With gasoline prices passing $4 per gallon in mid-2008 in the United States, sales of hybrid automobiles really began to pick up. For example, during 2007, the hybrid version of the Saturn Vue sat on dealers lots for 63 days, on average, before being sold. By summer 2008, this period had fallen to 17 days. Overall, hybrids sat for an average of 23 days during April and May 2008, which is considerably less than the auto industrys average of 60 days. And the Saturn Vue wasnt the fastest-moving car. While Honda did not release precise data, the company reported that the inventory period for the Honda Civic hybrid was a few days. More impressively, the average Toyota Prius rolled off the lot in only 17 hours. Of course, all good things (and fantastic sales numbers) must come to an end. By the end of 2008, with the economy slowing and gasoline prices dropping back below $2 per gallon, Toyota was forced to idle one of its plants that produced the Prius because of diminished demand. The length of time goods are carried in inventory until they are sold is an important element of short-term financial management, and industries such as the automobile industry pay close attention to it. Short-term finance is primarily concerned with the analysis of decisions that affect current assets and current liabilities. Frequently, the term net working capital is associated with short-term financial decision making. Often, short-term financial management is called working capital management. These terms mean the same thing. There is no universally accepted definition of short-term finance. The most important difference between short-term and long-term finance is in the timing of cash flows. Short-term financial decisions typically involve cash inflows and outflows that occur within a year. For example, short-term financial decisions are involved when a firm orders raw materials, pays in cash, and anticipates selling finished goods in one year for cash. What types of questions fall under the general heading of short-term finance? To name a few: 1. What is a reasonable level of cash to keep on hand (in a bank) to pay bills? 2. How much should the firm borrow in the short term? 3. How much credit should be extended to customers? Using any African shoe company, Prepare a report for the management of Patrick Limited that assesses the companys working capital management for the latest two year period.