集团企业资金集中管理外文翻译

Ⅲ.外文翻译外文翻译之一ThefocusofworkingcapitalmanagementinUKsmallfirms（节选）Author：CaroleHoworth，PaulWestheadNationality：NottinghamNG81BB,UKDerivation:ManagementAccountingResearchNO.14,2003,PP.94–111AbstractWorkingcapitalmanagementroutinesofalargerandomsampleofsmallcompaniesintheUKareexamined.Considerablevariabilityinthetake-upof11workingcapitalmanagementroutineswasdetected.Principalcomponentsanalysisandclusteranalysisconfirmtheidentificationoffourdistinct‘types’ofcompanieswithregardtopatternsofworkingcapitalmanagement.Thefirstthree‘types’ofcompaniesfocuseduponcashmanagement,stockordebtorsroutinesrespectively,whilstthefourth‘type’werelesslikelytotake-upanyworkingcapitalmanagementroutines.Influencesontheamountandfocusofworkingcapitalmanagementarediscussed.Multinomiallogisticregressionanalysissuggeststhattheselectedindependentvariablessuccessfullydiscriminatedbetweenthefour‘types’ofcompanies.Theresultssuggestthatsmallcompaniesfocusonlyonareasofworkingcapitalmanagementwheretheyexpecttoimprovemarginalreturns.Thedifficultiesofestablishingcausalityarehighlightedandimplicationsforacademics,policy-makersandpractitionersarereported.ConclusionsandimplicationsTheaimofthisstudyhasbeentoencourageadditionalresearch,ratherthantoprovideanexhaustivereviewofallthefactorsassociatedwiththetake-upofworkingcapitalmanagementroutinesbysmallcompanies.Threetheoriesguidedtheselectionoftheindependentvariablesexploredinthisstudy.TheRBVhighlightedthatsmallfirmshaveidiosyncraticbundlesofresourcesassociatedwiththetake-upofworkingcapitalmanagementroutines.Agencytheoryidentifiedtheinfluenceofexternalstakeholdersaswellasdifferencesbetweensmallandlargefirms.Transactionscoststheoryindicatedthatsmallfirmsmightinvestresourcesinspecificareasofworkingcapitalmanagementiftheyperceivethemtoofferthehighestmarginalreturn.Theresultsconsistentlyhighlighted,acrossavarietyofstatisticaltests,thatsmallfirmsarenotahomogenousgroupwithregardtoworkingcapitalmanagementroutines.Considerablevariabilitywasdetectedinthetake-upof11workingcapitalmanagementroutinesbyalargerandomsampleofsmallcompaniesintheUK.EvidencefromthePCAandtheclusteranalysisconfirmedtheidentificationoffourdistinct‘types’ofcompanieswithregardtothetake-upofworkingcapitalmanagementroutines.Moreover,evidencefromthemultinomiallogisticregressionanalysissuggeststhattheselectedindependentvariablessuccessfullydiscriminatedbetweenthefour‘types’ofcompanies.Twelveoutofthe18hypothesesweresupported.Afurthertwohypothesesshowedtheanticipatedrelationshipbutwerenotsignificantdiscriminatorsbetweenthe‘types’ofcompanies.Evidencethatthemajorityofsmallcompaniesfocustheireffortsononeareaofworkingcapitalmanagementindicatesthatresourcesforworkingcapitalmanagementarelimited.However,astrikingfindingfromtheregressionanalysiswasthedetectionthatfirmswhichutilizefewerworkingcapitalmanagementroutineswerenotnecessarilysmallercompanies.Wecaninferherethatresourceconstraintspersemaynotbethemajorbarriertotheutilizationofworkingcapitalmanagementroutinesbysmallercompanies.Instead,theresultsprovideanindicationthattheperceivedmarginalreturnoncommittingresourcesmaybeamajorinfluenceontheextentandfocusofworkingcapitalmanagement.However,weacknowledgethatacross-sectionalstudysuchasthisonecannotestablishcausalityandcanonlyprovideanindicationofassociationsthatwarrantfurtherinvestigation.Additionalstudiescouldusefullyexplorethestimulileadingtotheutilisationofworkingcapitalmanagementroutinesandthebarrierstotheirtake-up.Thedynamicsofworkingcapitalmanagementarecomplexandthelinkswithperformancearebidirectionalanddifficulttounravel.Smallcompaniesmayinvestresourcesintomanagingaparticularareaofworkingcapitalwheretheyareperformingbadlybecausethereturnsfromcontrollingtheproblemareaareperceivedtobehigh.Ifthedirectionofcausalityisnotunderstood,anoverlysimplisticconclusioninthisinstancecouldbethatinvestmentofmoreresourcesintoanarealeadstoworseperformance.Thecomplexityofcausalitymakesitdifficulttoestablishtheeffectofworkingcapitalmanagementroutinesontheperformanceofthefirm.Wecaninferthatfirmswithalowerpropensitytoundertakeworkingcapitalmanagementroutinesarenotsignificantlyassociatedwithincreasedcashflowproblems,norreducedprofitability.Thereissomeindicationthatthesemaybe‘lifestyle’firmsbutadditionalresearchisrequiredbeforefirmconclusionscanbedrawn.Currently,itisnotclearwhethertheselaggardworkingcapitalfirmsareunderperformingorhaveuntappedpotentialforgrowth.Inasimilarway,thedirectionofcausalityisnotclearwithregardtothelinkbetweenthetake-upofworkingcapitalmanagementroutinesandtheleveloffinancialskillsinafirm.Thisstudyemployedasimpleproxymeasureoffinancialsophistication.Furtherresearchiswarrantedtoinvestigatethedirectionandthestrengthofthelinksbetweenthetake-upofworkingcapitalmanagementroutinesandfinancialmanagementskillsandtraining,educationandpriorexperience.Additionalmultivariatestatisticalstudiesarealsorequiredinavarietyofnational,culturalandindustrialcontextstoidentifythecombinationofinternalandexternalenvironmentalfactorsassociatedwiththetake-upofworkingcapitalmanagemen