Problem: High wage countries depend on SME's to lower unemployment, to trigger economic growth and to utilize the 'knowledge waste' created by large investments in human capital. However, due to their limited access to capital markets SME's are seen as unfavourably dependent on their own generation of internal funds to grow. Among SME's, IT firms are seen as most representative for this struggle, since they have i) a bad reputation within the public and institutional sector due to the dot-com era, and ii) assets with low collateral value (e.g. immaterial assets, human capital, knowledge, prototypes and ideas that all have unknown, unsecure and hard to predict second-hand or future values). Despite these unfavorable characteristics, some IT firms are growing considerably fast. What can we learn from them?  Purpose: Describe the financial situation of IT SME's. Investigate how those IT firms that are fast growing have grown and financed their growth, and how they have managed the effects of growth. Method: Due to the nature of the purpose a mixed method research approach was adopted. The quantitative investigation aimed at describing their fi-nancial situation and took the form of a statistical analysis of the entire IT firm population, using data from the Swedish database 'Affärsdata'. The qualitative approach took the form of telephone interviews with a sample of fast growing IT firms, to get closer to the reasoning behind their growth and it’s financing. This research approach enabled cross referencing, strengthening some of the empirical evidence found. Conclusion: Evidence was found on IT firms growing with assets of less collateral value resulting in low amounts of long term debt. Indications were found on the traditional life cycle perspective regarding SME finance has to be changed to fit IT firms; after surviving the first years of internal funding and years of overdependence on short term debt, they reach a stage (e.g. in a financial crisis, facing international expansion, or substantial R&D costs) when financial assistance is needed. Indications were also found on IT firms operating in a highly unpredictable environment demanding advanced cash management routines that today are not prioritized in favor of growth. To handle this, and to reach financial assistance when needed (most likely by involving a risk capitalist in exchange for firm ownership), those firms showing stability (i.e. through low personnel turnover, high profitability or a large cash buffer) seem to have been more successful.

<p><strong>Problem: </strong>High wage countries depend on SME's to lower unemployment, to trigger economic growth and to utilize the 'knowledge waste' created by large investments in human capital. However, due to their limited access to capital markets SME's are seen as unfavourably dependent on their own generation of internal funds to grow. Among SME's, IT firms are seen as most representative for this struggle, since they have i) a bad reputation within the public and institutional sector due to the dot-com era, and ii) assets with low collateral value (e.g. immaterial assets, human capital, knowledge, prototypes and ideas that all have unknown, unsecure and hard to predict second-hand or future values). Despite these unfavorable characteristics, some IT firms are growing considerably fast. What can we learn from them?  <strong></strong></p><p><strong>Purpose:</strong><strong> </strong>Describe the financial situation of IT SME's. Investigate how those IT firms that are fast growing have grown and financed their growth, and how they have managed the effects of growth.<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Method: </strong>Due to the nature of the purpose a mixed method research approach was adopted. The quantitative investigation aimed at describing their fi-nancial situation and took the form of a statistical analysis of the entire IT firm population, using data from the Swedish database 'Affärsdata'. The qualitative approach took the form of telephone interviews with a sample of fast growing IT firms, to get closer to the reasoning behind their growth and it’s financing. This research approach enabled cross referencing, strengthening some of the empirical evidence found.<strong></strong></p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Evidence was found on IT firms growing with assets of less collateral value resulting in low amounts of long term debt. Indications were found on the traditional life cycle perspective regarding SME finance has to be changed to fit IT firms; after surviving the first years of internal funding and years of overdependence on short term debt, they reach a stage (e.g. in a financial crisis, facing international expansion, or substantial R&D costs) when financial assistance is needed. Indications were also found on IT firms operating in a highly unpredictable environment demanding advanced cash management routines that today are not prioritized in favor of growth. To handle this, and to reach financial assistance when needed (most likely by involving a risk capitalist in exchange for firm ownership), those firms showing stability (i.e. through low personnel turnover, high profitability or a large cash buffer) seem to have been more successful.</p>

