COOPERATION IN VALUE NETWORKS IN AREA OF FINANCIAL FLOWS

Abstract

In networks, there are not only material and information flows among the partners, but also financial flows. The focus is primarily on the efficient management of material flows and sharing of information to achieve them, but cooperation in the management of financial flows has been given minimal attention although it can radically improve the financial situation of some or even all enterprises involved in the value network. Therefore, in 2015, a primary qualitative research was conducted in a selected company, being focused on cooperation in the value network in the financial field. The company surveyed is part of a network in which some links are in the same ownership group. This creates better conditions for the development of cooperation because it removed a significant barrier, i.e. the lack of trust among the partners and the fear of misuse of shared information. The research subject was the degree of coordination between the entities and the identification of joint activities in managing the financial current assets, specifically in the areas of financial planning, management of trade credits (accounts receivables/account payable) and cash management. The research results have shown that even though the parent company coordinates various activities of the network, it concerns financial planning only marginally. However, upon the initiative of the parent company, cash pooling is in cash management used among the partners in ownership group. The widest cooperation is in the management of receivables and payables. Terms of trade credits between partners are coordinated by the centre for the efficient operation of the whole group. Cooperation between the entities that are not interconnected in terms of property does not exceed the level of normal business relations in the joint management of financial flows.