| Summary: | In this thesis, we study how small and medium sized enterprises in Finland and Russia use strategic management tools and techniques, finding out the level of satisfaction on usage of these tools, and finding out which tools businesses gave up using and reasons for this. The work also provides a general analysis of both countries in terms of business environment, including the importance of SMEs in the countries. The aim of this thesis is to understand the trends in usage of strategic management tools and techniques in Finland and Russia, cultural and other effects for this, and differences in the countries. The methodology is both qualitative and quantitative at the same time in order to widen the range and value of the responses. We interviewed face-to-face randomly chosen SMEs in Finnish North Karelia (overall 35 companies) and Russian Republic of Karelia (overall 46 businesses). In order to interpret the results, we have counted average measurements for usage percentage and satisfaction level. As a result, the sample group seems to be quite satisfied with all the tools. The most used tool in Finland is benchmarking, while businesses in Russia commonly use outsourcing. The less satisfying tools in both countries are virtual teamwork, SWOT analysis, and expert system. To conclude, the research shows rather positive results on the usage of strategic management tools and techniques, according to the sample group. The satisfaction level of all tools is very high, representing their efficiency.
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