This paper analyzes and problematizes the issue of strategic cost management. It starts from the definition of costs and management in general, in order to put these two terms in relation and try to give an answer to the question of the definition of cost management. Furthermore, different models of cost management are analyzed, especially the traditional model and the model of strategic cost management. Definitions of strategic cost management and the tools and elements that make it up are analyzed in detail. As short examples of strategic cost management, studies of cost management of companies in the Republic of Croatia are observed, in order to exemplify what has been described in passing. The work leads to the conclusion that strategic management is currently the best and most comprehensive way of managing costs, which, under the conditions of correct application of the tool, will lead to an increase in the company's profit and stability, thus ensuring its survival in a dynamic and uncertain globalized market.