An empirical examination of the influence of organizational constraints on information systems development

This study examined the influence of organizational constraints on information systems (IS) development. Given its complexities and difficulties, IS development within an organization sometimes occurs in a restrained manner that may or may not be advantageous. This study examined the overall impact of organizational constraints on IS success and tested (using a different methodology) a model developed in a prior study. That model contained indirect indicators of the aggregate impact of organizational constraints. Measures for those indicators were developed through an iterative process that concluded with a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The model was then tested with these developed measures. The conclusions of this research relate to the potential success of IS development within alternative environments and to the need for consideration of organizational constraints in IS development research.     

Influencia de los sistemas de información en los resultados organizacionales

Over the last years, information systems (IS) have constituted the main focus of research in the business organization literature. This has created the need to identify their entrepreneurial value. The paper presents a theory-based model that was developed to assess the degree of IS success in SMEs. The aim of the proposed model is to determine the influence of IS on organizational performance. To achieve this aim, the Partial Least Square statistical technique is used to analyze data from 133 questionnaires administered to businesses across the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. The results show that those enterprises that are more concerned with the improvement of the systems’ quality, information quality and the informatics service enhance the organizational outcomes. The present study contributes to the body of literature on the assessment of IS success in the context of an emerging country. In particular, the study provides a thorough assessment of the IS effectiveness and their impact on organizational performance.     

Influence of information systems on organizational results

In recent years, information systems (IS) comprise one of the main fields of study in business organization, caused by the need to identify their business value. Therefore, in this research and based on a theoretical review, a model is developed for the evaluation of the success of the IS for small and medium enterprises (SME) to determine the influence of the IS in the organizational results. To reach this goal, the Partial Least Squares (PLS) statistical technique was used through a survey made to 133 companies of Tamaulipas state, Mexico. The results obtained allow deducing that the companies that pay more attention on improving the quality of the system, of the information, and of the information systems, favor their organizational results. This work contributes to the literature on the measurement of the success of the IS in the context of a country with an emerging economy, particularly by allowing to identify in a broader manner the measurement of its effectiveness and its incidence in the business performance.     

Development and validation of an improved DeLone-McLean IS success model - application to the evaluation of a tax administration ERP

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is critical to an organization’s success. However, the factors that contribute to the success and usage of these ERP systems have received little attention. This study developed and validation of an improved DeLone-McLean IS success model. Additionally, we examined the factors which influence ERP system usage, employee satisfaction, information quality, service quality, and system quality, as well as the factors that influence the system’s overall success. The proposed model is based on a mixed-methods case study (MM-CS). The results show that the proposed model significantly measures the success of an ERP system. The organizational climate, the information quality, the system quality, and the service quality all have an impact on the usage of an ERP system. The proposed model also shows that the use of an ERP system, training and learning, and the three information (IS) quality constructs are all significant predictors of user satisfaction. The results also indicate that gender and years of ICT use on the path of ERP users have a moderating effect on the relationship between teamwork & support and use.     

A further interpretation of the relational agency of information systems: A research note

This paper proposes a reinterpretation of the agency of information system (IS) as relational. It explores how the agency of IS has been articulated in the extant stream of accounting information system (AIS) research and explains how a relational view of agency can enhance our understanding of IS in its organizational context. This reinterpretation highlights the limitation of viewing IS as technology (technocentric view) with predefined functionality and predictable effects. Attention is also shifted away from an anthropocentric conceptualization of IS; where the technology is seen as a tool and agency is attributed only to humans. We argue in the paper that both the technocentric and anthropocentric views of IS limit what can be learned about the agency of IS. Drawing on actor-network theory (ANT), this study conceptualizes IS as a relational network and proposes a relational view of the agency of IS. This relational view suggests that the social and material entities that make up IS have no absolute essence when viewed in isolation; rather, their collective force defines the agency of IS. The implications of the relational view of agency for AIS research are also highlighted.     

