Management Accounting Change and ERP, an Assessment of Research

Aernoudts, R.H.R.M. and Boom, T. van der and Vosselman, E.G.J. and Pijl, G.J. van der (2005): Management Accounting Change and ERP, an Assessment of Research.

Abstract

Extant accounting literature shows that there is increasing research interest into effects of ERP systems on management accounting and control practices (c.f. Granlund, Mouritsen, 2003). This paper provides a review of the literature and identifies knowledge gaps and shows opportunities for research. The review reveals that there are two main streams of research. The first uses a structural approach, while the second uses a process approach. The structural stream adopts a functional approach to technology and is deterministic in nature. It implies the assumption that ERP is the driver of organizational performance improvement. The process approach stream on the other hand seeks to explain how processes of change unfold and how outcomes develop over time (see for example Granlund and Mouritsen, 2001, Granlund and Malmi, 2000, Scapens and Jazayeri, 2003, Caglio, 2003, Quattrone and Hopper, 2004). The focus in this stream is on several different issues, such as hybridization of the accountants' work due to the adoption of ERP and the impacts of ERP on introducing innovative accounting practices. The review of extant literature reveals that there is no cumulative body of research. In this paper several causes for this lack of accumulation are identified. Furthermore, there proves to be very limited coherence among the different studies. Finally, our review shows that although there is some attention for effects of ERP on Management Control, research on this particular subject is still very much lagging behind.

We extend our literature review by going through literature from the Information Systems field. It proves that there are some similarities between the two different fields. Based on the findings of our literature review the following recommendations for further research are given: (1) Focus on studying the Management Control aspects of ERP, using a process approach, (2) Build on the results of earlier results of research in Accounting, and (3) Build on the results of earlier research in the IS field.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Management Accounting Change, ERP systems, management control theory, Information Systems
• Subjects: M - Business Administration and Business Economics ; Marketing ; Accounting ; Personnel Economics > M4 - Accounting and Auditing > M41 - Accounting

References

Bradford, M., & Florin, J. (2003). Examining the role of innovation diffusion factors on the implementation success of enterprise resource planning systems. International Journal of Accounting Information Systems 4, 205.

Brynjolfsson, E., & Hitt, L.M. (1998). Beyond the Productivity Paradox. Communications of the ACM 41, 49-55.

Burns, J., & Scapens, R.W. (2000). Conceptualizing management accounting change: an institutional framework. Management Accounting Research 11, 3-25.

Caglio, A. (2003). Enterprise Resource Planning systems and accountants: towards hybridization? European Accounting Review 12, 123-153.

Callon, M.a.L., B., 1981. Unscrewing the big Leviathan: how actors macro-structure reality and how sociologists help them to do so. In: Knorr-Cetina, K. and Cicourel, A.V., Editors, 1981. Advances in Social Theory and Methodology, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, pp. 277–303.

Dechow, N., & Mouritsen, J. (2005). Enterprise resource planning systems, management control and the quest for integration. Accounting, Organizations & Society 30, 691-733.

DeLone, W.H., & McLean, E.R. (1992). Information Systems Success: The Quest for the Dependent Variable. Information Systems Research 3, 60-95.

Dillard, J.F., & Yuthas, K. (2006). Enterprise resource planning systems and communicative action. Critical Perspectives on Accounting 17, 202-223.

DiMaggio, P., & Powell, W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review 48, 147 - 160.

Gattiker, T.F., & Goodhue, D.L. (2004). Understanding the local-level costs and benefits of ERP through organizational information processing theory. Information & Management 41, 431-443.

Giddens, A.N.R.o.S.M.a.P.C.o.i.S.L.H.

Granlund, M., & Malmi, T. (2002). Moderate impact of ERPS on management accounting: a lag or permanent outcome? Management Accounting Research 13, 299-321.

Granlund, M., & Mouritsen, J. (2003). Introduction: problematizing the relationship between management control and information technology. European Accounting Review 12, 77-83.

Gurbaxani, V., & Whang, S. (1991). The Impact of Information Systems on Organizations and Markets. Communications of the ACM 34, 59-73.

Hunton, J.E., Lippincott, B., & Reck, J.L. (2003). Enterprise resource planning systems: comparing firm performance of adopters and nonadopters. International Journal of Accounting Information Systems 4, 165.

Hyvönen, T. (2003). Management accounting and information systems: ERP versus BoB. European Accounting Review 12, 155-173.

Latour, B. (1987). Science in Action : How to Follow Scientists and Engineers Through Society. Harvard: Harvard University Press

Latour, B.P.s.H.E.o.t.R.o.S.S.C., MA; London, UK: Harvard University Press

Legare, T.L. (2002). The role of organizational factors in realizing ERP benefits. Information Systems Management, 21-42.

Lodh, S.C., & Gaffikin, M.J.R. (2003). Implementation of an integrated accounting and cost management system using the SAP system: a field study. European Accounting Review 12, 85-121.

Lowe, A., & Locke, J. (2005). Perceptions of journal quality and research paradigm: results of a web-based survey of British accounting academics. Accounting, Organizations & Society 30, 81-98.

Marbert, V.A., Soni, A., & Venkatraman, M.A. (2003). The impact of organization size on enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementations in the US manufacturing sector. The International Journal of Management Science 31, 235-246.

Mauldin, E.G., & S. B. Richtermeyer. (2003). An analysis of ERP annual report disclosures. International Journal of Accounting Information Systems 5, 395-416.

Mohr, L.B. (1982). Explaining Organisational Behaviour. San Francisco, CA: Josey-Bass.

Nicolaou, A.I. (2004). Firm Performance Effects in Relation to the Implementation and Use of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems. Journal of Information Systems 18, 79-105.

Oliver, D., & Romm, C. (2002). Justifying enterprise resource planning adoption. Journal of Information Technology (Routledge, Ltd.) 17, 199-213.

Orlikowski, W.J. (1992). The Duality of Technology: Rethinking the Concept of Technology in Organizations. Organization Science 3, 398-427.

Poston, R., & Grabski, S.V. (2001). Financial Impacts of Enterprise Resource Planning Implementations. International Journal of Accounting Information Systems 2, 271-294.

Quattrone, P., & Hopper, T. (2001). What does organizational change mean? Speculations on a taken for granted category. Management Accounting Research 12, 403-435.

Quattrone, P., & Hopper, T.M. (2004). A 'time-space odyssey': management control systems in two multinational organisations. Accounting Organizations and Society 30, 735-764.

Rogers, E. (1983). The Diffusion of Innovation. New York: Free Press.

Scapens, R.W., & Jazayeri, M. (2003). ERP systems and management accounting change: opportunities or impacts? A research note. European Accounting Review 12, 201-233.

Sia, S.K., Tang, M., Soh, C., & Boh, W.F. (2002). Enterprise Recource Planning as a Technology of Power: Empowerment or Panoptic Control? The Database for Advances in Information Systems 33, 23-37.

van de Ven, A.H., & Huber, G.P. (1990). Longitudinal Field Research Methods for Studying Processes of Organizational Change. Organization Science 1, 213-219.