Target Costing in Micro and Small Companies from The IT Sector

Abstract

This paper aimed to identify aspects of target costing within micro and small businesses in the IT sector. Data collection was made through the application of a structured questionnaire containing questions related to the level of adoption of principles associated with target costing by fourteen companies from the IT sector located in Campina Grande/PB, Brazil. Spearman correlation coefficient was used to test the statistical significance of relations between the profile of managers and aspects related to the organizational strategy. The results pointed out that manager's profile seems to influence the use of target costing principles in the management of costs in micro enterprises and small businesses investigated. Thus, it is observed that the characteristics of managers of micro and small businesses, such as age, training and position occupied, appear as factors that influence strategic formalization and the adoption of strategic cost management techniques, such as target costing.