Optimization and the continuous improvement of processes are highly dependent on the management of actions related to identification, checking, and measurement of the costs generated during the production of the final product. The main objective of this article is to verify the occurrence of hidden costs of services rendered by a public company controlled by the Paraiba State government in Brazil. The occurrence of hidden costs incurred by this corporation was verified in terms of the most common organizational malfunctioning such as: waiting time, useless motion, overpay, overconsumption, rework, occupational accidents, absenteeism, idleness, and litigations. This study was based on semi-structured interviews conducted with workstation operators and in loco observation of workers' activities. It is important to highlight the occurrence of hidden costs that are not accounted by the traditional cost systems and their intangibility, which is not recognized by productivity measurement models, for example, the Soniano Model (SON, 1991). The approach to investigate hidden costs used in this study was based on the theoretical foundation developed by Savall and Zardet (1991). The research results indicated the occurrence of hidden costs, mainly derived from malfunctioning related to rework, waiting time, high staff turnover, and stress. In addition, it was verified that among the most common hidden costs observed, rework, and waiting time, identified in virtually all sectors, are the ones that affect the most the proper functioning of the organization.
Costs; Hidden costs; Service operations
