英语论文The Impact of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems on Management.docx
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英语论文TheImpactofEnterpriseResourcePlanningSystemsonManagement
TheImpactofEnterpriseResourcePlanningSystemsonManagement
Accounting:
AnAustralianStudy
Abstract
Informationtechnologyissignificantlychangingtheoperatingpracticesofanincreasingnumberofcompaniesglobally.Thesedevelopmentshaveimportantimplicationsfortheaccountingprofessionandinparticularaccountingpracticesinthetwenty-firstcentury.Thisstudyexaminesthedevelopmentofenterpriseresourceplanning(ERP)systemsasameansofillustratinghowchangesininformationtechnologyallowsallsystemsinacompanytobelinkedtomanageoperationsholistically.
ThestudyinvestigatesthechangeinaccountingsystemsusingasampleofAustraliancompanieswithemphasisontheadoptionofERPsystemsincludingthepotentialimpactofERPoncapitalbudgetingprocesses.TheresultsshowthatERPsystemsarechangingmanagementaccountingpractices,althoughatthisstage,theimpactoncapitalbudgetingtechniquesappearstobelimited.ThefindingscontributetotheemergingbodyofliteratureonthedevelopmentofERPsystemsanditsimpactonmanagementaccountingteachingandresearch.
Keywords:
Managementaccounting,capitalbudgeting,enterpriseresourceplanningsystems,informationtechnology.
1.Introduction
DuringthepastdecadeanincreasingnumberofcompanieshavebeenimpactedbyinformationtechnologyintermsofcomputerizedtransactionprocessingandelectronictelecommunicationssuchasthatdonewiththeInternet,intranet,andextranet.Forcompetitivereasons,companieshavehadtochangefrommanualandthenmainframesystemstowhathasbeencalledenterpriseresourceplanning(ERP)systems.AnERPsystemhasacommondatabaseordatawarehousethatlinkstogetherallsystemsinallpartsofacompanyincluding,forexample,capitalbudgetingwithfinancial,control,manufacturing,sales,fixedassets,inventory,humanresourcesmodules,etc.AnERPsystem,bylinkingallsystemsthroughadatawarehouse,allowsacompanytomanageits
operationsholistically.
AsecondimpactofERPsystemshasbeenageneralshifttomanageattheactivitylevelratherthanatthemoreabstractleveloffinancialtransactions.Thismeansthatmanagementaccounting,withitsfocusonactivities,canbemosteffectivewhenitisusedwithERPsystemstoincorporatetheactivitylevelforcostingandperformancemeasurement.TobeeffectiveanERPsystemwillcontainanextensivechartofaccountsorcodesforactivitiessuchasaccuraterecordingandtrackingofactivities,revenuesandcosts.Thecodingincorporatesstableentitiesofabusiness,suchasdivisions,plants,stores,andwarehouses.Atadetailedleveltherearecodesforfunctionssuchasfinance,production,sales,marketing,andmaterialsmanagement.Therearealsothetraditionalfinancialaccountcodessuchasassets,liabilities,revenues,andexpenses,andthecentralERPfeatureofcodingprocesses,activities,andsub-activities.Theremustbeconsistentcodingamongallpartsofacompanyinorderforthemtorelatetooneanother.
AstheERPsystemincorporatesactivitiesintermsofquantitiesofresources,includinglabour,arecordofresourceuseismaintained.Therefore,performancecanbemeasuredinphysicaltermsandcomparedtostandards,whichallowsforthecalculationofvariances.Thisperformancemeasurementattheactivitylevelservesasafeedbacksystemonefficiencyandeffectiveness.Theconfusionfromabstractmonetarymeasuresiserased,andwhatisactuallyhappeningwiththeconversionofresourcesintogoodsandservicescanbeseen.ERPsystemshavethepotentialtochangemanagementaccountingsystemswithmoredetailed,moreintegrated,andfasterproducedinformation.
TodatetheresearchontheimpactofERPsystemsonmanagementaccountingcanbestbedescribedaspreliminary.Ithasinvolvedcasestudiesofoneortwocompaniesatatimeandsomefieldstudies.Thefindingsfromthesestudieshavebeenlargelyanecdotal.Also,somehavebeendeductiveinthatargumentsbasedonERPattributeshavebeenmadeonhowmanagementaccountingshouldbeaffected.Forinstance,inafieldstudy,Cooketal.(2000)describedactivity-basedcapitalbudgetingatadivisionofaUStelecommunicationscompany.ThefindingsfromCooketal.’sfieldworksuggeststhatERPsystemscanincreasetheeffectivenessofcapitalbudgetingbyanchoringfinancialnumberstoactivitiesratherthanstoppingatmonetarymeasureswithpre-ERPpractices.
ThegoalofthispaperistoinvestigatethechangeinaccountingsystemsusingasampleofAustraliancompanieswithemphasisontheadoptionofERPsystemsincludingthepotentialimpactofERPoncapitalbudgetingprocesses.PriorresearchintheAustralianenvironmenthasindicatedthattheeconomic/institutionalsettingissignificantlydifferentfromtheUSandEuropeanenvironmentsasAustraliancompaniesaresmaller,withfewermultinationalsubsidiariesandmorehomogenousmanagementbackgroundintermsofcultureandeducationalbackground(Matolcsyetal.,2005).
