Abstract

PARRA-ACOSTA, José Fabián  and  PENA-GONZALEZ, Yeimy Carolina. The Theory of Hidden Costs -Performances: A Theoretical Approach. Cuad. Contab. [online]. 2014, vol.15, n.spe39, pp.725-743. ISSN 0123-1472.  https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.cc15-39.tcdo.

This document makes a theoretical approach to the concept of hidden costs, understanding these as the malfunctions resulting from the interaction between organizational structures and human behaviors. These costs are labeled às 'hidden' às they cannot be seen by traditional accounting systems because they do not have the characteristics of visible cost. These makes that their very existence and amount are ignored when it comes to taking most organizational decisions. French professors Henri Savall and Véronique Zardet, along with their study group from the Institut de socio-économie des entreprises et des organizations (Company and Organizations Socio-Economic Institute, ISEOR) of the Lyon University, have worked on the development of a method that allows measuring hidden costs. For his purpose they generated a series of indicators aiming at the determination and elimination of the existing hidden costs in an organization. Savall and Zarden have designed two management models from the analysis of hidden costs - performances: the Socioeconomic Management Model, which allows for the association between the economic performance of the company (technical and commercial), and the social and human; and the HORI-VERT Model (HORIzontal - VERTical), which proposes the improvement of the integral quality of organizations (internal and external) and increasing the economic and social performance. This articles aims to be the basis for future research on this topic by showing, by means of a theoretical approach, how these models allow organizations to obtain greater benefits without investing more on them, thus improving their organizational management.

Keywords : management accounting; costs; hidden costs; hidden performances; malfunctions.

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