This master thesis is focused on operating working capital and its implication towards corporate performance in the retail industry in a relevant business framework that takes into account structural changes in the industry. Our results suggest that there is a negative relationship between cash conversion cycle and corporate performance. Therefore, the management of retail companies should focus on shortening the cash conversion cycle to create value. However, in the apparel retail industry, companies with exceptionally long cash conversion cycles are better off keeping working capital investments high as those companies generate on the WC higher profitability than are the opportunity costs for this allocated capital. Finally, we have not found enough evidence to conclude that investment strategies based on the cash conversion cycle are able to generate alpha. However, there seems to be a sign of persistence for value-weighted portfolios. JEL Classification G31, G32 Keywords Working capital, Working capital management, Cash Conversion Cycle, Retail Author's e-mail michael.dibon@gmail.com Supervisor's e-mail ales.cornanic@gmail.com

The objective of this three-essay dissertation are to develop a weighted cash conversion cycle (CCC_EVA) and empirically investigate its commensurability of corporate financial performance. Essay 1, titled "Supply Chain Finance: Developing a Weighted Cash Conversion Cycle to Proxy Operations Liquidity", presents the development and supporting empirical evidence of CCC_EVA measurability of operations liquidity. This essay shows the processes of scaling capital intensity and financing cost into time intervals captured by the traditional metric. Specifically, this essay investigates how accurately CCC_EVA indexes operations liquidity captured working capital, operational cash flow-to-modified working capital ratio, and quick ratio. The sample used in this essay consists of 4,333 firm-year observations of publicly traded industry classified firms listed on the U.S. exchange markets. The results of the empirical testing have statistically supported the essay hypotheses, that is CCC_EVA is a more accurate proxy of operations liquidity in comparison to the traditional metric (CCC_D). Essay 2, titled "Supply Chain Finance: Weighted Cash Conversion Cycle and Corporate Finance", expands the first essay findings by accounting for well-known financial measurements. Specifically, this essay examines the relations between CCC_EVA and operations liquidity and leverage, Market value, operating profitably and growth, and long-term asset management efficiency. This essay paper has used a sample of 24,127 firm-year observations of publicly traded firms listed on U.S. exchange markets from 1994 to 2016. The results support and extend the previous findings, that is CCC_EVA is a robust proxy of operations liquidity and can enhance its resiliency; maximize market value of corporate equity and debt; identify strategies to improve corporate profitability and credibility. Essay 3, titled "Supply Chain Finance: An Advanced Weighted Cash Conversion Cycle", advances the accuracy of CCC_EVA by differentiating between cash and credit forms of corporate sales and purchase transactions, and introducing operational cash flow into CCC_EVA. The advanced metric allows differences in inventory carrying cost and capital costs to be sources of the economic value added (EVA). Within a longitudinal case-based approach, the results show that the advanced metric is a potential decision tool to leverage on supply chain diversity and capitalize on its relation dynamics. Specifically, the implantation of the advanced metric can minimize the overall SC weighted average cost of capital (WACC) and its inventory carry cost (ICC); boost EVA of SC activities; and hedge liquidity risk. This three-essay dissertation has addressed the academic skepticism about CCC_D‘s commensurability by developing an advanced weighted metric (CCC_EVA) that accounts for capital intensity and financing cost. The three essays provide evidence of CCC_EVA testability and its adequacy of presenting corporate financial performance. The findings of this dissertation contribute to both industry and academia. Industry practitioners can implement CCC_EVA as a strategic decision instrument to balance SC liquidity distribution and resilience; hedge default risk of hidden deep-tier SC partners; increase overall SC profitability and creditability; boost equity value; and reveal existing opportunities of SC's EVA sources. Academically, these three essays initiate a fundamental and much-needed step for scholars to advance a systematically published metric, which can contribute to the implications, innovations, and knowledge of the SCF domain.

