Strategic Management in the Function of Adjustment of Modern Shipping Companies to the Market

Under the influence of the global economic crisis, many shipping companies have been forced to sell their old and poorly prospective vessels and change their business strategy in order to survive on the market. The purpose of this scientific paper is to present a change in business strategy within shipping companies aimed at adapting to current needs of the trade market. The analysis of the role and features of strategic management in business operation of modern shipping companies is carried out in this paper with the aim of identifying and analysing those factors that affect the creation of business strategies and the need of shipping companies to adapt to the market. In the empirical part, business strategy of the largest Croatian shipping company, Tankerska plovidba d.d. (Plc.) of Zadar, has been explored and analysed, along with that of Stena Ltd., one of the largest global shipping companies, which represents a business sphere created through a multiple merger of shipping companies into one, with the purpose of increasing competitiveness on the market.