Micro and small business management

study in restaurants of region metropolitan of Campinas

Abstract

The objective of this study was to present the contributions of the theory of contingency and the understanding of the variables that interfere in the process of management and decision-making in restaurants in the Metropolitan Region of Campinas. The sample investigated was non-probabilistic and for convenience. Two restaurants in each city of the RMC, composed of twenty municipalities, were selected, totaling a sample of forty restaurants. The proposal of associating contingency theory with the restaurant segment of the region had as premise to analyze the contingent factors of micro and small companies (MSCs) and the relevance that the restaurants have had in everyday life. Considering the studies by Donaldson (2001), Woodward (1965), Guerra (2007), Espejo (2008), Chenhal (2007), it was possible to know and understand that each company has its own limitations and there is no prescriptive form developed by any of existing theories that may be effective for all companies, but there are contingent factors. As a result, it was found that even with an incipient business management process, a combination of some of the variables to which the establishments and their respective owners are subjected, it is possible for a micro and small company to respond satisfactorily to the contingent factors, since one of its main advantage is to be close to customers and to be able to respond immediately to their wishes. This study contributes to the use of contingency theory in the management and decision-making process of MSCs, rather than a large organization.

Keywords: Theory of contingency. Business management. Decision making. Restaurant.