Management practices in retail trade companies in the east region of the city of Porto Alegre (RS)

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To identify the managerial accounting practices used in retail organizations in the Eastern Region of the city of Porto Alegre (RS). In a complementary way, the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic and the importance attributed to financial reports and management instruments and data analysis systems for decision making are investigated. Methodology: Descriptive research with a quantitative approach, by means of a survey through a questionnaire carried out with owners/partners, administrators and employees of retail organizations in the region object of the study, totaling a non-probabilistic and accessibility sample of 26 companies. The questionnaire contemplated the profile of the respondents;management data;importance and use of management instruments and financial reports;and open questions to collect additional information. Results: Companies are on average micro-companies, with centralized decisions, little use of managerial instruments and understand accounting as a support to the tax area. The least used management tools are the Balanced Scorecard and product life cycle, and some companies do not even use basic operational and financial controls, such as inventories, accounts payable and receivable, and strategic planning. Still, they attach greater importance to managerial instruments than they use them. Contributions of the Study based on the perception of importance of financial reports and management tools, low level of training of managers, little knowledge and use of management practices, it is inferred that the greater the complexity of management tools, the less importance attributed by managers to them. This was reflected in the face of the pandemic, there were few managerial changes to ensure business performance.