Budget as strategic tool for control and interactivity: a report on agricultural cooperatives in Southern Brazil

Abstract

Are objectives of this study (i) verify if there is any relationship between the cooperative size and use of the budget as a tool to support the formulation and implementation strategies; (ii) if there is any relationship between the cooperative size and interactivity in budgeting and (iii) if there is any relationship between the cooperative size and a budgetary control practice. The research methodology is exploratory and descriptive. The data was collected through questionnaires and treated statistically. Turnover was used as proxy for size. Cooperatives were classified into two groups: Group I with turnover up to 1 million real and Group II with greater than $ 500 million. The t-test for independent variables has been applied for checking or not differences about cooperative size. The sample consists of 70 southern cooperatives is representative of the population searched as test Chi-square (n= 0,993). The test results suggest a significant relation between the cooperative size and use of the budget as a tool to support the strategy and control. About interactivity, the tests indicate that there is no significant relationship between the cooperative's size and interaction between actors.