The effects of privatisation on the financial management: a case study

• Main Authors: Koldo Zabalza Miera, Jesús Matey de Antonio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU) 2010-12-01
• Series: Management Letters/Cuadernos de Gestión
• Subjects: Privatisation; changes in management; financial management; case study
• Online Access: http://www.ehu.es/cuadernosdegestion/revista/index.php/en/published-issues?y=2010&v=10&n=2&o=5

The privatisation of a firm entails a thoroughgoing process of reform that includes the introduction of new management practices. A review of the theoretical and empirical studies conducted allows us to confirm that a systematic analysis of the change in management that arise after a public company's privatisation does not exist. This study explores the changes in financial management that take place after a public company's privatisation and proposes relevant factors in three performance areas of financial management (financial structure, investment decision and financial planning). In order to confirm the theoretical propositions posed, we used contemporary multiple case studies as a research methodology. In particular, the changes experienced in the financial management area in four privatised Spanish companies were investigated along the lines of a longitudinal analysis. The results of this study show that most theoretical propositions are confirmed and conclude that the three areas considered are relevant to the process of change in a privatised firm's financial management.