Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-04T11:45:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Norberto_Giuntini.pdf: 3415741 bytes, checksum: 72c67797a89f14a5fc368022990ed41b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2003-06-03 / In 1990, Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton developed in United States of America, a new system as support for decision 1, denominated Balanced Scorecard. Even supposing it is not an innovation once it is based on knowledge and principles enclosed in theories previously developed, the Balanced Scorecard has organized some of these theoretical principles, having as objective a "Control Panel" construction to manager the Companies strategy by monitoring financial results, through performance operational indicators that influence these results, growing the analysis capability and organizational knowledge. The published books and articles about Balanced Scorecard2, simplify the methodology description for its implementation and relate some of success cases occurred in companies from United States of America. The Balanced Scorecard is coming to an experimental phase in order to verify its principles and concepts adherence. Many companies operating in Brazil are implanting and implementing it, without divulgating the facilities and difficulties to align the management practices to the strategy and budget, premise that constitute the differentiation for the system to support decision. With these circumstances, the objective for this work is to contribute with the scientific research, presenting the practical experience of one company in activity in the country, by the theoretical principles of Balanced Scorecard applied, divulgating the results obtained and if the company had to recover to improvisation and adaptation to fit the situation not contemplated in Kaplan and Norton methodology developed. The research was made by bibliographical study and empirical research, in order to transmit the concepts that fundaments the Balanced Scorecard utilization, such as not mystify the facility proclaimed from its authors, from a field research done in Alcoa. The research was done based in two questionnaires, and one was constituted of 70 "opened" questions, applied in the Quality Manager, responsible to implanting and implementing the Balanced Scorecard in the company. The second questionnaire was constituted by 21 questions, tabulated in a scale like Likert, with eight levels, and it was applied in managers and users departments of Balanced Scorecard. Even though the Balance Scorecard theory establish facilities for its omplntation and implementation, the work hypothesis was confirmed, the implementation to the referred system needs adjustments and adaptations. These adjustment and adaptations are related to the people initiaves who are in the different hierarchical level to decide and the operate the actions to strategy and acquire knowledge to innovate the way of making the tasks. Other important factor is the difficult to measure objectively the strategy, throughout indicators inter-relation that mean the relation for cause and effect for these actions and iniciatives. Despite of adjustments and adaptations presented all long way, the Balanced Scorecard, constitute a recent tool, presenting evolution level, by the experiences acquired in companies that are adopting it. Even though presents difficulties in its implementation, the Balanced Scorecard represent a system for support decision to create and develop strategy management, doing its theoretic and practical principles an approach so actual related to the necessities established by the best practices to be observed in the Global World and in the Manager Accountancy / No ano de 1990, Robert S. Kaplan e David P. Norton desenvolveram, nos Estados Unidos da Am??rica, um sistema de suporte ?? decis??o, denominado Balanced Scorecard. Muito embora n??o seja inovador, por utilizar conhecimentos e princ??pios contidos em teorias desenvolvidas anteriormente, o Balanced Scorecard organizou alguns desses princ??pios te??ricos, tendo como objetivo a constru????o de um "painel de controle" para gerenciar a estrat??gia da empresa, monitorando os resultados financeiros, atrav??s do desempenho de indicadores operacionais que influenciam esses resultados, aumentando a capacidade de an??lise e aprendizado organizacional. Os livros e artigos sobre o Balanced Scorecard publicados simplificam a descri????o metodol??gica de sua implementa????o e relatam somente os casos de sucesso ocorridos em empresas estabelecidas nos Estados Unidos da Am??rica. O Balanced Scorecard est?? passando por uma fase experimental para a verifica????o da ader??ncia dos seus princ??pios e conceitos. V??rias empresas operando no Brasil est??o implantando-o e implementando-o, n??o divulgando as facilidades e dificuldades para alinhar as pr??ticas gerenciais ?? estrat??gia e ao or??amento, premissas