Managing Working Capital; Manufacturing versus retail?

You are required to evaluate the importance of effective working capital management and critically appraise a relevant range of methods available including, but not exclusively, the use of ratios. Your discussion should be supported by comparing a large UK listed manufacturing company against a retail business (private or listed).

You should then recommend an effective approach for managing working capital, which could be adopted by a UK private retail company that operates twelve retail stores, in the South of England.

Your discussion should clearly refer to textbooks, journals, and internet sources of research, in accordance with ‘good academic practices.