1. Basic concepts During the wake of the financial crisis, Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, said that "shortening the cash cycle and better use of working capital" are the most important factors as private-sector businesses struggle to overcome the current economic volatility and difficulty in accessing capital markets (IBM Global Business Services,"Managing Working Capital in the New Economic Environment,"http://www-935.ibm.com/services/uk/bcs/pdf/working_capital_paper.pdf) Considering how important working capital management is, Western Gas & Electric Co. decided to evaluate the amount of working capital being used in the firm and explore the prospects of how its working capital will be financed. Western Gas & Electric Co. reported the following results for current assets and liabilities on its most recent balance sheets. Interestingly, the company's sales did not change-it reported sales of $22,200 for its most recent year as well as for last year The columns labeled "Ending ()"show results at the end of the most recent year, and the columns labeled "Beginning (S)" show results at the end of the previous year: Beginning ($) Ending ($) Beginning () Ending ($) Current assets Current liabilities 10,000 Accounts payable 5,200 10,000 7,800 9,600 6,400 Cash 9,800 7,200 8,000 6,800 Accruals Accounts receivable Notes pay able Using the information given and a 365-day year, calculate days of working capital, net working capital, and net operating working capital for Western Gas & Electric Co. Use your calculations to complete the following statements: . Western Gas & Electric Co.'s days of working capital improved from days in the previous year to days at the end of the most recent year . The company's net working capital increased from $7,000.00 in the . Western Gas& Electric Co.'s net operating working capital increas 134.82 202.23 292.67 to at the end of last year 101.94 in the previous year to $15,000.00 at the end of last year