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This paper examines the financial benefits of adopting IT-based supply chain management (SCM) systems by 123 manufacturing firms over the period 1994 to 2000. By examining the change in financial performance pre and post adoption controlling for industry median changes in performance, we find that SCM systems increase gross margin, inventory turnover, market share, return on sales, and reduce selling, general, and administrative expenses. High-tech firms implementing SCM systems have similar benefits and even greater increases in gross margin, market share, and return on sales.

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We thank Jim Hunton (editor), Steven Kachelmeier (senior editor), and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful guidance. We appreciate the helpful comments from Alberto Dorantes, Michael Ettredge, Robert Examining the Potential Benefits of Internal Control Monitoring TechnologyABSTRACT: We analyze the potential benefits that firms can realize from implementing technology specifically aimed at monitoring the effectiveness of their internal control systems. The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission asserts that effective internal control monitoring should enhance the efficiency of internal control processes, and in turn, the assurance over such processes (COSO 2009a). We develop hypotheses to test the realization of these potential benefits. Specifically, we identify a sample of firms that implemented internal control monitoring technology in response to the internal control requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Consistent with our hypotheses, we document that the implementation of internal control monitoring technology is associated with lower likelihood of material weaknesses, smaller increases in audit fees, and smaller increases in audit delays during the post-SOX time period. We discuss the potential implications of our findings for research related to continuous monitoring, client-provided assurance assistance, and information technology governance.

Understanding the return on investments in information technology (IT) is the focus of a large and growing body of research. The objective of this paper is to synthesize this research and develop a model to guide future research in the evaluation of information technology investments. We focus on archival studies that use accounting or market measures of firm performance. We emphasize those studies where accounting researchers with interest in market-level analyses of systems and technology issues may hold a competitive advantage over traditional information systems (IS) researchers. We propose numerous opportunities for future research. These include examining the relation between IT and business processes, and business processes and overall firm performance, understanding the effect of contextual factors on the IT-performance relation, examining the IT-performance relation in an international context, and examining the interactive effects of IT spending and IT management on firm performance.