AND NOW JOSE? COVID HAS ARRIVED. DEMAND HAS INCREASED. CONTROL WAS DELAYED.

Abstract

This case allows reflection on decision-making in companies based on their strategic planning and management artifacts in the face of a pandemic crisis scenario of the new Coronavirus (COVID-19). This case deals with Consultoria Ltda, a micro-company in the accounting, tax and audit consulting field, that is having difficulties monitoring/implementing management controls and undefined strategic plans, and needs to meet the even greater demand of its clients amidst the crisis arising from the pandemic. The partners found themselves overwhelmed by technical and administrative routines, considering the possibility of hiring an employee to help with administrative and financial controls. However, with the uncertainties of the market and about returning to work at the company’s facilities, the partners are faced with a dilemma: “Should we hire or not a new employee now? If hired, how to solve the physical space at the company’s headquarters?”. The information comes from adaptations of reality, obtained through interviews, documentary research and observation in meetings and meetings with partners. This teaching case is intended for the study of decision making based on strategic planning and management tools facing scenarios of financial uncertainty or not, in order to discuss and rethink production and development bottlenecks in a microenterprise. Its use in the classroom can occur through gamification, dividing the class into small teams.