商务英语专业毕业论文范文.docx

商务英语专业毕业论文范文.docx

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商务英语专业毕业论文范文

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,impactonacompany’sorganizationandculture.Ontheonehand,byprovidinguniversal,real-timeaccesstooperatingandfinancialdata,thesystemsallowcompaniestostreamlinetheirmanagementstructures,creatingflatter,moreflexible,andmoredemocraticorganizations.Ontheotherhand,theyalsoinvolvethecentralizationofcontroloverinformationandthestandardizationofprocesses,whicharequalitiesmoreconsistentwithhierarch