Educação gerencial: a formação de gestores de agronegócios em Goiás

Abstract

Management education is a field of study that has become perceptible in the last forty years, recognized as a way to train people and develop management skills within business schools. Agribusiness in the state of Goiás is the field of application of this study. Brazilian agriculture is significant for: employability, trade balance and GDP. Agribusiness organizations are impacted by technological changes that promote efficiency and productivity, but in some cases they do not guarantee profitability. This fact leads the people involved in management to present needs and demands for knowledge and skills, as new technologies lead to disqualification or the reduction of skills (deskilling). The requalification and training allow the maintenance of the updating and the levels of gain of these people, who bring results for the administration of the rural properties, agroindustrial systems and the sustainability. Knowledge is a strategic capability that is part of corporate equity, leads to competitive advantage and can be developed and enriched through training (FOJT, 1996). To address this challenge, it is argued that agribusiness managers can be trained and qualified in MBA programs that facilitate the development of their careers through a teaching focused on managerial practices, but for this the business schools need to consider the reformulation of the curricula and teaching methods of their programs. The research questions are: What knowledge and skills are needed for agribusiness managers? What is the curricular structure demands and managerial practice. There are no studies that consider the training and qualification of agribusiness managers. The documentary analysis, the interviews and observations allowed to identify sets of possibilities of specialization in Agribusiness Management. Cuttings, emphases and approaches are given by the programs through specific subjects and disciplines in several areas such as accounting, finance, cooperativism, associativism, family agriculture and others. While there are skills and knowledge gaps where education is needed (BERNON; MENA, 2013). The results of the interviews and observations show the relevance of networking, the professional experience of teachers and students in the MBA and disciplines such as human resource management, costs and finances. They also present the importance of the course design being aligned with the curricular structure. It is argued that the curricular structures of MBA programs in agribusiness must be redefined, adapted and implemented based on the demands and needs of managers and agribusinesses for knowledge and skills.