Strategic concepts in managing the companies in the North-Eastern region

Abstract

The current socio-economic context requires the continuous adjustment of the companies’ reference points and tools for decision and action and a good knowledge of the strategic management on the part of the practitioners. The study highlights the strategic reference points underlying the strategic management activity in the Romanian companies in the North-Eastern region and the way the current crisis has changed them. We have determined the extent to which the specific concepts regarding strategic management are known and put into practice by the decision makers and the way their use affects the activity of the companies they manage. To a high extent, strategic management concepts are either not properly known by managers or not properly put into practice (or not at all), especially in the case of small firms, where decision makers most often are not professionals or focus on the operational nature of the decision rather than on its strategic nature. Large companies are characterized by an acceptable level of strategic planning, which leads to a deeper understanding of the strategic management’s role in a market economy in times of crisis.