Cash conversion cycle and corporate performance: Global evidence

Working capital is an important area of finance that has not been studied as widely as it deserves. This study aims to contribute to the literature on working capital by analyzing its relationship ...

Working Capital and Profitability in Manufacturing Firms in Malaysia: An Empirical Study

While the direct impact of working capital management (WCM) and its components (accounts receivable in days (AR), accounts payable in days (AP) and inventory holding period (INV)) on firms’ profitability has been examined in the previous literature, the underlying channels of influence have remained largely unexplored. This study adopts a contingency theory approach to investigate the relationship between WCM and profitability controlling for selected corporate governance and company characteristics. The study has three main objectives. The first objective is to determine the relationship between working capital management and its components (AR, AP and INV) and profitability as per extant research. The second objective of the research is to determine whether the effect of working capital management on profitability of UK firms is contingent on the interaction of environmental (E), resource (R) and management (M) variables. The final objective is to determine whether the effect of the components of working capital management (AR, AP and INV) on profitability of UK firms is contingent on the interaction of ERM variables. These three objectives were met by the use of a panel data methodology on a series of interactive models. The data for the study is based on the annual financial reports of 225 London Stock Exchange listed firms for the period 2001-2011. In terms of the first objective, the study found a significant relationship between WCM and two of its components (AR and AP) and profitability. However, no relationship was found between WCM component (INV) and profitability. In terms of the second objective, the results indicate that the effect of WCM on profitability is significantly moderated by the interaction with ERM variables of the firm. Finally, the results of the third objective indicate that the effect of WCM components (AR, AP and INV) on profitability is significantly moderated by the interaction with ERM of the firm. In terms of the control variables, the study found a statistically significant relationship between the corporate governance factors (Chief Executive Officer (CEO) tenure and board size) and profitability. On the other hand, company specific characteristics variables (company size, financial leverage, assets tangibility liquidity ratio, cash flow and sales growth) were also found to have statistically significant effect on the profitability of firms. On the basis of this, the study concludes that firms can maximise the benefits and minimise the cost of investment in working capital by aligning their working capital management policies with their environment and also arrange their resources internally to support such alignment as postulated in the contingency framework as any misalignment could significantly affect the firms’ performance. As a result, the study suggests the need for policy makers to match organisational resources with opportunities and threats in the general business environment in order to improve their financial performance.

/pdf/working-capital-management-and-profitability-of-uk-firms-a-5ee7v51ije.pdf

Working capital management and profitability of UK firms : a contingency theory approach

This paper examines the relationship between the efficiency of working capital management (WCM) and the firm value, focusing on a large panel of Chinese listed companies. WCM which involves a trade-off between profitability and risk is a very important element of the financial management of the firm. The net trade cycle ( NTC ) and its components are used to measure efficiency of WCM, while the firm value is measured by the Tobin’s Q ratio. The study makes use of the panel data methodology to estimate the regression models. This study reports that the net trade cycle is negatively associated with firm value. More specially, the study finds that firm value is adversely affected by the number of days accounts receivable and inventories, indicating that working capital provides a real opportunity for financial executives to release cash and improve firms’ value. The findings of this study are consistent with the idea that managers can enhance firm value by efficiently managing the investment in working capital.

/pdf/efficiency-of-working-capital-management-and-firm-value-59bycv1xy3.pdf

Efficiency of Working Capital Management and Firm Value: Evidence From Chinese Listed Firms

This paper examines the influence of cash flow on the relationship between net working capital and firm performance. The paper employs unbalanced panel data regression analysis on a sample of 6,926 non-financial small and medium enterprises in the United Kingdom for the period from 2004 to 2013. 
The results indicate a strong concave relationship between net working capital and performance in the absence of cash flow; however, the relationship becomes convex after taking cash flow into consideration. The results further show that firms with cash flow below the sample median exhibit lower investment in working capital but firms with cash flow above the sample median have higher investment in working capital. The results suggest that managers should consider their firms cash flow when determining the appropriate investment to be made in working capital, so as to improve performance. 
Overall, the results suggest that whilst firms with limited cash flow should strive to reduce investment in working capital, firms with available cash flow should increase investment in working capital in order to improve performance. 
This current study incorporates the relevance of cash flow in assessing the association between WCM and firm performance.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm?abstractid=2643778

D.M. Semasinghe

Papers

Trends in working capital management and its impact on firms' performance : An analysis of Sri Lankan small and medium enterprises.

The effects of working capital management on profitability, liquidity, solvency and organic growth with special reference to SMEs: A review.