GiventhesedifferencesintheAustralianenvironmentMatolcsyetalclaimthatthebenefitsofERPsystemsarelikelytobemorepronouncedandmeasurable,atleastintheshortruninAustralia.ThesignificanceofthestudyisitscontributiontotheemergingbodyofliteratureonthedevelopmentofERPsystemsandhasthepotentialtoprovideusefulcontrastand/orconfirmationofthelimitedresearchfrommainlyUSbasedstudies.FurthermorethisstudycontributestothebodyofknowledgeoftheimpactofERPonmanagementaccountingteachingandresearchusingabroadlybasedsampleofcorporationsinanAustraliansetting.
Inascertainingtheimpactofinformationtechnologyonmanagementaccounting,thispaperwillhavethefollowingadditionalsections.Thesecondsectioncontainsaliteraturereviewoftheimpactofinformationtechnologyonmanagementaccounting.Withtheliteraturereview,thethirdsectiondevelopstheresearchmethodanddeterminesthesampleusedtoascertaintheimpactofERPsystemsonmanagementaccountingpracticesofAustraliancompanies.Thefourthsectionwillcontainthefindings,whilethefifthandsixthwillbethediscussionandconclusion,respectively.Recommendationsforfutureresearchwillbeincludedintheconclusion.
2. LiteratureReview
2.1TheintegrationofERPsystemsintomanagementaccounting
ExpectationsforERPsystemstochangemanagementaccountingwereintroducedbyKaplanandCooper(1998,pp.11-24),especiallywiththefourthoftheirfour-stagemodelforcostandperformancemeasurementsystems.Whenacompanyhadfirststagesystems,thosesystemswerebasicallyinadequateforallpurposes,evenforfinancialreporting.Whentheymakeimprovements,thefirststagecompaniestendtoaddfinancialsystemstomeetregulatoryrequirements.Asaresult,theyevolveintosecondstagesystemswherefinancialreportingsystemsdominate;thesecompaniesarefinancialreportingdriven.Thecompanieswiththirdstagesystemshavecustomized,manageriallyrelevantcostmanagement,financialreporting,andperformancemeasurementsystems,however,thesesystemsarestandalone.ERPsystemsonlyoccurwiththefourthstagesystemswheretheERPsystemsintegratecostmanagement,financialreporting,andperformancemeasurement(KaplanandCooper,1998,p.299).
AnERPsystemhasacommondatastructurethatpermitsdatatobeenteredandaccessedfromanywhereintheworld(KaplanandCooper,1998,p.275).Anactivity-basedcostingsystemisanintegralpartofanERPsystem,andthusmanagershaveinformationaboutpresentandfutureactivitiesatoperationallevelswhenmakingdecisions(KaplanandCooper,1998,pp.275-277,285).Withactivity-basedinformation,monetarydistortionscanbereduced.Feedbackwithactivityinformationimproveslearning.Thus,inmanagingattheactivitylevel,costing,budgeting,performancemeasurement,bonuses,resourcespending,forecasting,budgeting,production,etc.canbeimprovedintermsofefficiencyandeffectiveness.AnERPsystemwillallowthecompanytoobtaincostandperformanceinformationmorefrequently,evendaily,ratherthanwaitingamonth(KaplanandCooper,1998,p.279).
KaplanandCooper(1998,pp.301-306)statethattheintegrationwithERPsystemsallowallmanagerialprocesses,includingbudgeting,what-ifanalysis,andtransferpricingtobealsobasedonactivitiesratherthanonlydollars. Activity-basedbudgetinggivescompaniestheopportunitytoauthorizeandcontrolresourcesbasedonaccuratedemandinformation.Accuracyincreasesbecauseactivity-basedbudgetingisbasedonfacts,andlessuponpower,influence,andnegotiatingability.Furthermore,theactivity-levelfocusofbudgetingleadstomoreaccuracyinforecastingthedemandsforalldirectand,especiallyindirectactivities.
AtthesametimeasKaplanandCooper’s(1998)importantbook,Davenport(1998,p.122)wrote“thebusinessworld’sembraceofenterprisesystemsmayinfactbethemostimportantdevelopmentinthecorporateuseofinformationtechnologyinthe1990s.”Davenport(1998,p.127)expectedcompaniestochangewiththeimplementationofERPsystems:
Inadditiontohavingimportantstrategicimplications,enterprisesystemsalsohaveadirect,andoftenparadoxical,impact onacompany’sorganizationandculture.Ontheonehand,byprovidinguniversal,real-timeaccesstooperatingandfinancialdata,thesystemsallowcompaniestostreamlinetheirmanagementstructures,creatingflatter,moreflexible,andmoredemocraticorganizations.Ontheotherhand,theyalsoinvolvethecentralizationofcontroloverinfor