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:59:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 4 João Alberto Peres Brando.pdf.jpg: 2463 bytes, checksum: 7165283204747b7ad54315f2e7262618 (MD5) João Alberto Peres Brando.pdf.txt: 100624 bytes, checksum: f5f62a8bb7d8bea633703c05a47bc4c6 (MD5) license.txt: 4712 bytes, checksum: 4dea6f7333914d9740702a2deb2db217 (MD5) João Alberto Peres Brando.pdf: 302368 bytes, checksum: 4dc3c2f85699d0a9f7cd9f898cf0d860 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-02-10T00:00:00Z / The objective of this study is to investigate the determinants of trade credit supply by Brazilian publicly traded companies between the years of 2005 and 2008. International literature (both theoretical and empirical) documents that the main determinants of trade credit supply are the size of the firm and the size of its debt. Both indicate that the availability of resources to the firm is an important factor for the supply of trade credit. In addition the literature confirms strategic uses of trade credit such as those for price discrimination purposes. The results obtained using a sample consisted of 157 Brazilian companies do not support the former hypotheses but they confirm the supply of trade credit as a strategic tool for the firms. Additionally we observed a significant decrease in trade credit supply in 2008, the year in which a severe international financial crisis took place. / O objetivo deste trabalho é testar os determinantes da oferta de trade credit por companhias brasileiras de capital aberto, no período entre os anos de 2005 e 2008. Estudos internacionais, teóricos e empíricos, documentam que os principais determinantes são o tamanho e nível de endividamento das firmas, ambos indicando a disponibilidade de recursos nas firmas como fatores significantes na oferta de trade credit. Adicionalmente, esta literatura confirma usos estratégicos para o trade credit, como discriminação de preços entre clientes. Os resultados obtidos no presente estudo, utilizando-se uma amostra de 157 empresas brasileiras, não suportam as primeiras hipóteses, mas endossam a oferta de trade credit como elemento estratégico para estas firmas. Foi ainda observada uma significativa queda na oferta de trade credit em 2008, ano marcado por uma aguda crise financeira internacional.

Submitted by Renata Miyamoto (r.miyamoto@yahoo.com.br) on 2012-10-10T18:00:20Z No. of bitstreams: 1 A Cross-Country Study on Trade Credit Supply and Finanacial Crisis (FINAL).pdf: 4310586 bytes, checksum: dedda45b95f875881ebd6d0fb29985ff (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Eliene Soares da Silva (eliene.silva@fgv.br) on 2012-10-10T18:09:58Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 A Cross-Country Study on Trade Credit Supply and Finanacial Crisis (FINAL).pdf: 4310586 bytes, checksum: dedda45b95f875881ebd6d0fb29985ff (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2012-10-10T18:29:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 A Cross-Country Study on Trade Credit Supply and Finanacial Crisis (FINAL).pdf: 4310586 bytes, checksum: dedda45b95f875881ebd6d0fb29985ff (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-10-08 / O objetivo deste trabalho de pesquisa é investigar a oferta de crédito comercial durante períodos de crise financeira em seis países diferentes: Brasil, França, Alemanha, Itália, Espanha e Reino Unido, foram utilizadas informações de empresas de capital aberto entre 2000 e 2011. A literatura internacional documenta que durante o pico de crises financeiras a oferta de crédito comercial aumenta pois as companhias usam o crédito comercial como substituto e/ou complemento ao crédito bancário, apesar de após o momento de pico esta oferta diminui significantemente porque as empresas enfrentam problemas de liquidez causado por escassez de crédito. Mesmo que somente existam evidências pontuais de que a oferta de crédito comercial aumentou durante a crise financeira global de 2008, o efeito pós-crise é perceptível durante a crise Europeia de 2011, pois as empresas europeias diminuíram a oferta de crédito comercial, também evidenciando que estas companhias estavam confrontando problemas de administração de liquidez. Em relação ao uso de crédito comercial como ferramenta de transmissão de capital, nenhuma evidência foi encontrada para provar sua existência em tempo de crise financeira. / The objective of this research paper is to investigate the trade credit supply during financial crisis periods in six different countries: Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and United Kingdom, using information from public listed companies between the years 2000 and 2011. International literature documents that during the peak of financial crisis trade credit supply increases as companies use trade credit as substitute and/or complement to bank loans, although after the peak moment this supply decreases significantly because the firms face liquidity problems caused by credit shortage. Even though there is just punctual evidence that during the 2008 global financial crisis the trade credit supply increased, the post-crisis effect is noticeable during the 2011 European crisis as the European firms decreased the supply of trade credit, also evidencing that these companies were confronting liquidity management issues. Regarding the usage of trade credit as transmission tool, no evidence was found to prove that it happens during financial crisis periods.

