Práticas de gestão estratégica de custos adotadas por empresas de segmentos do agronegócio

Abstract

The aim of this study is to assess the practices of strategic cost management that are adopted by Brazilian agribusiness companies and managers perception of the effects of their use. The study is developed in the context of high competition between agribusiness firms in an environment of greater turbulence, emphasizing the need for management practices that allow achieving the goals set by the planning. In this context, the strategic cost management generates information for planning and control costs through a systemic approach to support the strategic management process via subsidy policy making. For both practices, strategic cost management were developed in order to support this strategic management. The methodological procedures we used exploratory data were collected during October and November 2010, through the use of a survey, whose questionnaire was answered by managers of companies in segments (a) sugar and alcohol, and ( b) wood, pulp and paper, agribusiness. Research is classified as quantitative, but the qualitative aspect was also considered in the analysis and relationships that are studied from the quantitative data. The main findings of the research evidence that the practices of GEC most used among the companies analyzed refer to value chain analysis and cost determinants, followed by cost-goal. It was noted, however, that the latter is not used in conjunction with the kaizen cost of lower utilization, which may reduce the benefits of management. Although widely used value chain, we identified low levels of use of ABC / ABM, which can determine the weakening of the process of cost management. It was found that companies operating in international markets more intensively use practices GEC. We also observed that the choice of strategy may vary because of the segment where the company operates, defined by product marketing. Were evidenced low levels of analysis of environmental costs, which can compromise the performance of companies in the long term due to sanitary restrictions imposed by international competition.