Simon Companys year-end balance sheets follow.

At December 31	Current Year	1 Year Ago	2 Years Ago
Assets
Cash	$ 31,521	$ 36,845	$ 37,252
Accounts receivable, net	89,200	62,500	50,200
Merchandise inventory	114,000	83,500	56,000
Prepaid expenses	10,151	9,672	4,139
Plant assets, net	278,907	259,017	221,309
Total assets	$ 523,779	$ 451,534	$ 368,900
Liabilities and Equity
Accounts payable	$ 133,029	$ 77,835	$ 49,669
Long-term notes payable	100,440	105,930	83,157
Common stock, $10 par value	162,500	162,500	162,500
Retained earnings	127,810	105,269	73,574
Total liabilities and equity	$ 523,779	$ 451,534	$ 368,900

The companys income statements for the current year and one year ago follow. Assume that all sales are on credit:

For Year Ended December 31	Current Year		1 Year Ago
Sales		$ 680,913		$ 537,325
Cost of goods sold	$ 415,357		$ 349,261
Other operating expenses	211,083		135,943
Interest expense	11,576		12,358
Income tax expense	8,852		8,060
Total costs and expenses		646,868		505,622
Net income		$ 34,045		$ 31,703
Earnings per share		$ 2.10		$ 1.95

(3-a) Compute inventory turnover.

(3-b) For each ratio, determine if it improved or worsened in the current year.

Compute inventory turnover. For each ratio, determine if it improved or worsened in the current year