que constituem diferenciais do referido sistema de suporte ?? decis??o. Diante de tais circunst??ncias, este trabalho, tem como objetivo contribuir com a pesquisa cient??fica, apresentando uma experi??ncia pr??tica de uma empresa em atividade no pa??s, quanto ?? aplica????o dos princ??pios te??ricos do Balanced Scorecard, divulgando os resultados obtidos e se a empresa teve que recorrer a improvisa????es ou adapta????es para fazer frente a situa????es n??o contempladas na metodologia desenvolvida por Kaplan & Norton. A pesquisa foi efetuada por meio de estudo bibliogr??fico e pesquisa emp??rica, procurando transmitir os conceitos que fundamentam a utiliza????o do Balanced Scorecard, bem como desmistificar a facilidade apregoada por seus autores, a partir de pesquisa de campo efetuada na unidade Po??os de Caldas da Alcoa. A pesquisa foi efetuada utilizando-se de dois question??rios, o primeiro constitu??do de 70 perguntas "abertas", aplicado na Gerencia de Qualidade, respons??vel pela implanta????o e implementa????o do Balanced Scorecard na empresa. O segundo question??rio, constitu??do de 21 perguntas, tabuladas numa escala tipo Likert, com oito n??veis, foi aplicado nas ger??ncias e departamentos usu??rias do Balanced Scorecard. Embora a teoria do Balanced Scorecard estabele??a facilidades para a sua implanta????o e implementa????o, a hip??tese do trabalho foi confirmada, na medida que a implementa????o do referido sistema de suporte ?? decis??o necessita de ajustes e adapta????es. Estes ajustes e adapta????es est??o relacionados ?? cultura, cren??as e valores, administra????o dos recursos dispon??veis e das iniciativas das pessoas que atuam nos diferentes n??veis hier??rquicos para decidir e operacionalizar as a????es voltadas ?? estrat??gia e adquirir o conhecimento para inovar a forma de fazer as tarefas. Outro fator importante consiste na dificuldade de se mensurar objetivamente a estrat??gia, atrav??s da inter-rela????o de indicadores que traduzam numa rela????o de causa e efeito essas a????es e iniciativas. Apesar dos ajustes e adapta????es apresentadas ao longo do trabalho, o Balanced Scorecard, constitui-se numa ferramenta recente, apresentando est??gio de evolu????o, em fun????o das experi??ncias adquiridas pelas organiza????es que o est??o utilizando. Embora apresente dificuldades na sua implementa????o, o Balanced Scorecard representa um sistema de suporte ?? decis??o para criar e desenvolver a gest??o estrat??gica, fazendo dos seus princ??pios te??ricos e pr??ticos, uma abordagem bastante atual relacionada ??s necessidades estabelecidas pela melhores pr??ticas a serem observadas no mundo globalizado e pela contabilidade gerencial.

Gestão de custos é uma preocupação crescente nas empresas, impulsionada num contexto de recursos escassos e concorrência cada vez mais acirrada. O aumento verificado na complexidade dos mercados e, como um reflexo, no incremento de linhas de produtos e serviços oferecidos pelas empresas aos seus clientes, tornou a mensuração dos custos um grande desafio. A tarefa de determinar desde uma política comercial por segmento até a definição do preço de venda depende fundamentalmente da correta mensuração dos custos sob diversas perspectivas, especialmente por cliente. Neste contexto, a suposição básica do estudo é de que o custo para servir pode colaborar com informações que permitem obter uma melhor avaliação do desempenho de seus clientes. A metodologia adotada no presente trabalho é de uma pesquisa bibliográfica, exploratória e com a elaboração de um estudo de caso de uma indústria de alimentos. O principal objetivo da pesquisa de verificar se o uso do conceito de custo para servir melhoraria a informação para o gerenciamento dos clientes foi atingido ao se obter dados mais específicos e detalhados dos mesmos, permitindo identificar as discrepâncias em sua rentabilidade. Os objetivos secundários de fornecer uma abordagem conceitual e de apontar as etapas e informações necessárias para a mensuração do custo para servir foram alcançados através da pesquisa bibliográfica e do estudo de caso. Como método de mensuração do custo dos processos relativos ao atendimento aos clientes, encontrou-se o ABC como a única forma de estabelecer a correta medida. O estudo de caso revelou um comportamento da dispersão da lucratividade dos clientes da empresa semelhante a teoria pesquisada, reforçando-a de forma ilustrativa e operacional. Os resultados encontrados na margem de servir, onde 52% dos clientes apresentaram margem negativa são considerados reveladores, e evidenciam que, numa empresa com diversidade de produtos e serviços, a informação do custo para servir pode ser vital para estabelecer a alocação de recursos aos clientes através de uma política comercial. Por tratar-se de estudo de caso único com suas especificidades, há ressalvas quanto à possibilidade de generalizações. Algumas limitações encontradas para a obtenção de