ERP systems are typically the largest, most complex, and most demanding information systems implemented by firms, representing a major departure from the individual and departmental information systems prevalent in the past. Firms and individuals are extensively impacted, and many problematic issues remain to be researched. ERP and related integrated technologies are a transformative force on the accounting profession. As the nature of business evolves, accounting expertise is being called on to make broader contributions such as reporting on nonfinancial measures, auditing information systems, implementing management controls within information systems, and providing management consulting services. This review of ERP research is drawn from an extensive examination of the breadth of ERP-related literature without constraints as to a narrow timeframe or limited journal list, although particular attention is directed to the leading journals in information systems and accounting information systems. Early research consisted of descriptive studies of firms implementing ERP systems. Then researchers started to address other research questions about the factors that lead to successful implementations: the need for change management and expanded forms of user education, whether the financial benefit outweighed the cost, and whether the issues are different depending on organizational type and cultural factors. This research encouraged the development of several major ERP research areas: ͑1͒ critical success factors, ͑2͒ the organizational impact, and ͑3͒ the economic impact of ERP systems. We use this taxonomy to establish ͑1͒ what we know, ͑2͒ what we need, and ͑3͒ where we are going in ERP research. The objective of this review isThe authors are indebted to Roger Debreceny for his considerable guidance and support during the review process.Additional resources for this paper are available online through the American Accounting Association's electronic publications system at: http://aaapubs.org/. Subscribers should use their usernames and passwords for entry into the system where the online resources can be reviewed and printed. If you are a subscriber to the Journal of Information Systems and have any trouble accessing this material, then please contact the AAA headquarters office at info@aaahq.org or ͑941͒ 921-7747. 37to synthesize the extant ERP research reported without regard to publication domain and make this readily available to accounting researchers. We organize key ERP research by topics of interest in accounting, and map ERP topics onto existing accounting information systems research areas. An emphasis is placed on topics important to accounting, including ͑but not limited to͒ the risk management and auditing of ERP systems, regulatory issues, the internal and external economic impacts of ERP systems, extensions needed in ERP systems for XBRL, for interorganizational support, and for the design of management control systems.

No abstract

Businesses have invested tremendous resources into intelligent decision aid development. A good match between user and aid may improve the expert decision-maker's decision quality. However, novices may be prone to poorer decision-making if intelligent decision aids are more expert than the user. The present paper provides an empirical test of the impact of decision aids on subjects with differential expertise levels. The results support the contention that intelligent decision aids aggravate bias in novices' decision-making but mitigate bias in experts' decision-making processes. Intelligent decision aids may be best viewed as complements to expert decision-makers during complex problem analysis and resolution. Copyright 2004 Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand.

Business intelligence (BI) systems have attracted significant interest from senior executives and consultants for their ability to exploit organizational data and provide operational and strategic benefits through improved management control systems. A large body of literature indicates that organizations have largely failed to use their business intelligence investments effectively to exploit the wealth of data they capture in their ERP systems. As a result, BI has too often failed to support organizations' managerial decision making at both the strategic and operational levels and, thus, failed to enhance business value. Whether and how organizations achieve business benefits from their BI investments remains unclear. This study draws on the strategic alignment and IT assimilation literature to develop a research model that theorizes the importance of BI systems assimilation, and the need for shared knowledge among the strategic and operational levels as the drivers of BI business value. Results from the study confirm the crucial role of BI assimilation in translating organizational resources into capabilities that enhance the business value of BI. The findings also contribute evidence on the importance of shared domain knowledge and the interrelations between senior business, IT executives, and operational-level managers for enhancing BI assimilation.

No abstract