Bakgrund Rörelsekapitalet är ett företags livsnerv, det kan öppna upp för nya affärsmöjligheter; upprätthålla och förbättra kundrelationer samt föra nya produkter och teknologi till marknaden. Samtidigt kan dess hantering vara avgörande för om företaget riskerar att bli insolvent och gå i konkurs. Hur rörelsekapitalet hanteras är därmed av yttersta vikt för ett företag, då det påverkar företagets lönsamhet, likviditet och risk. Detta borde vara av intresse för investerare som vill maximera sin avkastning och för företagsledare som önskar maximera verksamhetens genererade vinst. Syfte Studiens ämnar analysera vikten av rörelsekapitalets hantering för nyintroducerade svenska företag och hur det påverkar deras finansiella prestation och värdeutveckling i en tid av ekonomisk tillväxt. Metod Detta är en kvantitativ studie med en deduktiv ansats. Finansiella data kommer analyseras över en tidsperiod på fem, fyra eller tre år beroende på när företagen introduceras på börsen vilket gör det till en longitudinell studie. Vidare används korrelationsmatris och regressioner för att analysera variablernas samband och därmed besvara studiens syfte. Slutsats Resultatet pekar på ett negativt samband mellan rörelsekapitalshantering och lönsamhet, positivt samband mellan rörelsekapitalshantering och likviditet samt ett negativt samband mellan rörelsekapitalshantering och värdeutveckling. / Introduction Working capital is the life blood of a company. It is an enabler of business opportunities; a sustainer and improver of businessrelations and also an envoy of new products and technology. The management of working capital decides if a company might become insolvent or even file for bankrupcy. How the working capital is managed is therefore of utmost importancet to a company, since it detirmines the company's performance, liquidity and risk. Hence, it should be of import to prospect investors that want to maximize the return of the investment and also decision makers who wishes to maximize the operational profits. Purpose The purpose of this study is to analyze the importance of efficient working capital management and its effect on financial performance and firm value for Swedish IPO companies during an economic boom. Methodology This is a quantiative study utilizing a deductive approach. Financial data is analysed over a period of five, four or three years depending on when the IPO occured, which classifies this as a longitudinal study. A correlation matrix and regressions will be used to establish the relationships between the variables and thereby fulfill the purpose of the study. Findings The resuslts indicate a negative correlation between CCC and profitability, a positive correlation between CCC and liquidity and a negative correlation between CCC and Tobin's Q.

Ausgehend vom Bedarf an unternehmensinternen, relativ marktunabhängigen Maßnahmen zur Stärkung der Innenfinanzierungskraft von Unternehmen, kann die angestrebte Liquiditätssicherung und Ertragsstabilisierung aus einer effizienten Steuerung der Working-Capital-beeinflussenden Prozesse hervorgehen. Der vorliegende Beitrag fokussiert dabei die definitorische Abgrenzung des Working Capital und des Working Capital Management. Außerdem werden die finanziellen Wirkungen des WCM aufgezeigt. Eine detaillierte Betrachtung der das Working-Capital-beeinflussenden Prozesse verdeutlicht die Komplexität des Prozessgefüges und die Notwendigkeit eines ganzheitlichen Ansatzes zur Working-Capital-Steuerung.

This thesis studies the relationship between efficient working capital management and firm profitability, and if the global financial crisis has affected the relationship. Previous literature has presented inconsistent results regarding the impact of working capital management on firm profitability, finding both negative and positive effects. It has also been argued that the global financial crisis has increased the attention of and possibly changed the attitude towards working capital management as a strategy in order to increase firm profitability. In the study, the cash conversion cycle is used as a measure for working capital management, and return on assets as a measure for firm profitability. The sample in this thesis consists of 1170 observations from 78 Swedish listed companies over the time-period 2003–2017. Both multiple regression analysis and an independent-sample t-test were conducted in order to examine the given relationship. The findings of this thesis indicate that firms can increase their profitability by implementing efficient working capital management. However, the global financial crisis has not brought a change in companies' working capital management.

The cash conversion cycle which is a very important indicator measures how efficient a company manages its working capital. This indicator clearly points the effect of a company business operation from the cash flow point of view. Basically, it is an excellent systematic financial system that includes the function which will fully describe the important parts of daily operation behavior of a company. According to this study, the cash conversion cycle can completely show the skeleton of working capital management and its own business operation character of a company. By using the cash conversion cycle as a base, the model of working capital management cycle is created from a system dynamics method. A close-tight and highly dependent relationship between revenue and profit growth rate with the cash conversion cycle is illustrated in this model by inputting some criteria. The illustration shows: 1.The cash conversion cycle will affect a company¡¦s profitability. 2.The cash conversion cycle will affect Cash flow shortage risk. 3.The cash conversion cycle focuses on the period of time between ¡§payment and receiving¡¨. When a company¡¦s revenue increases substantially but profit is not increased accordingly, the length of time between payments and receiving shows a gap is created by increasing cash payments on production but less increasing or decreasing cash receiving on sales. This gap will gradually cause cash outflow greater than cash inflow. Although the account indicates that the company is profitable, the company business operation will still suffer from the cash shortage eventually. Of course, the company¡¦s strong refinancing ability may solve this problem. However, if the company has problem of refinancing and increasing its operation capital, the raising cash outflow from the gap will trigger off a counterintuitive of ¡§bankruptcy from the technical insolvency ¡§.

A shift in focus from growing revenues towards managing working capital could be observed in many companies in the recession that followed the financial crisis of 2008. This thesis therefore investigates the relation between working capital management (WCM) and revenue growth by examining 36 Swedish companies within the IT & Telecom, Wholesale, and Manufacturing industries. The results show that there currently is a general gap between the perceived and actual performance regarding WCM and the effects on revenue growth. The studied companies report a belief that no trade-off between WCM and revenue growth exists. However, the actual performance in the studied industries indicates that increases in revenues often are not justifiable in proportion to the increases in net working capital (NWC). The study also shows that responsibility for WCM and implementation of WCM decisions are to a high extent assigned to a centralized organizational level. Recommendations derived from this study are that while companies need a centralized responsibility for WCM decisions, the responsibility also needs to be decentralized for successful implementation. Furthermore, the NWC development in relation to revenue growth needs to be continually monitored.