The topic of the diploma thesis is the analysis of receivables management at the building company PRIMA, joint-stock company in the period from 2010 to 2014. The theoretical part characterizes the receivables from the legal, accounting and tax points of view. Then it is engaged in their life cycle and the problematic connected with the management, provision and receivables recovery per curiam or in an out-of-court way. In the practical part there is the analysis of the current plutonomic situation. It is followed by the introduction of the company and the evaluation of their current financial situation via the done financial analysis. The following part deals with the analysis of the receivables management which involves the structure, term of expiration and the ways of receivables recovery at the analysed company. The main data sources include the financial evidences, annual reports, special publications, articles, internal materials and the consultations with the management of the company. The output of the diploma thesis is the evaluation of the current status of the receivables management, eventual finding the deficiencies and the proposal of the concrete recommendations for their elimination for the purpose of the current adjusted system tuning.

Dans un contexte où l'importance de la Responsabilité Sociale des Entreprises (RSE) va croissante, cette thèse explore la relation entre la RSE et plusieurs attributs financiers des entreprises comme l'information spécifique incorporée dans le prix des actions, le risque de détresse financière des entreprises et le niveau de crédit commercial. Les chercheurs en finance d'entreprise présentent deux points de vue opposés sur la RSE: "Faire le bien est bon pour les affaires" et "La RSE crée des problèmes d'agence". Le premier chapitre aborde brièvement les théories analysant les répercussions financière de la RSE et met en évidence les avantages financiers concomitants aux pratiques responsables. Les entreprises socialement responsables améliorent l'environnement informationnel ce qui complète l'information financière. Dans le deuxième chapitre, nous montrons que la RSE joue un rôle important dans l'amélioration de l'information incorporée dans les cours boursiers. Une meilleure performance RSE est appréciée par les investisseurs et les gestionnaires d'actifs et améliore la disponibilité des financements. Le troisième chapitre explique que les entreprises peuvent atténuer leur risque de détresse financière (Z-score) en améliorant leur performance en matière de RSE. Des entreprises plus responsables promeuvent de meilleures relations avec les parties prenantes grâce à un objectif de confiance et de maximisation de la valeur. Dans le quatrième chapitre, nous constatons que les entreprises socialement responsables ont un meilleur accès au financement (côté fournisseur du crédit commercial) et font plus confiance à leurs clients (côté acheteur du crédit commercial). Par conséquent, cette dissertation fournit un ensemble de résultats soulignant la pertinence et l'importance de "Faire le bien est bon pour les affaires". / In the context of the rapidly growing importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), this dissertation explores the relationship between CSR and firm financial attributes, like stock price informativeness, financial distress risk, and trade credit. First chapter briefly discusses the theories of CSR and highlights the financial advantages of favorable CSR practices. Corporate finance researchers present two opposite views on CSR, “Doing good is good for business” and “CSR creates agency problems”. In the second chapter, we testify this association and find that CSR plays an important role to improve the information impounding in stock prices. Socially responsible firms improve the financial information environment. Third chapter elaborates that firms can mitigate their financial distress risk (Z-score) through improved CSR performance. Firm better CSR performance is appreciated by the investors and asset managers and it improves the availability of finance. In fourth chapter, we find that socially responsible firms have better access to finance (supplier side of trade credit) and have more trust on their stakeholders (buyer side of trade credit). Better CSR firms promote the better relationship with stakeholders through trust and value maximization goal. Therefore, this dissertation provides evidence on the importance of “Doing good is good for business”.

