The SME Sector in Poland in the Era of Global Economic Crisis

The recent most serious crisis for many years whose main effects were perturbations in the financial markets and decline of confidence in the basic market institutions calls for a redefinition of the management styles in order to optimize company’s risk management strategies and development opportunities arising from unpredictable situations. These changes can already be seen in business practices across the world. Although in Poland, the channels of impact of the crisis are much weaker than in developed countries, Polish companies have to adapt to new difficult reality, which is characterized by greater volatility and a higher level of risk.

The paper presents the results of two surveys carried out late 2009 and mid 2010 which identified the attitudes, knowledge and plans for SME business sector with regard to strategic management and investment processes in the company. As the results of the surveys show, SMEs do not perceive the current global economic turmoil as a major threat to the functioning of company. Such a perception of crisis translates into a response to this phenomenon - every third company did not take any action in order to respond to the crisis, and most of the companies that have taken some steps, first began to limit the costs of investment. Relatively few companies have adopted an active attitude towards the crisis, for example, began to look for new markets or restructured their company.