cash management
This is a literature review for corporate (not bank!, not insurance, not government!) cash
management. Meaning industrial and service companies doing their treasury or more specific cash
management.
The focus is on Western European corporates which do cash management – meaning payments, cash
pooling, liquidity management, … .
The research (following the literature review) is done by expert interviews, trying to validate the
information generated from the literature review.
Issues to address/answer:
There are several issues to address – keep in mind the background (corporate cash management in
Western Europe). Currently there is not a clear definition to what cash management actually is, so
the first issue is:
1. What are elements of cash management?
As this is the basis the review needs to be thouroughly.
Once there’s a definiton there is the question of the ideal setup ( e.g. central, regional, decentral or
any other form). This should be adressed for corporate cash management in general but also – if
possible – for the identified key elements (from 1.) i.e. payments, cash pooling, …
2. What is the optimal setup of the cash management at European multinational
corporations? Is it central or decental or something in between?
While exploring the ideal setup there will be certain factors (supporting or hindering at least)
influencing the „ideal setup“. So the next aspect to address is:
3. What are drivers and factors for the setup of cash management European multinational
corporations?
As this shall be a literature review using rather current sources and quotes and there is constant
development in cash management, it should also try to covert he forth aspect by giving an outlook on
future developments (e.g. Blockchain, Instant Payments, …).
4. What are furture aspects and influences on cash management?
Structure:
A possible structure for the literature review could be – but this is just a suggestion:
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Introduction
2.2 The definition and development of corporate cash management
2.3 The sub‐activities of cash management
2.3.1 Cash concentration and monitoring
2.3.2 Payments and Banking
2.3.3 Forecasting and analysis
2.4 Organizational theories and concepts on cash management
2.4.1 The setup of cash management
2.4.2 Factors influencing the cash management setup
2.5 Future developments of cash management
2.7 Conclusions
2.3.1‐2.3.3 is just a suggestion for a clustering of several sub‐activities of cash management, but feel
free to present a different structure.
References and quotes:
It is expected to have at least 40 references from literature used/introduced in this literature review.
The more the better. The foremost shall be not older than 10 years, preferably at least a third of the
literature references should be from the last 5 years.
The references need to have a direct link to corporate cash management at West European
corporations (not banks, not insurances nor government doing treasury or cash management!) and
the relevant aspects mentioned above.
The reference style is Harvard system.
Besides the references used in the actual literature review a full reference list is expected – not
included in the page count ordered.
Starting point:
Attached there are a few references to get started. The expected 40+ references shall not include
those provided references, while for text of the literature review itself, these can and should of
course be used.
General remarks:
Please write straight to the point ‐ no „blah blah“ or non significant paragraphs. The goal is to get as
much information from the relevant literature in a structured and well written way. Keep fillers to an
absolute minimum.