ABSTRACT Title: Working Capital Management in Telecommunication sector: A case study of VGC telecoms Author: Gbenga Segun Akinwande Supervisor: Anders Hederstierna Department: School of Management, Blekinge Institute of Technology Course: Master’s thesis in business administration, 15 credits (ECTS). Background and Problem Discussion: The efficient management of working capital is very vital for a business survival. This is premised on the fact having too much working capital signifies inefficiency, whereas too little cash at hand signifies that the survival of business is shaky. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to study the working capital management in the small and medium scale businesses, using VGC Telecoms Company as a case study, so as to establish factors influencing working capital performance; examine how cash management, inventory management and trade credit management affects working capital management; company effectiveness in converting working capital to ready money; how working capital management impacts on the problem of slow development and to offer recommendations on possible ways of improving working capital management Method: Literatures bordering on different areas of working capital management were reviewed. Thus, this research employed qualitative and quantitative analysis; and semi- structured questions were drafted based on the issues raised from the review of various literatures. In addition, materials from journal articles, textbooks, working papers and industry practitioners are put into consideration. The use of internet and e-mails to send out questions were explored where appropriate. Analysis on the company’s financial statement was carried out in order to verify my findings. Theory: In this research, the theory section looks at various concepts that come up when analyzing the consequences of working capital management for company value and the factors that influence a company’s working capital management performance. I have therefore chosen the most common concept for the theory section. I have also tried to create a theoretical understanding for the company’s sensitivity to a workable WCM policy Analysis: In the analysis of the research findings, I employed qualitative approach to the data analysis whereby the impacts of the poor WCM on the company were discussed in depth. Conclusion: The findings corroborate the postulation of Weston et al that a company’s investment in working capital is a substantial percentage of its total investment. In case of VGC Telecoms, it is as high as 65 percent. An inefficient and ineffective management of this investment will result in slow pace of development and ultimately to the business failure. The performances of the company in the different spheres of working capital management were scored as follows:- • Cash management – 65.4 percent • Inventory management - 78.6 percent • Trade credit management and financing decisions - 60.0 percent This is an average performance of 68 percent. That is, the company’s performance is above average. This is a good performance. The financial statements as interpreted reinforce the validity of this result. The liquidity ratios are high; the collection period is short; and the cash cycle is not quite expansive. This makes it possible to sustain sufficient cash flow for the smooth running of the business. The management of working capital impacts on liquidity, investment portfolio and profitability. All these three factors are decisive in the growth or failure of a business. Hence, good performances in working capital management affects these decisive factors favourably and thus, contribute to growth and success of the business.

Modeföretagen i Sverige 2015 befinner sig i en mycket konsumentstyrd bransch där trender uppstår och passerar snabbt, vilket ger en bransch som ständigt förser marknaden med nya varor. Mode är samtidigt råvaruintensiv och lämnar ett avtryck i miljön som påverkar alla. Konsumenterna ställer nu allt högre krav på att varor är producerade mer hållbart och under socialt ansvarstagande, CSR, i alla led. Modeföretagen ansvarar för en produktion av varor som främst sker i länder med lägre kostnad för arbetskraft, vilket medför svårigheter i form av kontroll då avstånden är långa. Vilken relation företaget har till sina leverantörer har således kommit att spela en allt mer avgörande roll. Syftet med uppsatsen är att genom en fallstudie undersöka och analysera de överväganden som producerande aktörer på den svenska modemarknaden gör vid val av leverantörer, för att på så sätt belysa de svårigheter de anser finns och vad som är viktigt för deras framgång. Metoden som använts är semistrukturerade intervjuer inom fallstudiens ramar. Sekundärdata har samlats in från press, företagens hemsidor och från mailkorrespondens med branschorganisationer. Fallstudien visar att relationen företagen har till sina leverantörer är väldigt viktig för dess framgång. Ett bra leverantörssamarbete ökar företagens chanser till både hållbar produktion och ger en ökad möjlighet till finansiering genom handelskredit. En bra leverantörsrelation ökar även företagens möjligheter till flexibilitet från leverantörens sida med snabbare leveranser som bättre kan möta kundens efterfrågan och minska risken för felbedömningar. Långa avstånd anses som ett problem för modeföretagen och de söker därför närmare produktion inom EU som ger kortare ledtider, en möjlighet till bättre leverantörsrelationer samt ett underlättande av likvärdiga kemikalielagar.

