摘要
The paper develops a view on the history and future of working capital programs and focuses on the state of the art in four remarkable years： 1900, 1930, 1960, and 1990. In these years, an operations approach, an accounting approach, an economic approach, and a capital market approach, respectively, were prevalent. The paper shows that all of the approaches have their merits for today＇s working capital management （WCM） programs and discusses useful working capital program indicators, taking into account the cash conversion cycle （CCC） and its delineation into accounts receivables （A/R）, inventory, and accounts payables （A/P） periods. This enables the author to take step ahead to the magic year 2020. Finally, the paper discusses briefly an academic development agenda.
