How education and experience shape managerial excellence: Creating strategy context from Kosovo SMEs

Given the importance of education and leadership experience in shaping SME strategies, diverse opinions exist regarding their impact on strategy development. This paper aims to empirically evaluate the perceptions of SME managers or owners during the year 2023 regarding the creation and use of strategies (CUS). The research identifies CUS as the dependent variable. At the same time, the manager’s education (MED), drafted business plan (DBP), previous experience in the field (PEX), managerial skills (MS), and new product development (NPD), are the independent variables. The study is based on a robust sample of 336 questionnaires collected between April and May 2024. Multinominal regression was applied as the econometric approach, along with several key tests for model validation, including the likelihood ratio test, ensuring the reliability of the results. The findings reveal that a manager’s education, previous experience in the field, and managerial skills have a statistically significant influence on CUS, whereas other variables show an insignificant impact. These insights underscore the critical role of educational and experiential factors in strategic decision-making within SMEs. This research contributes uniquely by differing from earlier studies in both the selection of variables and the applied methodology, fostering productive discussions among scholars, academics, and policy-making bodies. Additionally, the study’s limitations, such as the focus on a specific geographic region and industry, are acknowledged, suggesting avenues for future research to explore broader applications and contexts.