Time-based management practices: a study of Brazilian companies

Abstract

This study seeks to answer the following question: To what extent do Brazilian industrial companies value Time-Based Management? This study aims to determine whether the companies surveyed formalized goals and articulated actions at the strategic and operational levels of supply, production and customer relations activities. This study also seeks to identify whether the companies that more intensely value time-based management have a higher return on assets relative to other companies. To meet the objectives of the study, a sample of 97 companies were surveyed from among those listed as the largest companies in Exame Magazine's Biggest and Best ['Melhores e Maiores'] book, July 2009. Data were collected using two procedures: a survey instrument completed by corporate managers and a survey of published accounting information. The survey instrument was constructed based on the theoretical framework and was structured as forty-six questions divided into four blocks. An indication of the reliability of the survey instrument was provided by its Cronbach's alpha (89.9%). A literature review was initially performed on the topic, then the survey study was developed with managers from the companies included in the sample and finally the association was tested between the companies' valuation of time-based management and economic performance indicators. A data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics via normality tests: the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Levene's test for the homogeneity of variances, Student's t-test for independent samples, the Mann-Whitney test and the Chi-Square test for tables. A significance level of 5% was adopted for all statistical tests. It was found that the selected sample companies valued time-based management (using 78.58% of practices and indicators related to time-based management), but no association was found between a higher valuation of Time-Based Management and a greater Return on Assets (ROA).