Strategic change for survival : a case of construction company in Slovenia

Abstract

Ready-mix concrete business as the part of the procurement chain in the construction industry is strongly influenced by the economic and social situation in Slovenia. The financial crisis has revealed all the weaknesses and forced the industry into huge transition that left behind a mass of companies at the edge of survival. The purpose of this study is to investigate and examine the most appropriate strategic change framework with some proposals for the selected organization. After the analysis of current situation a desk research was made to explore different strategic change models. In the next stage the study adopted a quantitative methodology using self-completing questionnaire to collect relevant data about customer values and requirements and a qualitative methodology conducting a focus group interview among company's management team to evaluate most important strategic change issues. New mission, vision, and core values were developed as the core strategic elements of new approach. On the basis of selected strategic model new strategy was transformed into a set of managerial projects. Conclusions of the study confirm that ready-mix concrete production is a commodity business that competes mostly on price and quality on geographically small markets. However, further analysis demonstrates additional opportunities when customers are segmented into more specific groups in view of their core businesses and specialities. In addition to regular ready-mix concrete production for general use, there is a possibility to provide individually developed concrete based solutions. All presented findings and conclusions that constitute a new strategic approach contribute to long term company stabilization, competitive advantage and overall performance.