3.2 Inventory to Sales
In order to determine any significant change in the inventory levels maintained to support sales over the period studied and reduce the impact of one-year anomalies, average inventory to sales was calculated for the 2-year period at the beginning of the period studied (2003 and 2004) and at the end of the period studied (2010 and 2011). A paired
t-test was conducted to test whether the 2-year average inventory to sales at the beginning of the period studied is significantly different from that at the end of the period studied when examined in aggregate and by industry. Table 8 shows the correlations and paired-sample t-test results of 2-year average inventory to sales of the total sample and each of the three industries at the beginning and those at the end of the period studied.