Purpose

Talented managers arguably remain quintessential to firm value and performance. While the literature offers evidence for the long-term orientation of talented managers, there is a paucity of evidence on the short-term performance of managers. Here, we examine the relationship between managerial talent and working capital management (WCM).

Design/methodology/approach

This study primarily employs a panel fixed-effect method controlling for firm-year and firm-industry for non-financial and non-utility firms for the years 1980 through 2016. Also, the authors control of potential bias that may impact the result. These controls include social capital, financial constraints and tests for endogeneity and spurious correlation.

Findings

The authors find the association between managerial talent and WCM to be positive and significant. The results indicate that talented managers have a higher cash conversion cycle. The empirical evidence still holds after controlling for social capital, religiosity and financial constraints. Also, the evidence still holds by employing an interaction term between Tobin's Q as a proxy for investment opportunities and talented managers.

Practical implications

The finding may lend credence to executive contracts. Human nature, by default, is only vested on a net benefit for self-aggrandization. Self-aggrandization can be evident through structures in managerial contracts. These contracts usually tie consequences to long-term growths. If a benefit is offered based on short-term operational goals, talented managers may do more to the management of working capital.

Originality/value

In the managerial talent literature, talents reflect a holistic picture of one that can succeed in both the short-term and long-term goals of a company. Here, the authors show that talented managers are inefficient in meeting short-term goal – working capital management. Thus, the authors add to the research by providing evidence that talented managers are myopic.

中文翻译：

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营运资金管理和管理人才

目的

有才华的经理人可以说对公司价值和业绩始终具有最典型的意义。尽管文献为有才能的经理人的长期定位提供了证据，但对于经理人的短期绩效却缺乏证据。在这里，我们研究了管理人才与营运资金管理（WCM）之间的关系。

设计/方法/方法

这项研究主要采用面板固定效应方法来控制1980年至2016年的非金融和非公用事业公司的公司年度和公司行业。此外，作者控制可能影响结果的潜在偏见。这些控制措施包括社会资本，财务约束以及内生性和虚假相关性的测试。

发现

作者发现管理人才与WCM之间的联系是积极而有意义的。结果表明，有才能的经理人具有更高的现金转换周期。在控制了社会资本，宗教信仰和财务约束之后，经验证据仍然成立。同样，通过采用托宾Q作为投资机会的代理人和才华横溢的经理人之间的交互作用项，证据仍然成立。

实际影响

这一发现可能使执行合同更具可信度。默认情况下，人性仅归因于自我壮大的净利益。自我强化可以通过管理合同中的结构来体现。这些合同通常会给长期增长带来后果。如果根据短期运营目标提供收益，则有才华的管理人员可能会在营运资金管理上做更多的事情。

创意/价值

在管理人才文献中，人才反映了可以在公司的短期和长期目标中都取得成功的整体情况。作者在这里表明，有才华的管理人员在实现短期目标（营运资金管理）方面效率低下。因此，作者通过提供有才干的管理人员是近视眼的证据来增加研究。