informações para a pesquisa, como insolvência de clientes ou níveis de estoque por unidade de produto, servem de recomendação para aprimoramento em futuros estudos. / Cost management is a growing concern among companies, driven by lack of resources and fierce competition. Increased market complexity and, consequently, the wider range of products and services that companies provide to their customers have turned cost measurement into a great challenge. The task to determine a series of steps - from a commercial policy by segment to the definition of the sales price - lies basically on proper cost measurement under different views, particularly by customer. In this context, the basic assumption of this study is that the cost to serve may provide information to better assess customer performance. The methodology used in this study is a bibliographical, exploratory survey and includes a case study of a food company. The primary objective is to verify whether the cost-to-serve concept would improve the information required for customer management by providing more specific and detailed data and allowing for the identification of any discrepancies in profitability. Secondary objectives – to provide a conceptual approach and identify the steps and information required to measure cost to serve - were achieved with the bibliographical research and case study. As to the method to measure the cost of processes related to customer service, ABC was the only one that provided the correct measure. The case study showed a scattered profitability among the company´s users, similar to the theory addressed in the study, highlighting it with illustrative examples and operations. The results for margin to serve (in which 52% of the customers had a negative margin) are surprising, and show that in a company with a wide range of products and services, information on the cost to serve can be critical to allocate resources to customers based on a commercial policy. This is a single, specific study, therefore it should not be generalized. Some of the restrictions faced during data collection, such as customer insolvency or inventory level by product unit should be further improved in future studies.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T18:39:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Adriana Cufaro.pdf: 1208441 bytes, checksum: 6ef2b2fb73d5766bf06c7181b1ba0448 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-01 / The objective of this research was to investigate if the variance analysis between actual and plan, considering foreign exchange impact as an element to be measured separately from changes in volume and price was institutionalized. Also, it was tried to understand according to the perceptions of managers and technicians, if variance analysis between actual and plan considering foreign exchange impact measured separated from volume and price is important in the decision process. The combination of several factors such as competition and continuous demand for best results has made the search for suppliers of goods and services goes beyond national borders, and many transactions are conducted in foreign currency. In this context, another element impacting companies results is the exchange variation which is understood as an external economic variable, and also it must be considered in the variance analysis between actual and plan. Thus, variations in volume, price and foreign exchange measure deviations from the goals and they indicate that something, for some reason, did not go as planned. The analysis of those variations together with tangible actions enables managers to realign decisions to achieve the goals. It was studied considering institutional theory approach the habit or routine calculation frequency, dissemination, analysis and discussion of variance analysis of actual and plan and their use for decision. The research adopted Tolbert, Zucker (1997) institutionalization model to categorize the stages (preinstitutionalization, semi-institutionalization and full-institutionalization). It was selected some questions from the questionnaire to categorize the stages and they were analyzed together to indicate the degree or level of variance analysis institutionalization in the decision process. A score was defined for each response and the sum of them generated a thermometer that enabled us to identify the stages of institutionalization of the sample. The results of the thermometer indicated that the technical analysis of variation between actual and plan, considering the foreign exchange as an element to be measured separately from changes in volume and price, is not institutionalized in all companies. According to the perception of the responders is important to measure separately the foreign exchange impact from price and volume variance because it misrepresent the impact of other variations, but frequency of considering variance analysis in the decision