engleski

The Influence of the Environmental School of Strategic Management on Croatian Firms in the Primorsko-goranska Country

The process of strategic management, represent the basic focus of study of the strategic management discipline. However, there are different opinions about the ways and approaches of theoretical organization of the process of strategic management. Different approaches imply differences in the perceiving, behavior, decisions and principles resulting in the fact that the same subject matter of research is seen in so many different ways that it are questionable whether it is the same subject matter. In an abundance of different professional and scientific suggestions and examples the schools of strategic management represent a try to synthesize these ideas and thoughts by grouping similar and related approaches into the same school of strategic management. The Environmental school of strategic management believes that it is not the subject which forms the process, but the forces which force it to choose a specific form of the process of strategic management. Most generally speaking, this school believes that it is the environment and its conditions that dictate when, how, who and in what manner will the strategic management formed, implemented and controlled. Within the school, the Power school imposes itself by openly talking about the influences of interest groups and their power to redirect certain decisions from clearly economic principles when dominated by power. The Cultural school of strategic management believes that the source of differences, misunderstandings and debates lies in the systems of values, norms and behavior which we have inherited from our families, the environment we grew in and in which we do business and in the region that has specific cultural and traditional attitudes and lines of thought. On the sample of middle and large companies in Primorsko-goranska County we studied the influence of the Environmental school of strategic management. The research was conducted on the basis of theoretical construct of the Environmental school of strategic management. The questionnaire covered the mentioned statements and general data on questioned companies. The measuring characteristics of the questionnaire showed that the questionnaire is reliable and valid. From the analysis of the construct of the Environmental school of strategic management we may conclude that the stress is on the conscious key need to adapt which springs from very general social sources. This adjustment does not come from the anticipations and planning in advance, but from reacting to already existing changes in the environment. The companies may recognize the indications for change, however not all react until this change takes place in their nearest environment. The companies believe that changes are not determined by others but result from the (mis)opportunities within the society. The concrete elements of the environment that have a great influence are such as mentality and the cultural milieu, whereas politics and social pressures enter the sphere of business decision making. Top managers within the companies sense their importance, but do not have a feeling of strength while influencing the conditions of doing business or changes in the market demands. The empirical research established the difference in the perception of the process of strategic among differently positioned managers. Namely, the higher positioned managers are acquainted with the wider environment, they get their information from informal sources on the basis of which they find that the strategic choice for the company is very limited. On the other side, the lower positioned managers see possibilities, more room for maneuver for strategic choice, believing that changes for the better are possible and they believe that the influence of the Environmental school is far less important in relations to the ranking of top executives. The way managers think about the process of strategic management directly reflects itself on the way they manage their companies and the way they adjust to the competitiveness in Europe.

environmental school of strategic management; Primorsko-goranska County; schools of strategic management

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