managers and researchers is attracted to WCM. Many research studies like Deloof
(2003), Falope and Ajilore (2009) and Gill et al. (2010) have shown that WCM also affect
the profitability of a firm to a great extent. Wang (2002) noted that aggressive liquidity
management enhances operating performance and is usually associated with higher
corporate values.
Researchers were curious about a literature review of the topic which gave basis for
this paper. This paper studies literature published on WCM. There is no literature
review of WCM published after Gentry (1988) and Viskari et al. (2011). Gentry (1988)
presented his review in 1988, but the major publication activities on WCM occurred on
and after the financial slow down of 2008, and Viskari et al. (2011) in their review used
a small sample of 23 firms. Except these two studies, there is complete dearth of
literature onWCM.The purpose of this study is to provide an extensive literature review
on WCM. More specifically, the objectives of the study are to:
• synthesize the existing literature on WCM;
• arrange the publication in an orderly manner to enable easy and quick search;
• classify WCM research articles according their approach and methodologies; and
• explore the issues in WCM research and suggest a research agenda for future
work.
In addition to the aforementioned objectives, we have focused on the following research
questions:
• How articles on WCM are placed in time?
• What has been studied about WCM?
• What research methods have been used?
• What are the most important articles about the topic?
However, it is not the intention, here, to provide any detailed summary of WCM
practices. Readers are suggested to look into the cited literature, for example, Lind et al.
(2012), to study about international WCM practices of Fortune 200 companies. The
remainder of the paper is organized as follows. We first introduced the concept of
working capital and research methodology. Second, we provided articles classification
scheme. Thereafter, an overview of the selected publications is provided. Finally, we
outlined our main findings, discussed implications and suggested avenues for future
research.
2. Concept of WCM
WCM is primarily related with all management decisions that influence the size and
effectiveness of the working capital (Kaur, 2010). The management of working capital is
important to the financial health of small and big businesses. The amount invested in
working capital is often high in proportion to the total assets employed, so it is vital to
ensure their effective utilization (Padachi, 2006). Working capital may be regarded as
the balance between current assets and current liabilities (Pass and Pike, 1984). Working
capital is customarily divided into two categories: gross working capital and net
working capital. Gross working capital is the sum total of all current assets, while net
working capital is the difference between current assets and current liabilities. The main