making process is not systematic in most of cases. Keywords: Variance Analysis, Institutional Theory, Managerial Accounting / O objetivo desta pesquisa foi investigar se a solução técnica de análise de variação entre o real e orçado, considerando a variação cambial como um elemento a ser mensurado separadamente das variações de volume e preço estava institucionalizada nas empresas. Também buscou entender de acordo com a percepção dos gestores e técnicos se a análise das variações entre o real e o orçado dos resultados em moeda estrangeira mensurando separadamente o efeito da variação cambial é relevante no contexto decisorial das empresas. A combinação de vários fatores como concorrência e exigência contínua de melhores resultados faz com que a busca por fornecedores de bens e serviços extrapole as fronteiras nacionais, e várias transações se realizem em moeda estrangeira. Neste contexto, outro elemento de impacto nos resultados das empresas é a variação cambial, entendida como uma variável econômica externa que também deve ser considerada na análise de variação entre o real e orçado. Assim sendo, as variações de volume, preço e câmbio mensuram desvios em relação à meta, indicam que algo, por algum motivo, não saiu como planejado. A combinação da interpretação dessas variações com ações concretas dos gestores possibilitam o redirecionamento em busca da meta. Foram estudados pela ótica da teoria institucional o hábito ou rotina da frequência de cálculo, divulgação, análise e discussão das análises das variações entre o real e orçado, e sua utilização para a tomada de decisão. A pesquisa adotou o modelo de institucionalização de Tolbert; Zucker (1997) para a categorização dos estágios de institucionalização (pré-institucionalização, semi-institucionalização e total-institucionalização). Algumas perguntas do questionário foram selecionadas para categorizar os estágios e analisadas em conjunto para indicar o grau ou nível de institucionalização da análise de variação entre o real e orçado no contexto decisorial da empresa. Uma pontuação foi definida para cada resposta e a totalização gerou um termômetro que possibilitou identificar os estágios de institucionalização da amostra estudada. A análise dos resultados do termômetro indicou que a solução técnica de análise de variação entre o real e orçado, considerando a variação cambial como um elemento a ser mensurado separadamente das variações de volume e preço, não está institucionalizada em todas as empresas. De acordo com a percepção dos respondentes é importante mensurar separadamente a variação cambial das variações de preço e volume porque distorce o impacto das outras variações, mas a frequência de utilização das análises de variações no processo de tomada de decisão não ocorre sistematicamente na maioria dos casos analisados

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T18:39:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Luis Fernando da Silva Barros.pdf: 882837 bytes, checksum: 329312604854ef526c813ee7cbeb175a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-09-27 / This study aims to apply the value stream costing, the lean accounting costing methodology, pursuing identify its benefit and compare it with the traditional costing methodology. Also, the study sought to identify the information need for the value stream costing and how that information could be structured to enable the value stream costing. In order to answer those questions this study was based on a case study of an electrical manufacture products and solutions company. In Brazil, the lean accounting studies related are still in the beginning, mainly if taken into account the number of empirical research, which are very few. Based on that, this study has its relevance as it will serve as a basis for future studies, as well as in contributing to the expansion of knowledge about the concepts of lean accounting and its costing methodology: The value stream costing. Thus, the first question asked to direct this research is: What benefits can a company have using the costing value stream costing methodology? To answer the first question, it was necessary to apply a cost model based on the value stream costing and with that comes a second question which guided the research: What are the data and information required to enable the value stream costing? As a result of this study, were identified and assessed the benefits of value stream costing and identified the necessary information for the application of this costing methodology / Este estudo teve como objetivo aplicar o custeio do fluxo de valor, a metodologia de custeio da contabilidade enxuta, buscando identificar seus benefícios e compara-la com o custeio tradicional. Também se procurou identificar as informações necessárias e como estas poderiam ser estruturadas para viabilizar o custeio do fluxo de valor. Para responder a estas questões de pesquisa, o trabalho baseou-se