Small and Medium Enterprises in Brazil: A Comprehensive Study of the Manager’s View of the Business

Abstract

Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in Brazil are factors of great economic importance, for they represent employment for more than fifty six million people. When we consider the country’s overall population of two hundred million inhabitants we can understand the magnitude of such economic segment, and it means that it is responsible for the sustainability of the employment structure. As in any economic activity, it depends on efficiency and that means specialized management, low costs, low waste, high competitiveness: these factors assure the sustainability of such enterprises in the market. Apart from these factors, which are internal to the management, there are external factors that influence the enterprises’ performance, such as policies to foster development, financial cost, qualified work force, the tax burden, value of local currency weighted against foreign currencies, and other factors. Management compliant with this matrix of factors is dependent upon the managers’ vision. This comprehension by the managers about the different internal and external factors that influence the enterprise shall define the organizational culture that will prevail in this type of enterprises. For this study, we have researched the vision of SME’s managers as far as internal and external factors that influence the management of enterprises.