engleski

Business in new economy – challenges for Croatian small and medium enterprises

Croatian small and medium enterprises (SME’ s) are passing through chaotic transition period entering a new age defined by global competition, rampant change, faster flow of information and communication, increasing business complexity, and pervasive globalization. The pace of change has become so rapid that it took a different type of enterprises to be dominant and marked entirely new era of business. The progresses in such environment realize only those SME’ s that faster and more efficacious adapt to the new circumstances on the market. The flexibility, the innovative and the continuous improvement of business are those elements that become components of strategic approach in the construction of competitive advantages in the new economy. There are three forces that are driving the new economy: 1. Knowledge – intellectual capital as a strategic factor of production ; a set of understandings used by people to make decisions or take actions that are important to the company 2. Changes – continuous, deep, rapid and complex ; generate uncertainty and reduce predictability 3. Globalization – in R&D, technology, production, trade, finance, information and communication, which has resulted in opening of economies, global competition and interdependency of business In paper, we are going to consider critical factors that influence the changes in the new economy, new business forms and key success factors for enriching the competitiveness of enterprises. We shall also try to explain what Croatian SME’ s, if want to survive in the new global economy, must necessary do to achieve the competitive world results. We will give some results of the process of transition of Croatian SME's, which is slow and followed by the strategic mistakes that are bringing the enterprises to the crisis and collapsing. The intensiver usage of the new business forms of new economy would enable faster and painless transformation of Croatian SME’ s and their better adoption to the global markets. For Croatian small and medium enterprises, that possess the abilities and visions of creation of new value, the opportunities of new economy open the wide spectrum of new business models that do not limit them only on the realization of aims by their own capacities. By linking and networking with the complementary enterprises, often with the yesterday's competitors, they can create clusters what enable them better usage of their existing resources in the combination with the resources of partner firms and give them the opportunity to equally compete the multinational corporations that are entering the Croatian market and possibility to find some niches on the future unified European market.

New economy; New factors of production; Entrepreneurship; SME’ s; Networking

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