Isomorfismo institucional e aspectos operacionais do target costing: evidências no polo calçadista da Paraíba

Abstract

Strategic cost management has established itself as a relevant field in management accounting. In this context, Target Costing is configured as a strategic profit planning model, whose analysis has predominantly focused on normative and technical-functionalist approaches, emphasizing principles, expected benefits, and impacts on organizational performance. Institutional Theory, particularly New Institutional Sociology, posits that isomorphic pressures coercive, mimetic, and normative, influence the adoption of organizational practices, leading organizations within the same field to become progressively similar. Despite the evident relevance of these approaches, studies articulating Target Costing with institutional isomorphism in the context of Brazilian micro and small industrial enterprises remain scarce. Given this gap, this thesis aims to analyze how the different dimensions of institutional isomorphism are associated with the operational aspects of Target Costing in footwear industries in Paraíba, Brazil. The research is characterized as exploratory-descriptive, with a quantitative approach, operationalized through a survey with a hybrid data collection mode (remote self-completion and researcher-assisted in- person application) conducted among footwear industries in Paraíba. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Cronbach's alpha coefficient to assess construct reliability, Spearman's correlation, and the Kruskal-Wallis test. Both constructs exhibited high reliability (α = 0.932 and α = 0.880, respectively). The results revealed that mimetic isomorphism constitutes the primary institutional force associated with Target Costing adoption, with 93.3% of statistically significant correlations, including strong correlations with the Allowable and Target Cost stage. Coercive isomorphism exhibited a selective pattern (73.3% of significant correlations), with customer pressures standing out as centrally associated with the Cost Management stage. Normative isomorphism, in turn, showed limited association (10.0% of significant correlations). The Kruskal-Wallis tests revealed homogeneity in practice adoption among the investigated firms, with only 8.3% of the 120 comparisons showing significant differences, providing evidence of institutionalization processes within the organizational field. Accordingly, the proposed thesis was partially supported: the different dimensions of institutional isomorphism are associated, at varying intensities, with the operational aspects of Target Costing, with a predominance of mimetic and coercive pressures and limited association of normative pressures. On a theoretical level, this research contributes by integrating Target Costing into the New Institutional Sociology perspective, empirically demonstrating the hierarchy among isomorphic dimensions in the context of micro and small industrial enterprises and showing that the homogeneity of practices among firms of different sizes and locations constitutes evidence of institutionalization. On a practical level, the findings offer insights for managers by reinforcing the importance of aligning cost management practices with market demands, and for sectoral entities by signaling the need to rethink strategies for disseminating management practices in industrial clusters composed of micro and small enterprises, prioritizing mechanisms that enhance the exchange of experiences among firms.