英语论文The Impact of Enterprise Resource Planning Sys

TheImpactofEnterpriseResourcePlanningSystemsonManagementAccounting:AnAustralianStudyAbstractInformationtechnologyissignificantlychangingtheoperatingpracticesofanincreasingnumberofcompaniesglobally.Thesedevelopmentshaveimportantimplicationsfortheaccountingprofessionandinparticularaccountingpracticesinthetwenty-firstcentury.Thisstudyexaminesthedevelopmentofenterpriseresourceplanning(ERP)systemsasameansofillustratinghowchangesininformationtechnologyallowsallsystemsinacompanytobelinkedtomanageoperationsholistically.ThestudyinvestigatesthechangeinaccountingsystemsusingasampleofAustraliancompanieswithemphasisontheadoptionofERPsystemsincludingthepotentialimpactofERPoncapitalbudgetingprocesses.TheresultsshowthatERPsystemsarechangingmanagementaccountingpractices,althoughatthisstage,theimpactoncapitalbudgetingtechniquesappearstobelimited.ThefindingscontributetotheemergingbodyofliteratureonthedevelopmentofERPsystemsanditsimpactonmanagementaccountingteachingandresearch.Keywords:Managementaccounting,capitalbudgeting,enterpriseresourceplanningsystems,informationtechnology.1.IntroductionDuringthepastdecadeanincreasingnumberofcompanieshavebeenimpactedbyinformationtechnologyintermsofcomputerizedtransactionprocessingandelectronictelecommunicationssuchasthatdonewiththeInternet,intranet,andextranet.Forcompetitivereasons,companieshavehadtochangefrommanualandthenmainframesystemstowhathasbeencalledenterpriseresourceplanning(ERP)systems.AnERPsystemhasacommondatabaseordatawarehousethatlinkstogetherallsystemsinallpartsofacompanyincluding,forexample,capitalbudgetingwithfinancial,control,manufacturing,sales,fixedassets,inventory,humanresourcesmodules,etc.AnERPsystem,bylinkingallsystemsthroughadatawarehouse,allowsacompanytomanageitsoperationsholistically.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,thispaperwillhavethefollowin