Small and medium-sized enterprises play a decisive role in national economies by generating employment, fostering innovation, and contributing to economic resilience. Despite their importance, SMEs consistently face structural constraints related to finance, human resources, and knowledge management that limit their growth and long-term sustainability. The academic literature has traditionally examined these constraints in isolation, focusing separately on working capital management, human resource management, or intellectual capital. This fragmented approach fails to capture the interconnected nature of operational finance, people management, and knowledge-based resources in shaping SME performance. Drawing exclusively on established theoretical and empirical studies, this article develops an integrated analytical framework that links working capital management practices with strategic human resource management and intellectual capital development in SMEs.

The study synthesizes foundational and contemporary research on working capital policies, liquidity behavior, cash conversion cycles, and financing constraints, highlighting how financial decisions directly influence operational risk and investment capacity. At the same time, it incorporates insights from strategic human resource management and family business literature to demonstrate how human resource practices affect productivity, decision-making quality, and organizational adaptability. Intellectual capital theory is used to bridge these domains by explaining how human, structural, and relational capital mediate the relationship between financial management and firm performance.

Using a qualitative, theory-driven methodology based on comparative and integrative analysis of prior empirical findings, the article identifies consistent patterns showing that SMEs with aligned financial, human, and intellectual capital strategies outperform those that treat these functions independently. The results emphasize that efficient working capital management is not merely a technical financial exercise but a strategic process deeply embedded in managerial capabilities, employee competencies, and organizational learning mechanisms. The discussion elaborates on theoretical implications, contextual limitations, and future research directions, particularly in developing and transition economies.

By offering a holistic perspective grounded in established literature, this article contributes to SME research by advancing an interdisciplinary understanding of performance drivers. It provides scholars with a conceptual synthesis and offers policymakers and practitioners a foundation for designing integrated support mechanisms that enhance SME sustainability, competitiveness, and long-term value creation.

Working capital management, strategic human resource management, intellectual capital, SME performance

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