Investigation of the conditional factors of working in micro and small enterprises: a strategical groups approach

Abstract

In a general way, micro and small enterprises (MPEs) are attractive for their rentability, but, because of some deficiencies in short term financial administration, they work in a high risk of bankruptcy. In this context, this paper aimed to identify and analyze the acting of strategical groups of MPEs according to the methodologies and practices in the working capital conduction, taking as reference the city of Viçosa, MG. In this paper, in which it was used the exploratory quantitive approach, 172 MPEs proprietors were interviewed, and this fact, through the factorial analyses followed by the cluster analyses, enables the identification of three groups with distincts characteristics, basing in restrictive aspects of risk of bankruptcy in these enterprises: low risk, medium risk, and high risk. Despite of the fact that it was noticeable a low risk of bankruptcy group, it is evident the importance of the short term financial administration in the region studied, since the maintenance of a correct administration is far from being unannimous because of the classification of nearly 30% of the enterprises in medium and high risk of bankruptcy groups. To finish, the identification of the enterprises with similar strategies and the best practices used in the short term financial administration can be an aplication instrument in the enterprises classified in medium and high risk of bankruptcy, since some conditioning factors of the risk of bankruptcy were identified.