Classification of organizational culture in the perspective of management accounting: a study in agricultural cooperative companies

Abstract

Different aspects shape the behavior of management accounting practices in organizations; and organizational culture is one of the characteristics applied to analyze and explain certain practices and daily routines in the business environment. Thus, the general objective of the present study is to classify the organizational culture of the management accounting of agricultural cooperatives in the state of Paraná as a way of analyzing the possible similarities of cultural characterization. The cooperative ventures selected for the survey were 64 organizations of the agricultural sector associated with the Organization of Cooperative Companies of the State of Paraná (OCEPAR), a sector that increased 20% in the value of their sales revenues, even in the face of a scenario of economic crisis in Brazil. After sending the electronic questionnaire to the management accounting managers of the cooperatives, a total of 35 were completed, that is, 55% of the sample. According to the rules of the model, after analyzing the options indicated in the questions, it was possible to classify the predominant organizational culture in the management accounting of cooperatives. Typologies of Group/clan (45.7%), hierarchical (34.3%) and market (20%) were identified according to the model of Cameron and Quinn (1994) used as a basis. According to the model proposal, cooperatives with innovative cultural classification were not observed. In addition, groupings of cooperatives were carried out aimed at demonstrating the relationship between the predominant organizational culture characteristics. From the three groups found, the results showed that the management accounting of the agricultural cooperatives of Paraná have aspects such as traditionalism, human relations, conservatism, competitiveness, and productivity in the core of their organizational cultures.