STRATEGIC ROLE OF ACTIVITY IN THE EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF A COMPANY FROM THE SME SECTOR IN THE ERA OF GLOBAL CRISIS

The year 2009 ended in Poland and other EU countries under the sign of the Great Depression, which began on the other side of the ocean but it covered almost the whole world. The most vulnerable to the crisis turned out to be companies from the SME sector which, in the European Union SMEs represent 99.8% companies operating within the Union, and their sales account for about 56.2% total revenues. EU small and medium-sized companies employ more than 66% workforce and they are the ones most heavily affected by the crisis. In Poland the company from the SME sector accounts for over 90% of all businesses operating in our country. And they were faced in front of the huge challenge which was how to survive during the crisis. One of the effective tools of business management has become a strategic activity. This article presents a strategic activity as the way to survive in times of crisis and egress from having a much stronger position in the market.