ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces and tests a new paradigm of the role of inventories in the operation of business enterprises. It starts out from the fundamental research results of the 1950s, and analyzes the traditional paradigm formulated in this period, called the golden age of inventory research. However, changes in the economic and business environment led to the emergence of the need of a different approach. The proposed new paradigm is introduced and its relation to the traditional one is outlined. Two surveys were conducted among Hungarian managers to test the validity of the new paradigm-one survey among manufacturing managers and another among logistics managers. The results are supportive, showing that managers’ thinking mostly corresponds to the logic of the new paradigm. There are a lot of further research opportunities stemming from the paradigm proposition.