Toward an integrative framework of organizational control

This paper develops an integrative organizational control model which synthesizes selected contributions of the administrative management school, organizational sociologists and organizational psychologists. The model consists of a core control system embedded in the context of organizational structure, organizational culture and the external environment. Control is defined as attempts by the organization to increase the probability that individuals will behave in ways that will lead to the attainment of organizational objectives. Control of work behavior is accomplished by the four core control mechanisms of planning, measurement, feedback and evaluation-reward. The paper presents propositions for each core control mechanism, relating its impact to work behaviors and outcomes. It also examines the manner in which the contextual factors (culture, etc.) function as control mechanisms on work behavior. Finally, the paper suggests directions for future research on the proposed model. Taken together, the model and the propositions comprise the basis for an integrative framework of organizational control.     

Human approach in the quality management system of manufacturing SMEs in Mexico Theoretical review and proposal of a conceptual model

Currently, globalization and competitiveness exert an enormous pressure on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the manufacturing sector in Mexico, for that reason they must be more effective and flexible to meet customer demand. In this article, we reviewed the literature on the subject according to the level of significance of variables like human factor, quality culture, quality management system (QMS) and innovation, considered as key elements of a latent competitive scale as from their exploration and explanation. The main objective of this research is to carry out a critical analysis by relating the importance of the human factor of QMS, through research on socio-emotional, intellectual factors and ethics values for achieving the effectiveness of QMS at all organization levels; it also provides a link between variables of quality culture, value propositions, and innovation. Finally, this work discusses the design of a human factor-based quality model to ensure the value propositions for customer and stakeholders’ satisfaction.     

Transferring knowledge across sub-genres of the ABC implementation literature

In the last decade, a continuous stream of empirical articles has investigated how various implementation process factors (including, top management support, adequate resources, and ABC training) influence ABC implementation success. However, at the same time, a growing number of researchers have criticised this ‘mainstream approach’ for, among other things, neglecting issues of power and politics and for viewing ABC implementations as something inherently positive. Based on Lukka and Granlund's [Lukka, K., Granlund, M., 2002. The fragmented communication structure within the accounting academia: the case of activity-based costing research genres. Acc. Organ. Soc. 27, 165–190] call for communication between various streams of ABC research, the purpose of this paper is to discuss how the ‘mainstream’ implementation literature may benefit from insights made in the politically oriented literature. A key conclusion is that such an analysis not only provides us with enriched explanations of the relatively strong and coherent findings in the ‘mainstream’ ABC implementation literature, but has also the potential to explain ‘unexpected’ and ‘contradictory’ results found in this stream of research. Based on these observations, a number of directions for future research are proposed.     

Business risk perspectives on information systems outsourcing

Information systems (IS) outsourcing research has continued to evolve over the past decade to reflect changes in its practice and a deeper understanding of its business impact. Typically, the drivers of outsourcing decisions are both internal and external to the outsourcing organization and have been the basis for such studies. Since IS essentially represents an organization's implementation of its business processes, this paper approaches IS outsourcing by explicitly integrating issues related to business process outsourcing. The resulting business risk management framework provides a basis for effective IS outsourcing. The framework is further discussed within the context of outsourcing in e-business. By adopting a risk management perspective, this paper provides a strategic direction to further the field of IS outsourcing research.     

Vernacular accountings: Bridging the cognitive and the social in the analysis of employee-generated accounting systems

We unpack the concept of “informal accounting systems” and bracket “vernacular accountings” based on the modality and source of legitimacy of such systems. Vernacular accountings are accounting and control systems that are self-generated by organizational actors in the context of their work and not officially sanctioned within the organizational hierarchy. We argue that these systems capture actionable knowledge from the epistemic perspective of their users. We identify three ideal types of vernacular accountings: vernacular accountings as an inventory of knowledge that employees construct to meet their task specific information needs; vernacular accountings as a defensive resource constructed and used by employees who resist or do not trust the formally sanctioned systems; and, vernacular accountings as organizational practice that has both pragmatic and epistemic functions and that facilitates distributed cognition. Drawing on an epistemic perspective that spans cognitive and social levels of analysis we develop theoretical propositions on the emergence and use of these three types of vernacular accountings.     

