Strategic management problems in Romanian small and medium-sized enterprises

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to discover several of the strategic management problems that affect the most of Romanian small and medium-sized enterprises. The study presented here is only a part from a larger research developed by us during the last five years, research oriented towards sustainable development opportunities of these enterprises. Technological revolution, knowledge management and global expansion of big companies are just a few challenges to which small businesses have to cope. For this, their strategic management needs to take into account the turbulent business environment, to anticipate and to carry out correctly and in time the necessary changes in the organization. Unfortunately, our study has found gaps in the use of key strategic management tools and in the balanced use of resources in small Romanian firms.

Dimensions of Strategic Management in the Context of Micro and Small-Sized Enterprises

“…In the literature, studies were found on SMEs' SM, however, they are based on only one of the aspects addressed here or only mention the existence, nonexistence or importance of SM (BEHLING;LENZI, 2019;KEUNG, 2019;GONÇALVES et al, 2017;HABIB;HASAN, 2019;MORARU;POPA, 2018;SOARES;TEIXEIRA;PELISSARI, 2011;UPSON;GREEN, 2017;WEBER;GENESTE;CONNELL, 2015), this being a differential of this study. To meet the proposed objective, initially the theoretical aspects that underlie the SM analysis will be discussed and, later, a diagnosis will be made through cluster analysis.…”

“…Source: Miles and Snow (1978) The great advantage of the proposed classification is the possibility of application in organizations of any size, due to the simplicity of adjusting organizational behavior to one of the categories (BEHLING; LENZI 2019). This classification was validated in the businesses of the most diverse sectors and sizes (CHARLES; OJERA; DAVID, 2015;KEUNG, 2019;DEY;SHARMA;PANDEY, 2019;GONÇALVES et al, 2017;HABIB;HASAN, 2019;MORARU;POPA, 2018;SOLLOSY;GUIDICE;PARBOTEEAH, 2019).…”

“…In this sense, competency-based management contributes to the company's strategic direction, in addition to allowing the identification and development of individual and organizational competencies. Organizational capacity is directed towards the management and development of knowledge, including tangible and intangible assets and individual characteristics of employees (MORARU;POPA, 2018;SOUZA;OLIVEIRA;MORAES, 2016). In this sense, the development of capacities must consider the personal growth, integrating the economic value, aimed at reaching the organizational objectives, and the social value, focused on the skills, knowledge and attitudes of the individual (FLEURY;FLEURY, 2001).…”

“…In addition to their economic and social importance, Micro and Small-sized Enterprises (MSEs) have particularities that make them different from large companies. Among the main differences we can mention the scarcity of resources, not only financial or material, but also the lack of time dedicated to management, inexperience and lack of technical knowledge in the various areas of the business (ELKHOULY; MARWAN, 2016;GARRIDO-LOPEZ et al, 2018;GHOBADIAN;GALLEAR, 1996;KARADAG, 2015;MITCHELL et al, 2015;MORARU;POPA, 2018;SAHNI, 2017;UPSON;GREEN, 2017). Many of these problems could be predicted and avoided if SM was used at the stage of MSE development (LIBERMAN-YACONI;HOOPER;HUTCHINGS, 2010;SANTOS;DOROW;BEUREN, 2016;ŠVÁROVÁ;VRCHOTA, 2013).…”

Critical Functions in Ensuring Effective Business Continuity Management. Evidence From Romanian Companies

“…Raşcă and Deaconu (2007) have drawn attention over the SME's vulnerability towards non-success soon after their launching phase, which is accelerated by the absence of managerial capabilities with regards to activities such as preparing, organizing, empowering, implementing and evaluating the organizational strategy. The business continuity of these entities is also hindered by strategic management problems, illustrated by the research of Moraru and Popa (2018), which impede the calibration of the companies' mission and their interaction with the surrounding business conditions: technological shifts, recognizing the critical degree of importance held by knowledge for an organization, the balanced usage of non-material resources, and last but not least, the enlargement of big organizations.…”