em um estudo de caso em uma empresa do ramo de produtos e soluções para gestão da energia elétrica. No Brasil, os estudos relacionados com a contabilidade enxuta ainda estão em seus primeiros passos, principalmente, se for levado em conta que as pesquisas empíricas realizadas são praticamente nulas. Diante disso, além servir de base para futuros estudos, a presente pesquisa tem sua relevância ao contribuir na expansão do conhecimento sobre os conceitos da contabilidade enxuta e sua metodologia de custo gerencial: O custeio do fluxo de valor. Assim sendo, a primeira pergunta formulada para direcionar esta pesquisa é: Quais os benefícios que podem ter uma empresa utilizando a metodologia de custeio do fluxo de valor? Para responder a primeira questão, foi necessária a aplicação de um modelo de custeio baseado na metodologia do fluxo de valor, e com isso surge uma segunda pergunta que serviu de direcionador da pesquisa: Quais os dados e informações necessárias para viabilizar o custeio do fluxo de valor? Como resultado da pesquisa, foram identificados e avaliados benefícios do custeio do fluxo de valor, bem como levantados as informações necessárias para a aplicação desta metodologia de custeio

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T18:40:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fernando Rodrigues de Carvalho.pdf: 617036 bytes, checksum: 7ab186ff293b00ca904f6b4e2e83f426 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-06-21 / The aim of this paper is to show the relevance and contribution of the social data pertaining to the Social Report and mainly to the Added Value Statement. It is credited that its disclosure may help evaluate its effects upon the social environment as well as the remuneration attributed to several production factors. The wealth of management and financial data available is evidenced through the magnitude of the company of choice- Black & Decker do Brasil, a high income multi-national firm with limited responsibility and no obligation to publish its accounting reports. However, the 3.741/2000 bill which states that it is mandatory to make the accounting, financial , economic and social, led us to verify the applicability of such publications and the indexes of analysis commonly used. A bibliographic study, the Internet and a questionnaire given to one of the directors of the company were used to evaluate the applicability of such management ools. The diversity of material found in the Added Value Statement and the Social Report, which was used in the analyses, figures and conclusions, outstands the need of commitment of the productive sector in publishing their reports not only to their own clients but also to aware the general public of the responsibility of such companies in the economic context. Also, they would assure their reliability together with their politically correct role regarding the other stakeholders / O presente trabalho objetiva mostrar a importância e a contribuição das informações sociais contempladas no Balanço Social e, principalmente, na Demonstração de Valor Adicionado. Acredita-se, com a evidenciação destas demonstrações, na possibilidade de se avaliar os efeitos gerados no meio social e a remuneração atribuída aos diversos fatores de produção. A riqueza dos dados gerenciais e financeiros se mostra em um nível de relevância, perceptível ao se utilizar dados inspirados em uma empresa, neste trabalho, a Black & Decker do Brasil, referência utilizada, exatamente por se tratar de uma multinacional, de grande porte no tocante ao seu faturamento e de responsabilidade limitada sem a obrigatoriedade de publicação das demonstrações contábeis. Porém, com o Anteprojeto de Lei nº 3741/2000, e existindo entre seus artigos a obrigatoriedade de publicação de informações contábeis, financeiras, econômicas e também de aspecto social, desejou-se com este trabalho verificar a aplicabilidade quando da publicação dos relatórios descritos e dos indicadores de análise normalmente empregados. Valendo-se de referências bibliográficas, busca de informações na Internet e pesquisa por meio de um questionário aplicado junto a um dos Diretores da empresa, foi verificada a aplicabilidade das ferramentas gerenciais de análise mencionada. A diversidade de material oriundo da Demonstração do Valor Adicionado e das Informações Sociais, derivando-se em análises, cálculos e conclusões, podem expressar a importância e a responsabilidade dos empreendimentos produtivos em publicá-los não somente para o cliente interno, mas também para uma sociedade consciente a cada dia do papel responsável destas empresas no contexto econômico. Percebe-se assim, a relevância da publicação dessas demonstrações, não apenas pelas sociedades anônimas, mas por todas as empresas, expressando a sua idoneidade e o seu papel politicamente correto junto aos demais stakeholders

