Strategic management: a research on strategic consciousness of SMEs operating in Malatya

For the companies to survive within the competitive atmosphere that is increasing consistently in the modern world, they need to accommodate themselves to the changing environment, to renovate themselves by analyzing the external factors and to have a management system which is open to alteration. Since the most important characteristic of strategic management is that, it enables the company to make an analysis for both its own situation and the environment outside the firm; this is possible only with strategic thinking and consequently with strategic management.The aim of this study is to try to explain the importance and inevitableness of the strategic management for firms to survive and outperform in today?s continuously changing, highly competitive work environment and to determine the level of strategic consciousness of SMEs operating in Malatya.