The study sheds light on the extent to which various stakeholder pressures influence voluntary disclosure of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and how the impact is explained and moderated chief executive officer (CEO) characteristics of 215 FTSE 350 listed U.K. companies for the year 2011. The study developed a classification of GHG emission disclosure based on the guidelines of GHG Protocol, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Global Framework for Climate Risk Disclosure using content analysis. Evidence from the study suggests that some stakeholder pressure (regulatory, creditor, supplier, customer, and board control) positively impacts on GHG disclosure information by firms. We found that stakeholder pressure in the form of regulatory, mimetic, and shareholders pressure positively influenced the disclosure of GHG information. We also found that creditor pressure also had a significant negative relationship with GHG disclosure. Although CEO age had a direct negative effect on GHG voluntary disclosure, its moderation effect on stakeholder pressure influence on GHG disclosure was only significant on regulatory pressure.

Purpose: This paper aims to report the results of an investigation of the relative importance of working capital management, measured by the cash conversion cycle (CCC), and its components (inventory, accounts receivable and accounts payable) to the profitability of SMEs.Design/methodology/approach: The paper employs panel data regression analysis and a questionnaire survey on a sample of 133 Alternative Investment Market (AIM) listed SMEs. The panel data analysis utilises financial data for the period 2005 to 2009. The questionnaire survey results are based on 19 SMEs that responded.Findings: Panel data analysis results show that the management of accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) is important for SMEs profitability. However, AP management is relatively more important than AR management. Inventory (INV) and CCC management is not important for SMEs profitability. Questionnaire results suggest that management of CCC and all its components is perceived as important for SMEs profitability. In terms of relative importance, AR management is most important, followed by AP, INV and CCC respectively.Research limitations/implications: The sample is limited to AIM listed SMEs, and therefore the findings cannot be generalised to all companies.Practical implications: Overall the results imply that the SMEs need to concentrate their limited resources on managing AR and AP in order to be more profitable.Originality/value: The study is the first to investigate the relative importance of WCM and its components to SMEs profitability and use both regression analysis and questionnaire survey.

Purpose: – This paper aims to examine the influence of cash flow on the relationship between net working capital and firm performance.Design/methodology/approach: – The paper uses unbalanced panel data regression analysis on a sample of 6,926 non-financial small and medium enterprises in the UK for the period from 2004 to 2013.Findings: – The results indicate a strong concave relationship between net working capital and performance in the absence of cash flow; however, the relationship becomes convex after taking cash flow into consideration. The results further show that firms with cash flow below the sample median exhibit lower investment in working capital, but firms with cash flow above the sample median have higher investment in working capital. The results suggest that managers should consider their firms cash flow when determining the appropriate investment to be made in working capital, so as to improve performance.Practical implications: – Overall, the results suggest that whilst firms with limited cash flow should strive to reduce investment in working capital, firms with available cash flow should increase investment in working capital to improve performance.Originality/value: – This current study incorporates the relevance of cash flow in assessing the association between working capital management and firm performance.

Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to report the results of an investigation of the relationship between working capital level, measured by the cash conversion cycle (CCC) and profitability of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach: – The paper employs panel data regression analysis on a sample of 160 Alternative Investment Market (AIM)-listed SMEs for the period from 2005 to 2010. Findings: – The empirical results show that there is a concave relationship between working capital level and firm profitability and that there is an optimal working capital level at which firms’ profitability is maximised. Furthermore, an examination as to whether or not deviations from the optimal working capital level reduce firm profitability indicate that deviations above or below the optimum decrease profitability. Research limitations/implications: – The sample is limited to AIM-listed SMEs, and therefore the findings cannot be generalised to all firms. Practical implications: – Overall, the evidence suggests that firms should strive and attain the optimal working capital level in order to maximise their profitability. Originality/value: – The results are of importance to both SMEs and policy makers providing insight into the nature of CCC and its relationship to SMEs profitability.

Purpose: – This paper aims to report the results of an investigation into the effect of corporate governance factors on the performance of listed small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and examines whether this effect differs between the two sizes of business.Design/methodology/approach: – The paper uses unbalanced panel data regression analysis on a sample of 234 SMEs listed on the Alternative Investment Market, for a 10-year period (2004-2013).Findings: – The panel data analysis results show that for all SMEs, corporate governance factors – board size, chief executive officer (CEO) age and tenure and directors’ remuneration – are significantly associated with performance of SMEs. The results also suggest that while board size is associated with the performance of both small and medium enterprises, CEO age is significant only for medium firms and directors’ remuneration only for small ones, while CEO tenure and proportion of non-executive directors are not significant for either.Practical implications: – Overall, the results imply that corporate governance factors affect the performance of listed SMEs. However, this effect differs significantly between small and medium enterprises. The findings have important implications for policymakers who prescribe corporate governance mechanisms for SMEs.Originality/value: – The paper adds to existing literature on corporate governance of SMEs by establishing a relationship between firm performance and board size, CEO age, CEO tenure, directors’ remuneration and proportion of non-executive directors.