A pesquisa teve como objetivo geral investigar, sob a ótica da Nova Sociologia Institucional, quais fatores contribuíram para o enfraquecimento e abandono do Custeio Baseado em Atividades nas empresas objetos do estudo, Beta e Gama. As publicações sobre o Custeio Baseado em Atividades aumentaram expressivamente a partir de 1985, porém não obtiveram sustentabilidade no longo prazo. Percebeu-se muita confusão nos conceitos sobre o método de custeio e resultados das pesquisas não comparáveis, o que contribui para o seu desentendimento conceitual e potencial abandono do método. O caminho que levou aos achados teve base em pesquisa qualitativa e nas empresas estudadas foram avaliados os estágios de adoção do ABC, estágios de institucionalização e as variáveis de desinstitucionalização. Pelos distintos objetivos que motivaram a adoção do ABC, a empresa Beta alcançou o terceiro e a Gama o segundo estágio de adoção. O isomorfismo normativo, incentivado pela recomendação de consultorias, apresentou muita importância nas empresas, enquanto os demais isomorfismos, mimético, coercitivo e competitivo, apresentaram menor relevância. Durante o período de vigência do método de custeio nenhuma das empresas alcançou o estágio de total institucionalização. Ao avaliar os fatores de abandono e desinstitucionalização do ABC, o pressuposto com maior expressão foi o de pressão social, por não trazer inovação informacional, não ser uma exigência da matriz, além da falta de incentivos fiscais. Na categorização dos pontos críticos, foram mapeados dez fatores para a não continuidade do ABC sendo desses, seis inovações não previstas na literatura consultada e quatro que reforçaram a literatura atual. A originalidade deste trabalho reside no conjunto de achados que permitiram o desenvolvimento de uma estrutura básica para que acadêmicos e profissionais analisem antes de incorrer em investimentos e alocação de colaboradores que não trarão o resultado financeiro esperado pela descontinuidade do artefato adotado pela empresa. / The research aimed to investigate under the perspective of New Institutional Sociology which factors contributed to the weakness and abandonment of Activity Based Costing in the companies studied, Beta and Gama. Research on the Activity Based Costing significantly increased since 1985, but did not achieve long-term sustainability. It was noticed a lot of confusion in concepts about the costing method and research results presented are not comparable which contributes to its conceptual misunderstanding and potential abandonment of the method. The path that led to the findings was based on qualitative research and the companies studied were evaluated the stages of ABC\' adoption, institutionalization\' stages and variables of deinstitutionalization. By distinct goals that motivated the adoption of ABC among the companies studied, Beta reached the third stage and Gama reached the second adoption stage. The normative isomorphism encouraged by the recommendation of consulting firms presented a lot of importance in companies, while the remaining isomorphisms, mimetic, coercive and competitive, had smaller relevance. During the period of the costing method neither company has reached the stage of full institutionalization. Evaluating the factors of abandonment and deinstitutionalization of ABC the assumption with highest expression was the social pressure, for not bringing innovation informational, not to be a requirement of the head quarter, besides the lack of fiscal incentives. The categorization of the critical points, ten factors were mapped to not continuity of ABC being these six innovations not covered in the literature, and four that reinforced the current literature. The originality of this research lives in the set of findings that allowed the development of a basic structure for academics and practitioners to analyse it before incurring investments and allocation of employees who will not bring the expected financial results due to the discontinuity of the tool adopted by the company.

Submitted by Elba Lopes (elba.lopes@fecap.br) on 2017-11-18T16:08:32Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Marcio Roberto de Souza.pdf: 3290425 bytes, checksum: beebb33e7919dbb799efa3b2b936dfb3 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-11-18T16:08:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Marcio Roberto de Souza.pdf: 3290425 bytes, checksum: beebb33e7919dbb799efa3b2b936dfb3 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-08-28 / Understanding and practicing Supply Chain Management ??? SCM - with excellence has become a prerequisite for the continuity of the organizations in the era of network competition. However, even after some decades of evolution under the aegis of the systemic approach, the methodology still needs to provide instruments capable of measuring the economic results of this broader system, since the existing models in the area - SCOR and GSCF - do not fulfill this function in its completeness