Research about strategic management and its influence on the performance of large enterprises is a common subject in the literature. However, when the topic of study is smaller companies the amount of research reduces significantly. This study enquires about the approaches that small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) adopt towards strategic management. It attempts to identify differences between the strategies of companies working in various industries. Additionally, it investigates the impact that strategic management has on the performance of SMEs. The study confirmed that SMEs are aware of the importance of strategic management and make use of it. Even though they apply it in an informal way, it was established that strategic management can improve the performance of a SME. In addition, it was found that the maturity, stability and level of competition in an industry are the most important factors that dictate the differences of the strategic management process. These factors helped to develop a set of five theories that explain how the characteristics of an industry influence the strategy of a SME.

Andres Ossa received his MSc from Brunel University Business School, UK. Sevgi Ozkan is an Assistant Professor at Informatics Institute, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.

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