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The School of Accounting is currently running several projects investigating the value and benefits of integrated software packages (Enterprise Systems).
Project 1
Costs and benefits of ERP in practise, integration and implementation issues (Focus on management accounting and IS issues)
Despite the growing dominance of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems (integrated business software packages), we know very little about what levels of integration companies are achieving with integrated business solutions, what real benefits can be realized through software, data and information integration and what impact ERP is having on the adoption or non-adoption of 'new accounting practices' such as ABC, EVA, Balanced Scorecard, etc. Studies on current issues in management accounting research (Atkinson et al., 1997) indicate quite clearly that the discipline still neglects the obvious strong impact of information technology on management accounting practices.
This study investigates the results of a survey on the experiences of the CFO's of the top-800 Australian companies with ERP systems focussing on the functional areas in which ERP solutions have been implemented, the degree of integration and benefits that respondents believe they have achieved and their perceptions of the performance of their ERP systems in the areas of transaction processing, reporting and decision support. In addition, the study examines the relationship between IS-related characteristics of the participating companies and financial performance indicators retrieved from their annual reports.
Preliminary results indicate that many companies have implemented ERP solutions in most of the functional areas in recent years and have, thereby, achieved substantial improvements in transaction processing and slight improvements in reporting and decision support. ERP systems are considered to be an important data source for new accounting practises, but not an incentive for their adoption. Full system and information integration are generally considered to be important, and the impact of ERP systems on the company's performance is considered to be negative in the post-implementation period and positive in the long run.
Click here for a short extract. (44KB PDF)
Project 2
Evaluation of ERP systems from the financial accounting and capital market perspective
The quantification of ERP benefits remains a problem perplexing extant academic research and industry practitioners. The manner in which financial effects of ERP systems are evaluated prior to the ascertainment of the viability of an ERP venture remains ambiguous. Indeed, government and regulatory bodies (as per the Australian Securities and Investment Commission) have questioned the means by which Corporations justify the capitalisation of software investments in general.
Building upon the current research efforts of the School of Accounting, the ERP project will focus on the generalised conclusions generated by the existing efforts ascertaining the qualitative internal and quantitative external benefits of ERP systems, in order to provide detailed insights into the behaviour of these accounting numbers as influenced by the implementation of ERP systems.
The consequences of such an evaluation are potentially of great value to research and practitioners alike. Essentially, the creation of a measurement system to facilitate ERP investments may prove a catalyst for the generation of models measuring the impact of software investments. Given the current growth in information technology and electronic methodologies of business interaction, such a study is further posited to provide a value adding function within the business and academic research communities.
Furthermore, insights derived from the financial statement effects of software investments potentially provide a valuable impetus for the generation of research programs observing the subsequent control systems and other management evaluative practices adopted by organisations in managing new business structures arising within the global business community.
Project 3
Maximising the value of information systems
A team of researchers at the School of Accounting co-operates with one of Australia's largest primary sector corporations, WMC Ltd., in order to further investigate and apply the issues and findings mentioned in Project 1 and 2. In the first stage of the project, the actual information flow model, the existing e-business strategy, and the current IS-infrastructure are analysed. Based on these findings an integrated model for the optimisation of all three areas is developed and implemented. The development of the model is guided by the objective to optimise all information systems with regards to their costs and benefits for managerial decision making.
Research Team
The core research team consists of the following members:
Occasional:
Research Output
The research team has produced and published several conference/journal articles, working papers and industry reports. For details, visit the School of Accounting Research page.
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