Hakim Lyngstadås

Production planning & control (Print) p. 1-18 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2022.2153735

Operations management is experiencing a digital transformation that affects the entire industry landscape. There has been scant research on how digitalisation affects employee well-being in the operations workforce. Using self-determination theory, we bridge this research gap by examining how basic psychological needs among the operations workforce are affected by digitalisation. Our empirical data is collected by a survey from 132 employees in the operations job function in the U.S. The empirical evidence is analysed in a configurational manner by using a fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis. Our findings suggest there are five empirical important empirical solutions for explaining the presence of employee well-being, as well as four important empirical solutions for the absence (negation) of employee well-being. Our configurational solution consists mostly of both digital competence, social relatedness, and digital autonomy. This is in accordance with the self-determination theory. However, there are several alterations to how important they are among different configurational solutions. The presence of well-being in life and psychological well-being seems less relevant for obtaining well-being at work. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our findings and provide recommendations to managers for how to promote employee well-being.

Journal of Management Control 31(4) p. 403-450 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00187-020-00306-z

This study examines how working capital management packages (WCMPs) can lead to higher financial performance. This is done by exploring the formation, importance, and systematic interdependencies within and between WCMPs. The data set consists of 589 U.S. listed manufacturing firms that are being studied during the fiscal period 2012–2019. WCMPs are studied from both a package and a system approach. This is done by combining fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis and panel data regression. In all, 11 effective WCMPs are found to be associated with high financial performance. Six of them constitute unique and empirically important packages and are also identified as systems. The findings can have consequences for managers and practitioners, as the study creates an explicit link between a firm’s working capital management and financial performance.

Supply chain management 24(6) p. 710-728 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/SCM-08-2018-0293

Purpose – This paper aims to examine how information sharing affects cash flow performance through the competitive capabilities of low cost or product quality. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 159 survey responses were collected from Norwegian manufacturing firms in 2018. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the data collected. Findings – The low-cost competitive capability was found to positively mediate the effect of information sharing on cash flow performance. However, product quality competitive capability did not have a significant mediating effect between information sharing and cash flow performance. Rather, customer satisfaction fully mediated the relationship between product quality, capability and cash flow performance. The empirical results not only support how the competitive capabilities can be developed through information sharing but also illustrate that the competitive capabilities affect cash flow performance through different mediating routes. Originality/value – While information sharing and competitive capabilities have been studied previously with regard to financial performance, less emphasis has been placed on how customer satisfaction might explain the mediated relationship between product quality, competitive capability and financial performance. In addition, financial performance is measured by the proxy of cash flow. The use of cash flow as a performance measure leads to a more forward-looking financial performance measure. This is especially appropriate for non-listed firms

International Journal of Managerial Finance 12(3) p. 295-313 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJMF-01-2016-0012

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence of whether working capital management (WCM) has an effect on the profitability of small- and medium-sized Norwegian firms. Design/methodology/approach – The data comprise 21,075 Norwegian small- and medium-sized enterprises and 84,300 observations made between 2010 and 2013. Panel data regressions were applied with fixed effects and a two-stage least squares analysis was employed to control for endogeneity. Findings – The results indicate that reducing cash conversion cycle will increase profitability. Even though endogeneity may exist, this does not affect the results from the previous analysis. Similar results are also obtained when industry-specific effects are controlled for, supporting the robustness of the results. The relevance of quadratic dependencies of the profitability on independent variables was also identified and suggests a decreasing trend of return on assets with increasing values of the WCM’s characteristic variables. Research limitations/implications – Drawing on similar studies, this study confirms that WCM is relevant for firms’ profitability. Practical implications – The practice of aggressive working capital policy in Norwegian firms is confirmed by the results of this study. Originality/value – This study contributes to the current research on the relationship between WCM and profitability by using a large dataset to add further robustness to results, and thus verifying whether or not the results in previous studies may be confirmed or not. Moreover, this is the first published study about this relationship among Norwegian firms in different industries, thus filling a gap in similar research conducted in other European countries.

Journal of Applied Management Accounting Research 14(2) p. 65-72

The consistency principle when estimating cash flows states that the net present value of the discounted cash flow should be the same, even when using different estimation methods and techniques. However, the estimation is not straightforward when estimating nominal and real net change in working capital. A case experiment with 62 students was conducted, the results suggesting that they struggle with the consistency principle when estimating net changes in working capital as part of cash flow analysis. This technical note proposes solutions to this challenge. The value from this technical note is to ensure correct estimation in net working capital cash flow changes, which contributes to providing an adequate level of liquidity, and gives a sound judgement in business project analysis and estimation of a firm’s value.