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This paper examined the effect of working capital management practices on the operational performance of selected supermarkets with the national network in Kenya focusing on inventory and creditors’ management as well as receivables and liquidity practices. The paper was pegged on Agency Theory, Iceberg Theory of Money Management and Cash Management Theory. Guided by descriptive research design, 52 branch managers were sampled from four major supermarkets using both the stratified and random sampling methods. Data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistical analysis. Findings revealed that inventory and creditors management practices had a very low effect on the operational performance of supermarkets in Kenya. The study, therefore, recommends that supermarkets should introduce a system where managers are fully equipped with working capital management skills. This should be done continuously to prevent the occurrence of severe liquidity challenges which have witnessed in the past.

This paper considered the effects of credit policy on profitability of manufacturing firms in Kenya.The study looked at the elements that constitute the credit policy; credit terms, collection efforts, credit period and credit standards. A descriptive research design was used to collect the data from the field and a stratified random sampling technique was used to come up with a sample of 81 manufacturing firms. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 81 manufacturing firms in Nairobi industrial area and its environs in Kenya. However, only 71 questionnaires were returned. The chief finance officers of the manufacturing firms were requested to fill in the questionnaire. Both descriptive and inferential analyses were done. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and regression analysis were used to test the hypothesis. The results show that there is a positive relationship between profitability and credit policy in the manufacturing firms in Kenya (0.304). Credit policy explains only 9.2% of the profitability in the manufacturing firms in Kenya. 90.8% of the variation in profitability is explained by other factors. The findings of the study revealed that the way credit policy is designed impacts on the profitability of manufacturing firms. Therefore, we recommend that the finance managers of manufacturing firms regularly review the credit policy of their firms to ensure that they are ideal and result in increased profitability.

The purpose of the study was to determine the influence of VAT incentives on financial performance of manufacturing firms in Kenya. The study focused on all manufacturing companies registered under Kenya Association of Manufacturers. The null hypothesis of the study was that there is no statistically significance association between VAT incentives and financial performance of manufacturing companies in Kenya. Descriptive survey research design was adopted where a sample of 211 respondents was selected from a target population of 447 manufacturing firms using stratified random sampling technique. The study collected data for a period covering 10 years, which was from 2009 to 2018. The targeted respondents were the accountants and officers in senior management. The response rate on the questionnaires issued was 73.5%. Both descriptive and inferential data analysis was carried out. The data failed in the test of normality and so the study applied ordinal regression analysis for the determination of the model. The findings of the study revealed that VAT incentives had statistically significant influence on financial performance of manufacturing companies in Kenya; hence, null hypothesis was rejected at 0.05 level of significance. The study concluded that influence of VAT incentives leads to improvement in financial performance of manufacturing firms in Kenya. Hence, VAT incentives are key to financial performance of manufacturing companies. The study therefore recommended that the management of manufacturing companies should utilize VAT incentives that are offered by the government, and the government should review the VAT policy so as to widen the gap on VAT incentives.