Strategic management tools and decision-making in state-owned enterprises

Given the need to understand in more detail how strategic management tools (SMT) contribute to decision- making in the context of public management, this article aims to evaluate the use of SMTs and its influence on decision-making in a group of state-owned companies. The study was conducted with three companies selected by means of accessibility. A content analysis of transcripts from the interviews with managers of each company was performed, leading to the following results: long-term decisions were mainly associated with those necessary to comply with strategic planning, but little emphasis was placed on decisions involving risk or uncertainty; the use of SMTs with a focus on complying with legal requirements undermines the awareness and training of users. Such factors, as well as the need to accommodate changes of a political nature to the tools, undermine the full benefits of SMTs in state-owned companies and their ability to deal with the complexity of the strategic environment. The study contributes to a broader comprehension of specific aspects of the use of SMTs, as well as their benefits and limitations in public organizations, particularly, state-owned enterprises.