Lisibilité de l'environnement, management stratégique : éléments de recherche sur les PMI

The strategic approach observed in small and medium-sized firms is greatly influenced by the turbulence which largely characterizes their context. As a consequence of this turbulence, managers have extreme difficulty in reading their environment and in positioning their firm within it. Basing ourselves on a qualitative study carried out with 45 small and medium-sized firms managers, we demonstrate how the manager reconstructs the environment around his firm. We present a possible analysis table of the small and medium-sized firms managers' strategic approach according to, on the one hand, the perceived degree of lisibility of their environment, and, on the other, their managerial behaviour. Finally, we suggest a more qualitative approach to the position concept based on the notion of role, which leads us to consider the importance in the small and medium-sized firm manager's strategic approach, of his area of lisibility; the meaning of the latter is explained in the text.