies and offer valuable input to inform policymaking for other sectors in the contexts of sustainable development. Findings show that the state role, leadership at all levels, stakeholder collaboration, governance and accountability, coherence with national policies, corporate communication, and local capabilities influenced implementation. The absence of these factors, however, hinders effective implementation. This research showed that oil and gas LCD policy experiences provided useful insights on collaborative policymaking and policy implementation processes. Implementation factors are interconnected and applicable to a variety of settings. Replication may not be a complex task but more about leadership and human and organizational behavioral change. In the tourism context, LCD adoption and implementation provide sustainable solutions to enhance how the tourism industry benefits from economic growth. LCD enabling factors appear to exist in the tourism sector based on findings of this research and Omani regulations of Integrated Tourism Complexes the “ITC law”. The tourism industry needs leadership and champions to facilitate all other factors in a collaborative approach, as did oil and gas. More broadly, and taking into consideration implementation factors, companies can adopt and implement the Local Content Development framework to enhance their contribution to the local economy and towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Overall, this research showed the value of adoption and implementation of Local Content Development as a policy tool to enhance the private sector role to improve social and economic conditions. Local Content Development is an adaptable policy tool and it supports sustainable development principles that seek to improve people’s lives, and that could be used for countries, provinces, cities, public, and private organizations, households, and individuals.
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