Purpose: In the last couple of years the world economic growth is getting slower, the share markets are strongly falling down and former confirmed, global players are crushing. This fact has hard impact on nearly all companies and as consequence is falling the business volume, payment morale is worsening, the access to operating and investment capital is more difficult, etc. This situation creates a new dimension of competition because the above mentioned hypercompetition on the markets which is due to developed logistics and information technologies causing lower barriers for entry into these fields, it is now still more intensive as the total volume of businesses is smaller.
Scientific aim: The main aim is to present results of a research executed in 2009 among small and medium size companies with the following target: To determine the level of usage of the business tools as a part of the crisis management in companies under the context of the world's economic crisis and partial targets: Investigate the effects of the economic crisis upon the economical results of the companies (lower turnover, worse payment morale, aggravated access to financial resources, etc.). Identify tools and provisions in the business whereby the management of companies is striving to solve the situation. Discover the barriers hindering wider usage of these tools in the companies' practice.
Methodology/methods: During the work were used the methods of secondary research, especially for set up of suitable portfolio of the business tools and acquiring of the information about course of the economic crisis and also methods with questionnaire surveys and for field research among the representatives of the target group (managers of small and middle companies in Czech Republic). In addition to impacts of the economic crisis upon the current activities of the companies there were evaluated mainly the ways for keeping and development of distribution channels, promotion methods, usage of compensation tools (barter trade, counterpurchases) and formation of networks and alliances.
Findings: The analysis show which impacts have small and medium-sized enterprises during financial crisis.
Conclusions: The business tools described in the contribution have excellent usage not only in the time of crisis but also in welfare times, when they provide the companies with unique competitive advantages. They should be introduced into the practice of companies and innovate herewith the currently used procedures. The realised research indicated important barriers for wider use of these tools, which will have to be overcome.
