Determination of the Level of Strategic Management in SMEs

Abstract

Intensive attention has been devoted to strategic management recently as it is one of the tools which is capable of leading the enterprise to succeed in the long term. In spite of this, it is mostly connected with big organisations. Managers underestimate SMEs often and do not apply the strategic management methods in the way they could. Using strategic management in small enterprises is not sufficiently described in the professional literature. The target of this article is to determine the level of strategic management in SMEs by means of the created LSM (level of strategic management) indicator. Data were found out for 156 enterprises through the questionnaire. Based on the professional literature and similar studies, nine main principles were selected influencing the level of strategic management in the enterprise (the enterprise has the strategy, the strategy is defined in the written form, the strategy is elaborated in detail into plans, the enterprise analyses the external environment, internal environment, the enterprise fixes and checks achieving the enterprise’s goals, the enterprise knows the value of the product for the customer assuring its competitiveness; the enterprise follows and evaluates the result indicators and the enterprise decides based on the forecast of the future market development). As a strategically managed enterprise, such enterprise was evaluated having acquired 12–15 points; this criterion was fulfilled by 74 enterprises (47%). On the contrary, a not strategically managed enterprise is the enterprise that acquired seven or fewer points (in total 38 enterprises). Implications for Central European audience: Strategic management is a tool that leads a company to long term prosperity. Strategically managed companies have a well-thought-out business plan based on a long term competitive advantage. They create better value for customers, know their surroundings and react more flexibly to changes. Within the practical applications of the paper, emphasis is placed on simplifying and making strategic management accessible to SMEs. Based on the LSM indicator, each company can verify whether it’s strategically managed or not and find out where it has shortcomings. These can then be eliminated, and the company can become strategically managed with all its advantages.