Purpose

The capacity to plan, manage and control small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is critical to realising their organisational goals. This paper assesses the effectiveness and perception of budgeting and budgetary control systems among SMEs.

Design/methodology/approach

Relying on the goal-setting theory (GST) and a methodology that accommodates questionnaires, data were collected from 170 manufacturing SMEs located in Cape Town, South Africa.

Findings

Research results affirm that the deployment of budgeting benefits from a positive perception of the value of budgeting and budgetary controls by key SME stakeholders. The study also finds that the perception of budgeting mirrors the level of education of SME operators, as educated respondents understand the value of implementing robust budgeting systems. Despite its focus on manufacturing SMEs, this study suggests that the manufacturing budget is the least utilised budgeting system among these organisations.

Practical implications

The study reinforces the communication power of budgeting and budgetary controls as SMEs and economic agents are not only aware of corporate objectives but are equally incentivised to support the attainment of these objectives.

Originality/value

Despite the extensive application of GST among scholars, its use in budgeting and budgetary control literature, particularly among SMEs in developing contexts, is limited. In line with GST, this study indicates that when agents establish and implement a plan, they are motivated to pursue and realise the set expectations while consistently evaluating themselves for improvement opportunities.

中文翻译：

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中小企业预算和预算控制评估：来自发展中经济体的证据

目的

规划、管理和控制中小型企业 (SME) 的能力对于实现其组织目标至关重要。本文评估了中小企业预算编制和预算控制系统的有效性和认知度。

设计/方法/方法

依靠目标设定理论 (GST) 和容纳问卷的方法，从位于南非开普敦的 170 家制造业中小企业收集数据。

发现

研究结果证实，预算编制受益于关键中小企业利益相关者对预算编制和预算控制价值的积极认识。该研究还发现，对预算的看法反映了中小企业经营者的教育水平，因为受过教育的受访者了解实施稳健预算系统的价值。尽管该研究侧重于制造业中小型企业，但该研究表明，制造业预算是这些组织中使用最少的预算编制系统。

实际影响

该研究加强了预算编制和预算控制的沟通能力，因为中小企业和经济代理人不仅了解公司目标，而且同样有动力支持实现这些目标。

原创性/价值

尽管 GST 在学者中得到了广泛应用，但它在预算编制和预算控制文献中的使用，尤其是在发展中的中小型企业中的使用是有限的。与商品及服务税一致，本研究表明，当代理人制定和实施计划时，他们有动力去追求和实现既定的期望，同时不断评估自己以寻求改进机会。