Research issues on the use of ERPS in interorganizational relationships

The use of enterprise resource planning systems (ERPS) is a critical component of a firm's strategy for the proper management and control of inter-organizational relationships. This research note utilizes recent research findings that bear on the effectiveness of the implementation and use of ERPS in business organizations and extends these findings in the inter-organizational context. The major purpose of this essay is to present theoretical bases on which future research could justify theoretical models and present theoretically-sound arguments for the examination of the use of ERPS in the management and control of inter-organizational relationships. The implications of a number of theories are examined, including: (a) the theory of co-opetition from organizational strategy, as it relates to the necessity for carrying out simultaneous activities in inter-organizational cooperation and competition, (b) the economic theory of complementarity, as it emphasizes interactions in different elements of organizational design and explains how different elements of organizational strategy and management process relate to one another, and (c) the real options theory from finance as it relates to the degree of managerial flexibility in making infrastructure investment decisions. Each of these theories offers important implications for the examination of use of ERPS in inter-organizational relationships. This essay develops a number of research propositions in order to motivate research in this area. Future research not only could benefit from these theoretical bases but also could make contributions for the extension of these theories in the use of ERPS for the management and control of inter-organizational relationships.     

The impact of organizational contexts on EDI controls

The growing popularity of electronic data interchange (EDI) in business operations has led to a growing recognition of the need to implement proper control procedures. The requirements for control systems vary according to organizational context. A research model proposes that the organization, technological, and task characteristics as well as partner attributes affect formal, informal, and automated controls, each of which can be categorized as internal and external controls. Data were gathered from 110 companies that had adopted EDI. IS sophistication and task routineness were significantly associated with the use of formal and automated — both internal and external — controls. Decentralization and partner trust affected the use of internal and external informal controls. The results of this study could help EDI managers or auditors decide the necessary mode of controls for a certain organizational context. In addition, this study would be of interest to EDI practitioners in designing control systems.     

The organizational culture of public accounting firms: evidence from Taiwanese local and US affiliated firms

This study examines the organizational cultures of public accounting firms with data from US affiliated international accounting firms in Taiwan and Taiwanese local firms. Hypotheses are tested about the impact of the national culture of the US firms on their Taiwanese affiliates, and about cultural differences across function and rank. The study extends previous research by (1) examining an oriental country whose culture is significantly different from that of the US, (2) using the Hofstede, G., Neuijen, B., Ohayv, D. D., & Sanders G. (1990). Measuring organizational cultures: a qualitative and quantitative study across twenty cases. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35, 286–316 practices-based measure of organizational culture, and (3) examining the importance of the fit between employee preferences and organizational culture in influencing organizational commitment, job satisfaction and propensity to remain with the organization. Support is found for the cultural impact and fit hypotheses. Additonally, while culture is found to be relatively homogeneous across function, differences are found across rank.     

When global accounting standards meet the local context—Insights from an emerging economy

We investigate the translation and application of global accounting standards in a local context, with Romania as our country case study. Our theoretical framework is derived from institutional theory. We develop this by complementing isomorphism (DiMaggio and Powell, 1983) with an emphasis on the behavior of actors and with the different strategic responses that organizations enact as a result of the institutional pressures toward conformity, following Oliver (1991). We contend that local actors play a more important role in triggering organizational responses than is implied by Oliver's (1991) framework in the application of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This is because organizational responses to these global standards are conditioned by the interplay between actors, who are searching for legitimacy and the attainment of their own (mutually conflicting) interests.Contrary to earlier institutional propositions, we find that acquiescence strategies may occur even when there is a great degree of constituent multiplicity, and that avoidance may occur in entities with a smaller degree of multiplicity. We thus argue that countries are not homogeneous in terms of accounting practices. Finally we suggest that intra-organizational interests and actions are important for IFRS implementation, and future research should investigate this in depth.     

Managerial accounting systems and organizational control: A role perspective

This paper proposes a new way of viewing the relationship between managerial accounting systems and organizational control. This is done to provide a structure around which control processes may be observed and research conducted. In the context of role theory several propositions are advanced in order to explain the relationship. Namely, it is noted that managerial accounting systems are useful in communicating role expectations, are important to motivation, and are useful in communicating organizational climate. Also, several factors concerning managerial style and social context were seen to influence the operativeness of these propositions.     