and, therefore, does not allow to check if the supply chain is effective. The probable solution of the problem passes through the use of innovations developed in the scope of Managerial Accounting such as the Model of Economic Management in the SCM. To the accounting-management artifact is attributed the concepts of economic events and economic profit - the best indicator of effectiveness of the "enterprise system" and, it is believed, the "supply chain system" - whose application in the context of the supply chain depends on the ability of managers from companies with greater bargaining power to perceive systems, because if they do not see it, they do not understand it or manage it strategically, nor do they know adequate measures for this angle of analysis. This work aimed, therefore, to know the systemic view of the managers of purchases of Brazilian retailers, of the areas of telephony and/or electronics products, on the process of management of the economic events of the upstream supply chain, not properly for that moment to apply a system of measurement of the global economic results of the system, but to investigate if there is fertile field to develop it, because these managers, supported by the company with greater bargaining power in the chain, have in their hands the decision about the economic event "purchase" and can influence the strategic objectives of the chains that their company integrates and the adoption of instruments to manage them. To achieve the proposed goal, the Focus Group technique was used with six retail managers and content analysis to handle the data collected at this stage. Subsequently, their inferences were investigated through questionnaires sent to retail purchasing managers from all over the country. The data of 44 respondents were modeled with logistic regression and it was verified that the congruence of objectives and the creation of knowledge together are the constructs that most influence the systemic vision that the managers have on the process of management of the economic events of the chain of and there is propensity for the development of systems for measuring the overall economic profit of the system. / Compreender e praticar o gerenciamento da cadeia de suprimentos ??? ou SCM, acr??nimo de Supply Chain Management ??? com excel??ncia tornou-se pr??-requisito para a continuidade das organiza????es na era da competi????o em rede. No entanto, mesmo depois de algumas d??cadas de evolu????o sob a ??gide da abordagem sist??mica, ainda falta ?? metodologia prover instrumentos capazes de mensurar os resultados econ??micos desse sistema mais amplo, pois os modelos existentes na ??rea ??? SCOR e GSCF ??? n??o cumprem essa fun????o em sua plenitude e, por isso, alijam a capacidade de conferir se a cadeia de suprimentos ?? eficaz. Conjectura-se que a solu????o do problema passa pelo aproveitamento no SCM de inova????es desenvolvidas no ??mbito da Contabilidade Gerencial como ?? o Modelo de Gest??o Econ??mica. Ao artefato cont??bil-gerencial se atribui os conceitos de eventos econ??micos e lucro econ??mico ??? o melhor indicador de efic??cia do ???sistema empresa??? e, acredita-se, do ???sistema cadeia de suprimentos??? ??? cuja aplica????o no contexto da cadeia de suprimentos depende da habilidade dos gestores das empresas integrantes com maior poder de barganha em perceber sistemas, pois se n??o o enxergam, n??o o compreendem nem o gerenciam de modo estrat??gico, nem tampouco conhecem medidas adequadas para esse ??ngulo de an??lise. Este trabalho buscou, portanto, conhecer a vis??o sist??mica dos gestores de compras de varejistas brasileiros, das ??reas de telefonia e/ou eletr??nicos, sobre o processo de gest??o dos eventos econ??micos da rede ?? montante, n??o propriamente para j?? nesse momento aplicar um sistema de mensura????o dos resultados econ??micos globais do sistema, mas sim para investigar se h?? campo f??rtil para desenvolv??-lo, pois esses gestores, suportados pela companhia com maior poder de barganha da rede, t??m em suas m??os a decis??o sobre o evento econ??mico ???compra??? e podem influenciar os objetivos estrat??gicos das cadeias que sua empresa integra e a ado????o de instrumentos para gerenci??-las. Para atingir o objetivo proposto, utilizou-se a t??cnica de Focus Group com seis gestores do varejo e an??lise de conte??do para tratar os dados levantados nessa etapa. Posteriormente, se investigou suas infer??ncias por meio de question??rios enviados a gestores de compras do varejo de todo o pa??s. Os dados de 44 respondentes foram modelados com regress??o log??stica e constatou-se que a congru??ncia de objetivos e a cria????o de conhecimento em conjunto s??o os constructos que mais influenciam a vis??o sist??mica que os gestores t??m sobre o processo de gest??o dos eventos econ??micos da cadeia de suprimentos e que h?? espa??o para o desenvolvimento de sistemas de mensura????o do lucro econ??mico global do sistema.

