This paper is one of the few studies to review the empirical literature on strategic management tools and techniques usage. There are many techniques, tools and methods, models, frameworks, approaches and methodologies, available to support strategic managers in decision making. They are developed and designed to support managers in all stages of strategic management process to achieve better performance. Management schools provide knowledge of these tools. But their use in organizations should be seen in practice-based context. Consequently, some questions arise: Do they use these strategic tools and techniques in their workplace? Which strategic tools and techniques are used more in organizations? To answer these questions we have made a review of empirical studies using textual narrative synthesis method. Initially, this study presents a tabulation with a summary of empirical research for the period 1990-2015. The included studies are organized clustering them by enterprise size and sector and by country level development. A synopsis of the ten most used strategic tools and techniques worldwide resulted as follows: SWOT analysis, benchmarking, PEST analysis, "what if" analysis, vision and mission statements, Porter's five forces analysis, business financial analysis, key success factors analysis, cost-benefit analysis and customer satisfaction.

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There is no doubt that strategic management tools and techniques are important parts of the strategic management process. Their use in organizations should be observed in a practice-based context. This paper analyzes the empirical studies on the usage of strategic management tools and techniques. Hence, the main aim of this study is to investigate and analyze which enterprises, according to their country development level, use more strategic management tools and techniques and which of these are used the most. Also, this paper investigates which strategic management tools and techniques are used globally according to the results of empirical studies. The study presents a summary of empirical studies for the period 1990-2015. The research results indicate that more strategic tools and techniques are used in developed countries, followed by developing countries and fewest in countries in transition. This study is likely to contribute to the field : Vol. 19 : No. 1 : June 2017 : pp. 67-99 of strategic management because it summarizes the most used strategic tools and techniques at the global level according to varying stages of countries' economic development. Also, the findings from this study may be utilized to maximize the full potential of enterprises and reduce the cases of entrepreneurship failures, through creating awareness of the importance of using strategic management tools and techniques. Albana Berisha QehajaAlbana Berisha Qehaja, Enver Kutllovci and Justina Shiroka Pula Strategic Management Tools and Techniques: A Comparative Analysis of Empirical Studies Croatian Economic Survey

This paper examines the use of financial analysis as a strategic tool in SMEs. Empirical data are collected from 303 SMEs in the Republic of Kosova, operating in production, trade and service sectors. The aim of this study is to assess the extent to which the business financial analysis is employed in the sampled enterprises and to determine whether there are differences in the usage of it, within small and medium-sized enterprises and sectors. The results show that Kosovan SMEs greatly use financial analysis as a strategic tool. Moreover, significant differences are found between small and medium-sized enterprises regarding its usage and no significant differences among production, trade and service sectors. This paper contributes to the existing scientific literature, especially in the strategic management field. Additionally, this paper will likely contribute to decision makers’ increased use of business financial analysis as a strategic tool in their enterprises.

This paper examines the usage of strategy tools from the strategy-as-practice perspective. In general, there is a lack of empirical evidence regarding the use of strategy tools, particularly in transition economies. The comprehensive and up-to-date research is mainly concerned with the extent of their use and classification. Thus, academics have already highlighted the need to review their role, importance, and use. Accordingly, this research seeks to bridge the current gap between theoretical constructs and empirical proof of the use of strategy tools in enterprises. The study design used for this research is cross-sectional and data were obtained from 314 enterprises in the Republic of Kosova, using standardized survey-based questionnaires. The purpose of this study is to assess the extent to which strategy tools are used in Kosovan enterprises. It also aims to distinguish their use according to educational background of managers/owners, enterprise size and across different sectors. The results of this study reveal that Kosovan enterprises have a low usage rate of strategy tools. More precisely, the two most used strategy tools are SWOT analysis and vision and mission statements. This paper provides some important insights into strategy tools usage in the Republic of Kosova, as a transition economy. While it provides a better understanding and awareness of strategy tools usage, there are other possible study areas that could offer significant value in future research.