The sample selected was not random, being
drawn from the country's largest manufacturing
companies. Therefore, the ®ndings of this
study should not be interpreted as relating
to the general population of manufacturing
companies. In as much as size is associated with
the availability of resources to experiment with
a range of management and accounting practices,
it is likely that the sample included a
greater proportion of companies employing
``advanced practices'' than the total population
of manufacturers. Demographic data related to
the respondents' organizational positions, organizational
size and industry are detailed in
Table 2.