Submitted by Fabiola Gama (fpgama@santander.com.br) on 2012-09-05T11:28:04Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao - Fabiola Gama - 2012 07 31 - Final.pdf: 203848 bytes, checksum: bab4e2c60e01193f5368da8f74b3692e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Suzinei Teles Garcia Garcia (suzinei.garcia@fgv.br) on 2012-09-05T13:04:18Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao - Fabiola Gama - 2012 07 31 - Final.pdf: 203848 bytes, checksum: bab4e2c60e01193f5368da8f74b3692e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2012-09-05T13:24:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao - Fabiola Gama - 2012 07 31 - Final.pdf: 203848 bytes, checksum: bab4e2c60e01193f5368da8f74b3692e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-07 / The main objective of this paper is to determine how the working capital of a company that has excess profitability relates to that of the industry’s average profitability. The combined effect on profitability of the three main components of working capital—inventory, accounts receivable, and accounts payable—was analyzed through the cash cycle, as were the separate effects of working capital’s components on excess returns through receivables, inventory, and payables turnover. In addition, it was checked if variations in a company’s leverage and the prevailing interest rate could maximize the effects of changes in working capital on a company’s excess returns. Data for all companies listed on three exchanges, the BM&FBOVESPA (Brazil), BMV (Mexico), and BCBA (Argentina), were extracted from the Economática database for 2004-2011. The panel data method for econometric estimates was adopted and the Hausman test was used to choose between employing the fixed or random effects model. For Brazil, a negative relationship was proven to exist between investment in working capital and excess returns. On the other hand, receivables, inventory, and payables turnovers were not statistically significant factors at 5%, which implies that the combined effect of working capital’s three main components on excess profitability outweigh their individual influences on a company’s profitability. While it was confirmed that leverage influences investments in working capital, increasing the impact on excess returns for companies listed in Brazil, no such relationship was observed for fluctuations in interest rates. Overall, the results for Mexico and Argentina showed less statistical significance. / O objetivo principal do presente trabalho é determinar de que forma o capital de giro se relaciona com o excesso de rentabilidade de uma empresa ante a média do setor a que pertence. Analisa-se o efeito combinado dos três principais componentes do capital de giro (estoque, contas a receber e contas a pagar) — por meio do ciclo financeiro e do capital de giro líquido — e os efeitos isolados deles sobre o excesso de rentabilidade — por meio dos prazos médios de renovação dos estoques, de recebimento e de pagamento. Além disso, testou-se se o grau de endividamento e as oscilações na taxa de juros influenciam conjuntamente os investimentos em capital de giro das empresas e o excesso de rentabilidade. Do banco de dados Economática, foram extraídos dados de todas as empresas listadas, entre 2004 e 2011, na BM&FBOVESPA (Brasil), na BMV (México) e na BCBA (Argentina). Adotou-se o método de estimação econométrica de painel e, para a escolha entre os modelos de efeito fixo ou aleatório, foi utilizado o teste de Hausman. Para o Brasil, verificou-se a existência de uma relação negativa entre investimento em capital de giro e excesso de rentabilidade. Por outro lado, os prazos médios de renovação de estoques, de recebimento e de pagamento se mostraram pouco significativos nas estimações quando analisados individualmente. Subentende-se, assim, que o efeito combinado dos três principais componentes do capital de giro sobrepõe-se às suas influências individuais na definição da rentabilidade da empresa. Apenas para o Brasil ratificou-se que o grau de endividamento influencia conjuntamente os investimentos/desinvestimentos adicionais em capital de giro e o excesso de rentabilidade. O mesmo não foi observado para oscilações na taxa de juros no Brasil e na Argentina. De uma maneira geral, observou-se para o México e a Argentina resultados com uma menor significância estatística.

The aim of this thesis is to analyze the management of working capital in company Bayer s.r.o., primarily to find the weak points and to suggest measures for their improvement. First of all the company results will be evaluated based on financial analysis. Subsequently the managing process of particular working capital components will be assessed, i.e. inventories, receivables, cash and payables. The resulting findings will be interpreted and completed by proposal of measures and recommendations, which should ensure a higher efficiency of working capital management and therefore release funds, which can be used for further company development and increase its value.

Ausgehend vom Bedarf an unternehmensinternen, relativ marktunabhängigen Maßnahmen zur Stärkung der Innenfinanzierungskraft von Unternehmen, kann die angestrebte Liquiditätssicherung und Ertragsstabilisierung aus einer effizienten Steuerung der Working-Capital-beeinflussenden Prozesse hervorgehen. Der vorliegende Beitrag fokussiert dabei die definitorische Abgrenzung des Working Capital und des Working Capital Management. Außerdem werden die finanziellen Wirkungen des WCM aufgezeigt. Eine detaillierte Betrachtung der das Working-Capital-beeinflussenden Prozesse verdeutlicht die Komplexität des Prozessgefüges und die Notwendigkeit eines ganzheitlichen Ansatzes zur Working-Capital-Steuerung.