중소기업의 운전자본관리에 관한 연구

This study examines the working capital management of Korean small firms. The study distinguishes different ways in which small firms undertake or do not undertake working capital management and identifies independent variables associated with the propensity of such firms to utilize particular forms of working capital management. A review of the relevant literature in the field was conducted, and survey data were collected from 125 small firms. Based on that groundwork, 10 hypotheses were generated and empirical tests were performed with respect to influences determining the extent and focus of working capital management in those firms. Principal components and cluster analyses confirmed that with regard to the undertaking of working capital management and the patterns of that management, there are four distinct types of companies. The first three types focus, respectively, on cash management, stock, and credit whereas the fourth type is unlikely to undertake working capital management. The results of a multinomial logistic regression analysis suggest that the selected independent variables effectively distinguish the four types of companies. The results further suggest that small businesses focus only on the areas of working capital management in which they expect to improve marginal returns. Theoretical contributions of this research, research limitations, and future research directions are discussed at the end of the paper.