This dissertation is made of four distinct chapters. In the first chapter, I consider an exogenous restriction on the ability of French trucking firms to extend payment terms to their clients. I find that they provide trade credit at the cost of lower investment, lower return on assets, and higher default risk. In the second chapter, I show that private equity funds with a longer horizon select younger companies at an earlier stage of their development. Companies which receive funding from funds with a longer horizon increase their patent stock significantly more than companies which receive funding from investors with a shorter horizon. The third chapter presents a joint work with Ron Kaniel and David Sraer. We use detailed brokerage account data to provide a quantitative exploration of the behavior of retail investors during the financial crisis of 2008. We show that investors who appear more sophisticated on these dimensions in the pre-crisis period were, in the post-crisis period, less likely to flee to safety, more likely to engage in liquidity provisions and to earn higher returns. In the fourth chapter, I develop the idea that households have an imprecise knowledge of their portfolio's exposure to systematic risk and that this leads them to make investment mistakes. This idea is tested in the context of the decision to actively trade rather than passively invest in the stock market

Tyrimo objektas-– pirkėjų skolų valdymas smulkaus verslo įmonėje. Tyrimo tikslas – atlikus pirkėjų skolų valdymo tiriamoje įmonėje analizę, sudaryti pirkėjų skolų valdymo modelį ir jį praktiškai pritaikyti. Uždaviniai : 1. Atlikti pirkėjų skolų valdymo UAB „Raimeda“ analizę ir identifikuoti pirkėjų skolų valdymo problemas. 2. Išanalizavus ir apibendrinus ankstesnius mokslinius tyrimus, sudaryti pirkėjų skolų valdymo modelį. 3. Sudarytą pirkėjų skolų valdymo modelį pritaikyti tiriamoje įmonėje“. Tyrimo metodai. Šio darbo rašymo metu buvo naudojami analizės ir sintezės, santykinių rodiklių skaičiavimo, palyginimo, finansinių rodiklių horizontalios bei vertikalios analizės metodai. Taip pat buvo naudojamasi prekinio kreditavimo valdymo klausimais užsienio bei lietuvių autorių parengtais straipsniais, informaciniais leidiniais bei internetinėse svetainėse surasta informacija. Tyrimo rezultatai • pirmojoje darbo dalyje išnagrinėta tiriamos įmonės finansinė padėtis bei pirkėjų skolų valdymo problemos. • antrojoje darbo dalyje išanalizuoti ir apibendrinti moksliniai tyrimai bei sudarytas pirkėjų skolų valdymo modelis. • trečiojoje darbo dalyje pasiūlytas pirkėjų skolų valdymo modelis testuotas tiriamos įmonės sąlygomis. Sukurtas pirkėjų skolų valdymo modelis detaliai nurodė pirkėjų patikimumo, jų reitingavimo bei prekinio kreditavimo sąlygų nustatymo kriterijus, pradelstų skolų išieškojimo metodus. / Research object - buyers' debt management in small business company. Research aim - to analyze buyers' debt management problems of target company, to create buyers' debt management model and test it in this company. Objectives : 1. to analyze methods of buyers' debt management in JCS "Raimeda" and identify the buyers' debt management problems in this company; 2. to create buyers' debt management model; 3. to implement the created buyers' debt management model in the target company. Research methods: analysis and synthesis, relative ratio calculations, comparison, horizontal and vertical analysis. Research results: • The company's financial position and buyers' debt management problems are analyzed in the first part of the work. • The second part, after analyzing and summarizing the previous research, presents the buyers' debt management model. • The third part presents results of the proposed buyers' debt management model implementation and testing in the target company. The buyers' debt management model shows detailed buyers' reliability, their rating and credit terms criteria, overdue debt recovery practices for small businesses company.