The Perception of Business Management at Group of a Small Family Farmers Coffee

Abstract

This paper aims to identify the management maturity of the small coffee farming units in eastern Minas Gerais state. It was a quantitative, descriptive, cross sectional survey. The primary data were obtained through the application of a questionaire composed of questions based on the four perspectives of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) model. The questionnaire was answered by 58 farmers. To confirm the presence of management maturity (Learning and Growth, Clients, Internal, and Financial) Spearman’s correlation test and ordinal regressions were performed for each explanatory variable. The results showed that, in the sample group, there is no maturity in business management, according to the four perspective of the BSC. Thefore, it is possible to admit that this sample of farmers does not use the BSC parameters as criterion to decide the direction of their business.