Although small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) typically employ the majority of an economy's workforce, there is an insufficient knowledge base relating to businesses that SME management owns (Beaver, 2003). Indeed, formal plans or cost controls are often provided only on an irregular basis and planning tools are usually used only by a limited number of individuals and developed rather intuitively (Brinkmann, 2002). These shortcomings highlight the importance of examining the value of strategic management for SMEs in more detail. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay Globally, academics and practitioners have called for greater use of strategic planning in SMEs, such as the role of strategic planning in large companies and the notion has been argued that decision making triumphs in businesses regardless of size. In this sense, many empirical studies highlight a link between strategic planning and performance (Bracker et al., 1988). According to Gibson and Cassar (2002), large companies are more successful than SMEs because large companies plan strategically. Strategic management is viewed as the set of decisions and actions that result in the formulation, implementation and control of plans aimed at realizing an organization's vision, mission, strategy and strategic objectives within the business environment in which it operates (Pearce & Robinson, 2005) . Strategic plan implementation is an integral component of the strategic management process and is seen as the process of transforming the formulated strategy into a series of actions and then into outcomes to ensure that the vision, mission, strategy and strategic objectives of the organization are successfully achieved as expected (Thompson & Strickland, 2003). Remember: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Strategic management can be defined in various ways. According to the study of Wheelen and Hungers (2006), strategic management is a set of managerial decisions and actions that determine the long-term performance of a company. It involves environmental scanning (both external and internal), strategy formulation (strategic or long-term planning), strategy implementation, evaluation and control. They emphasize the analysis and evaluation of external opportunities and threats in terms of an organization's strengths and weaknesses (Wheelen and Hunger, 2006). From the perspective of Dess and Miller (1993), strategic management is a process that combines three main interrelated activities: strategic analysis, strategy formulation and strategy implementation..