Petra Lesníková

Technical University in Zvolen,

Zvolen, Slovak Republic

E-mail: lesnikova@tuzvo.sk 

ORCID 0000-0001-9977-0811

Strategic orientation of companies: The several strategic issues in times of COVID-19 pandemic

Jarmila Schmidtová

Technical University in Zvolen,

Zvolen, Slovak Republic

E-mail: schmidtova@tuzvo.sk 

ORCID 0000-0003-3985-9616

Andrea Novotná

Institute of Technology and Business in České Budějovice,

České Budějovice, Czech Republic

E-mail: 27509@mail.vstecb.cz 

ORCID 0000-0001-6670-1852

Abstract. Has companies’ strategic orientation become more important in times of crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic? Do companies feel the need to work strategically, and what impact can strategic management have on a company's profitability? The objective of the paper is to find out what features differ profitable companies from less profitable or loss-making companies in the current times from the view of strategic management. Features such as (1) the importance of vision; (2) orientation of strategic goals; (3) the activities of strategic plan creation were considered. The paper hides the answers to mentioned questions and the attitudes to the established research hypotheses. The research sample consists of 365 industrial companies. The Chi-square test, which measures the relationship between two categorical variables, is applied in the study. The results provide the knowledge that strategic research issues are a distinguishing element between profitable and less profitable or loss-making companies. It follows that strategic management is one of the necessary prerequisites for the company’s success, even in times of crisis.

Received: March, 2022

1st Revision: August, 2022

Accepted: September, 2022

DOI: 10.14254/2071-789X.2022/15-3/11

JEL Classification: L21, L26, M21

Keywords: strategic goals, strategic planning, vision, profitability, pandemic