Sucesso econômico e perfil estrategista-empreendedor de produtores rurais: o caso Nilo Coelho

Abstract

This paper had the purpose to verify the incident of possible positive association between the "Entrepreneur-Strategist profile" of the rural undertakers' and attainment of economical success in the agncultural activity. The study was conducted in the area of irrigated perimeter Senator Nilo Coelho, in Petrolina(PE) The population included 65 productive units and the sample consisted of eleven rural undertakers chosen in a aleatory manner, representing 16,92% of the total The data referring to the agricultural year of 1993/1994 was collected, by the author, between the month of January and February of 1995, making use of previously structured forms. Aiming the objectives of this study was necessity to construct a "likert-type" scale of attitudes, with the scope of marking and classifying the undertakers rural following the larger or smaller tendency of thinking/acting in a strategic enterprising way. To measure the level of economical success of theses farmers, criteria of rate of return over investment and value of the relation benefit/cost were used In possession of this data, test of correlation between points obtained on the scale and economical results gained were applied choosing a 5% probability level of significance. The following results were found: l) the rural undertakers of the irrigated perimeter Senator Nilo Coelho presented a good level of strategic knowledge and entrepreneuring ability, being located on a scale in which the inferior limit was 53 points, 48,18% of the possible, and a superior limit of 96 points corresponding to 87,27% of the maximum possible; 2) following the economical success criterion adopted in the research, only two undertakers can be considered unsuccessful. The rate of return over investment average was situated at 21 80% and the average of benefit/cost relation at 1,44, which expresses a good economical performance of these farmers; 3) the tests of correlation applied indicate the existence of positive and significant correlation between the "Entrepreneur- Strategist" profile of the rural undertakers and the economical success of the agricultural activity, situating these coefficients at 0,66 under the return over investment criterion and 0,67 for benefit/cost relation criterion, both significant at 5% probability. The results of this paper brings us to the conclusion that the difference in the economical results of the rural enterprises, situated in similar environmental context, can be explained by the difference between the administrators personal characteristics; and those undertakers that come closer to the "Entrepreneur-Strategist" profile, have greater chances of being successful while exploring agricultural activities.