The broad objective of this thesis is to develop an understanding of factors affecting outsourcing in the hotel industry and also the role played by management accounting in hotel outsourcing. The thesis draws on transaction cost economics (TCE), agency, contingency, and labour process theories in the context of appraising factors motivating outsourcing. Two empirical phases have been undertaken in the study. The first phase involved a series of interviews with general managers and financial controllers in large South East Queensland hotels. The second phase involved two distinct questionnaire surveys of large Australian hotels. The first was administered to hotel general managers, and the second was administered to hotel financial controllers. Significant findings arising from the study include: 1. In light of the substantial international literature describing hotel outsourcing, it appears that outsourcing in Australian hotels is relatively limited. This appears to be particularly the case with respect to food and beverage related activities. 2. Mixed support is offered for the TCE model. Both the survey and interview data provide some support for TCE's prescription that frequently conducted activities will not tend to be outsourced. Two specific extensions are offered to this aspect of the model, however. Firstly, where activities are conducted to a minimal extent, it can be uneconomic to outsource. Secondly, where large activities are undertaken by a group of organisations, their enhanced purchasing power can result in inexpensive outsourcing arrangements. With respect to TCE's uncertainty proposition, support is offered for the view that the propensity to outsource will be greater where behavioural uncertainty is lower. No support has been offered with respect to environmental uncertainty. The interview data provides some support for TCE's asset specificity proposition, however, minimal support was found in the survey phase. Despite this, the many dimensions of asset specificity (eg. site specificity, human asset specificity, etc) provided a useful checklist of issues to be considered in relation to the outsourcing decision. 3. Negligible support was found for labour process theory (LPT) in the interview phase of the study. In light of this, and the need to narrow the study’s focus in the survey phase, LPT was not pursued further. LPT is a difficult construct to operationalise, given the social desirability error that may result. This may partially account for the absence of significant LPT findings in the interview phase. 4. The survey data provides some support for the agency theory view that risky activities will tend to be outsourced. 5. Considerable cross-hotel variation exists in management of, and accounting's involvement in, outsourcing decision making and control systems. Accounting appraisal of outsourcing proposals rarely includes long term oriented, sophisticated techniques such as "net present value". It appears this may be because outsourcing decisions are not conducted in the context of the formal capital budgeting process. 6. High performing hotels and hotels that conduct their outsourcing decisions in the context of a long term outsourcing strategic agenda have more sophisticated outsourcing management systems.

Managerial and Financial Management (MAF) has traditionally been perceived by students as a difficult subject. Students do not fully grasp the underlying disciplinary concepts and struggle to transfer knowledge from one context to another. There is a dearth of research, particularly in South Africa, into how students learn in accounting programmes. This study sought to explore MAF students’ experiences of learning in a Writing Intensive Tutorial (WIT) programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The WIT programme is based on the principle of using informal exploratory writing, writing-to-learn, to support students’ learning of MAF. Informal writing is low stakes, ungraded, and encourages critical thinking and the learning of concepts, rather than focusing on grammatical correctness. The study was informed by the tenets of social constructivism and was conducted within a qualitative interpretative framework. Principles of case study research were applied in the data generation process. Purposive sampling was applied that reflected the MAF population in regard to race and gender demographics and academic ability. The participants were 15 MAF students who voluntarily participated in an 18-week WIT programme. Interactive Qualitative Analysis (IQA) (Northcutt & McCoy, 2004) was used for the research design and as a data analysis tool. Following IQA protocol, focus groups were used to generate affinities (themes) of students’ experiences of learning in the WIT programme. From the affinities generated a system diagram was constructed. In-depth semi-structured individual interviews were conducted at the end of the programme to further probe participants’ learning experiences. The primary affinity driving the system was the programme structure. which drove the other affinities – understanding of concepts, challenging the participants, the written tasks undertaken (secondary drivers), making learning fun, improved study techniques and test preparation, criticism of the programme (secondary outcomes), increased personal confidence and the interactive nature of the programme (primary outcomes). The thesis concludes with a proposal of an inductively theorised model. The model derives from the major findings in the study regarding students’ experiences of learning in the WIT programme. The model offers insights for higher education programme designs that utilise writing-to-learn pedagogies and can provide opportunities for students’ to develop deep, conceptual learning in higher education. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

[Truncated abstract] The dominant approaches to knowledge management practice and the design of knowledge management systems are driven by a resource-based view of knowledge. In this thesis, it is argued that the resource-based view of knowledge is limited and lacks social sensitivity. In this thesis, Knowledge Management is viewed as a social activity and the development and examination of an alternate approach to conceptualising the social processes of knowledge management in organisations, is the primary objective. In pursuing this objective, the question of whether an activity-based view of knowledge processes can assist the design of knowledge management practice and systems is examined. To address this research question, a conceptual framework is developed which redefines the conventional, universal approach to knowledge context . . . From an organisational perspective, the ABCs framework suggests that the institutionalisation and contextualisation of knowledge provides management with another dimension for considering knowledge management and knowledge management systems implementation. The findings from the case study suggest that knowledge workers are influenced by environmental factors. As a result, organisations can use this research to develop knowledge management practices that take environmental factors into consideration. As a starting point for organisations, the findings from the case studies are used to develop a set of guidelines for the design of knowledge management practice and systems. Further research is suggested in terms of extending to considerations of other aspects of Luhmann’s theories and exploring other complexity sciences as the basis of knowledge management.