Enhancing working capital management in National Drug Authority (NDA)

Abstract

The study sought to improve firm performance through working capital management in NDA. Data was collected from 46 selected staff of NDA using self-administered questionnaires and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS V.17). In general, the findings revealed that the practices that affect working capital management were that turnover was used as the meaning of success, aim at maximizing value for money, always bought fixed assets from our cash flows, mandate was grated to branch managers to make expenditures and provide accountability, postdated cheques were used to pay bills and cases of dishonored cheques were increasing. Among the challenges identified by during the study were hidden actions of the directors caused clashing priorities of expenditures, pressures to overspend for current consumption are enormous, pressures on working capital cash flows to finance long term investments are high, is insufficient cash for day to day expenditures, tendency to over spend beyond the current budget and noncentralisation of cash controls. The strategies to overcome them included; development and review of plans, policies, laws and regulations for the conversation of financial resources, availability of internal controls, imprest and centralized management of cash flows, expenditures by other managers should be monitored, there should be collaboration among the stakeholders to avoid conflicting priorities, management should lay emphasis on, management should promote effective budget implementation and there should be effective cash flow forecasting by management. From the findings of the study, the researcher recommends that management should draw a lot of emphasis on organizational learning, stakeholder involvement, staff development, research and development and computerization adoption.