Defining Financial Strategies of an Enterprise at Times of Crisis

Abstract

Numerous crises through history have showed different effects on economies, from ones tied to monetary expansion in Great Britain in 1825 to crises caused by oil shocks in the 1970s and 1980s. Every one of those represents contraction, a downward trend in business cycles, which by its features is never the same. With every crisis, and especially the latest one (from 2008 until today), it was observed that business cycles are appearing more often, last longer and have more severe consequences on the economy. Therefore it is of special interest for financial markets and enterprises, which obtain their funds on them, to analyze business cycle movements and creating the appropriate business strategy and financial structure. The readiness of enterprises for the downward phases of the economic cycle, followed by the changes in the financial sector, should be defined by appropriate business strategy. Business cycles for enterprises represent a test of their strengths and weaknesses. A large portion of enterprises after the current crisis will no longer exist, but those which will successfully manage their financial structure, following the business cycle movements, will be ready to enter another period of growth and development. In the frameworks of this paper the structure of financial markets in Croatia is researched as well, as a result of the transition process, through which we got a larger choice of modern forms of financing and investment. The existence of an appropriate number of financial instruments needed for creating supply on the financial and capital market tends to follow the development of needs on the domestic business, private and public sector. Although modest, the domestic stock market shows the ability of creating wanted effects during investing, and special attention require public offers for buying stocks. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n19p553