Professionalism, organizational commitment and job satisfaction in an accounting organization

With growth in the number of professionals employed in organizations, concern has been expressed over potential conflict between the professionalism of these employees and their commitment to the organization. Empirical studies examining the relationships between professionalism, organizational commitment and job satisfaction have reported inconsistent results. This paper examines these variables in an organization setting involving several field offices of a “Big Eight” U.S. accounting firm. Accountants who reported high levels of professionalism also reported high levels of organizational commitment. Additionally, both professionalism and organizational commitment were strongly related to job satisfaction.     

Designing and Implementing an Information System for the Dental Office of Branckowitz & Young

This case provides students with the opportunity to create a functional information system (IS) for a service company. The case facilitates a guided hands‐on experience where students learn to analyze a business entity in the context of its environment; recognize what business processes comprise an entity's value chain; and develop, document, and implement a tailor‐made IS to support the entity's operation. In order to keep the amount of development realistic and the system transparent for students, the case focuses on a small service company: a dental office. The case uses a resource—events—agents (REA) analytical framework for modeling and Microsoft Access for IS implementation. The case is structured modularly, enabling instructors to either explain material or demonstrate analysis/development of a segment of an IS in class and then challenge the students to complete the module's development following the instructor's example. Instructors have the flexibility to give students fewer (or additional) directions in developing the information system, depending on the students' backgrounds and abilities. Instructors also have a choice to limit the scope of the development and implementation to any number of four business processes.     

THE ECONOMICS OF AN AUDIT FIRM: THE BENEFITS OF PARTNERSHIP GOVERNANCE

Audit firms have been given the option to incorporate only within the last 5 years. Since then, audit firms have chosen to change legal form, switching from partnerships to corporations. This paper investigates the governance effects of both the partnership and corporation form. I argue that although audit firms may adopt the legal form of corporation, the organizational characteristics of partnerships will be efficient in the current audit market and will be largely retained when firms switch legal forms. Some propositions are derived based on incomplete contracting theory that outlines complementary attributes of each organizational form. These propositions are illustrated by an in-depth case study of KPMG in the Netherlands, an audit firm that has recently made the transition.     

Conflict variables in world simulations

World modellers have neglected social and political variables in their model building, basically because of problems of quantification. Instead they have treated these factors as exogenous, which has permitted a less rigorous approach to the relationship between their inputs and the real world. Here the author introduces two sociopolitical variables—conflict and centralisation—into Forrester's World 2 model, and Boyd's modified World 2, and compares the results of a series of computer runs with the results obtained from the original models. While the propositions linking these two variables to others in the World 2 model are largely hypothetical, the stability of the modified model suggests that these linkages are authentic—and that the study's findings concerning the effect of conflict upon the world system are valid.     

Management based critical success factors in the implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning systems

This study examines critical success factors for implementing Enterprise Resource Planning systems using the framework of classical management theory. The study is motivated by conflicting results in earlier studies examining critical success factors in Enterprise Resource Planning implementation, many of which are anecdotal in nature. Ten critical success factors in ERP systems implementation proposed in past literature are selected. The relationship between each of these factors and project success is examined. Project success is defined as organizational impact and on time and on/under budget project completion. Eight implementation projects were qualitatively analyzed using the case study method to examine the proposed relationships. The findings suggest that choosing the right full time project manager, training of personnel, and the presence of a champion relate to project success. The use of consultants, the role of management in reducing user resistance and the use of a steering committee to control the project do not appear to differentiate successful and unsuccessful projects. Integration of ERP planning with business planning, reporting level of the project manager, and active participation of the CEO beyond project approvals, resource allocation and occasional project review, are not found to be critical factors of success. Considering the financial cost and risk associated with these projects, a better understanding of critical success factors will enable practitioners and academics to improve the chance of success in the implementation projects. All organizations implementing ERP, especially small and mid-sized enterprises with limited resources, will benefit from this knowledge.