Browsing by Author "Taremwa Esau"

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    Working Capital Management, Access to Finance and Performance: A Case of Wholesale Businesses in Mbarara City.
    (Makerere University Business School, 2025-12-04) Taremwa Esau
    The study examined the relationship between working capital management, access to finance, and firm performance among wholesale businesses in Mbarara City, Uganda. Specifically, the study sought to examine the relationship between working capital management and firm performance, assess the relationship between access to finance and firm performance, and determine the joint effect of working capital management and access to finance on firm performance. The study was anchored on the Resource-Based View (RBV) theory and adopted a quantitative approach using a cross-sectional research design. A sample of 136 respondents was drawn from 68 registered wholesale businesses selected from a population of 208 businesses through stratified random sampling and purposive sampling techniques. Primary data were collected using structured questionnaires and analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 22. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were employed. The findings revealed a strong positive and statistically significant relationship between working capital management and firm performance (r = 0.709, p < 0.01), indicating that effective management of cash, receivables, payables, and inventory enhances profitability, revenue growth, and market share. The study also established a positive and significant relationship between access to finance and firm performance (r = 0.590, p < 0.01). Hierarchical regression analysis showed that the final model explained 51.5% of the variation in firm performance (R² = 0.515). Working capital management emerged as the strongest predictor of firm performance (β = 0.591, p < 0.01), while the effect of access to finance became statistically insignificant (β = 0.160, p > 0.05) after controlling for working capital management. These findings suggest that although access to finance supports business operations, superior firm performance depends primarily on the efficient management of working capital. The study concludes that working capital management is a more critical determinant of firm performance than access to finance among wholesale businesses in Mbarara City. It recommends that wholesale businesses strengthen cash flow management, inventory control, receivables collection, and payables management while utilizing external finance strategically to complement sound internal financial management practices. Policymakers and financial institutions should support businesses through financial management training and financing programmes that encourage efficient working capital management.