Examine ERP post-implementation stages of use and value: Empirical evidence from Portuguese SMEs

There is a great interest among researchers and practitioners in accounting information systems (AIS) value. This is particularly important in cases of systems such as enterprise resource planning (ERP). This paper empirically measures and analyses the determinants of ERP use and value in a single framework, as well as provides empirical evidence from Portuguese small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Drawing upon theories on the process and contexts of information technology (IT) we postulate nine hypotheses. Used the technology–organization–environment (TOE) framework to hypothesize how compatibility, complexity, efficiency, best-practices, training, and competitive pressure explain ERP use. Based on the resource-based view (RBV) theory we hypothesize how ERP use, collaboration and analytics explain ERP value, and its potential contribution for the nature of management control and accounting information systems on Portuguese SMEs. Through structural equation modeling, a data set of 134 web-surveyed firms is used to test the hypotheses. Our empirical analysis leads to six main findings: 1) compatibility, complexity, best-practices, and efficiency are more important determinants for ERP use as well as training and competitive pressure, suggesting that technological, organizational and environmental characteristics are the main drivers of ERP use among Portuguese SMEs. 2) Similarly, collaboration and analytics are more important for ERP value upon use, suggesting that system capability characteristics are the main drivers of ERP value. 3) ERP value benefits from system enhancements to firms' business processes in the post-implementation phases. 4) For Portuguese SMEs the mostly valued metric attained through ERP is management control. 5) Impelled by legislation, Portuguese SMEs are using ERP as the accounting system for management, financial and tax accounting. 6) Portuguese SMEs invest more than 70% of their annual IT budget to ERP use. Together, these findings offer insights into how Portuguese SMEs use and extract value from ERP, and how enhancements positively impact the system's value. Unlike the typical focus on ERP adoption described in the literature, this research focuses on the post-implementation phase, linking actual use with value creation, adding an empirical study to the AIS literature.     

A Review of Big Data Research in Accounting

The impending fourth industrial revolution has enhanced the role of big data analytics in today’s business practice. Consequently, many now consider big data as the most strategic resource in business to the extent that organizations that fail to utilize it may become competitively disadvantaged. Following these developments, questions have been raised about the future of the accounting discipline, especially in terms of how it can continue to add value to organizations. While some scholars have attempted to address this question, it remains an abstract concept requiring further investigation. Therefore, this study conducts a systematic literature review to determine the status of accounting research on big data analytics and provides avenues for further studies. By conducting co-occurrence network analysis on 52 peer-reviewed articles published from 2010 to 2020, three broad themes emerged, entailing big data implications for accounting practice, education, and research design. A further examination of the themes revealed few empirical studies on the phenomenon, as conceptual research dominates the field. Although external audit implications of big data are widely discussed, other accounting domains (e.g., managerial accounting and taxation) are underexplored. Therefore, future studies may focus on the implications of big data on variables such as performance measurement, information governance, tax behavior, curriculum design, and pedagogy.     

Explaining the (non-) adoption of advanced data analytics in auditing: A process theory

Audit firms are increasingly engaging with advanced data analytics to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of external audits through the automation of audit work and obtaining a better understanding of the client’s business risk and thus their own audit risk. This paper examines the process by which audit firms adopt advanced data analytics, which has been left unaddressed by previous research. We derive a process theory from expert interviews which describes the activities within the process and the organizational units involved. It further describes how the adoption process is affected by technological, organizational and environmental contextual factors. Our work contributes to the extent body of research on technology adoption in auditing by using a previously unused theoretical perspective, and contextualizing known factors of technology adoption. The findings presented in this paper emphasize the importance of technological capabilities of audit firms for the adoption of advanced data analytics; technological capabilities within audit teams can be leveraged to support both the ideation of possible use cases for advanced data analytics, as well as the diffusion of solutions into practice.     

保理对我国中小企业的适用性分析及运作模式探讨

近年来,保理业务在我国国际、国内贸易中得到了迅速的发展.但与发达国家情况不同的是,我国的保理客户群体主要为大型企业,而在中小企业中却鲜有运用.通过本文的分析,我们得出,保理业务对我国广大中小企业有着更大的适用性.在现阶段,可以尝试通过出口信用保险公司和信用担保机构同商业银行合作的模式,来共同开展针对中小企业的国际、国内保理业务.     

Competing on analytics

We all know the power of the killer app. It's not just a support tool; it's a strategic weapon. Companies questing for killer apps generally focus all their firepower on the one area that promises to create the greatest competitive advantage. But a new breed of organization has upped the stakes: Amazon, Harrah's, Capital One, and the Boston Red Sox have all dominated their fields by deploying industrial-strength analytics across a wide variety of activities. At a time when firms in many industries offer similar products and use comparable technologies, business processes are among the few remaining points of differentiation--and analytics competitors wring every last drop of value from those processes. Employees hired for their expertise with numbers or trained to recognize their importance are armed with the best evidence and the best quantitative tools. As a result, they make the best decisions. In companies that compete on analytics, senior executives make it clear--from the top down--that analytics is central to strategy. Such organizations launch multiple initiatives involving complex data and statistical analysis, and quantitative activity is managed atthe enterprise (not departmental) level. In this article, professor Thomas H. Davenport lays out the characteristics and practices of these statistical masters and describes some of the very substantial changes other companies must undergo in order to compete on quantitative turf. As one would expect, the transformation requires a significant investment in technology, the accumulation of massive stores of data, and the formulation of company-wide strategies for managing the data. But, at least as important, it also requires executives' vocal, unswerving commitment and willingness to change the way employees think, work, and are treated.     

Enhancing IT governance practices: A model and case study of an organization's efforts

For many organizations, Information Technology (IT) enabled business initiatives and IT infrastructure constitute major investments that, if not managed properly, may impair rather than enhance the organization's competitive position. Especially since the advent of Sarbanes–Oxley (SOX), both management and IT professionals are concerned with design, implementation, and assessment of IT governance strategies to ensure that technology truly serves the needs of the business. Via an in-depth study within one organisation, this research explores the factors influencing IT governance structures, processes, and outcome metrics. Interview responses to open-ended questions indicated that more effective IT governance performance outcomes are associated with a shared understanding of business and IT objectives; active involvement of IT steering committees; a balance of business and IT representatives in IT decisions; and comprehensive and well-communicated IT strategies and policies. IT governance also plays a prominent role in fostering project success and delivering business value.     

Bank selection and share of wallet among SMEs: Apparent differences between Hong Kong and Australia

This paper examines the factors that small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Hong Kong consider when selecting a banking partner, and the extent to which they use different banks (share of wallet). The findings are contrasted with those from another study of Australian business. The results show that firms in both countries view a bank's willingness to accommodate their banking and credit needs as being important. Hong Kong firms appear to give this factor higher priority when making their bank selection, while Australian firms appear to place higher emphasis on long-term relationships. Australian firms appear to have a more stable relationship with their primary bank as compared to the firms in Hong Kong where switching behaviours are found to be common. While ‘guanxi’ is often seen as critical in maintaining a business relationship in the Asian context, this study suggests it has limited impact for SMEs in Hong Kong in increasing share of wallet. The findings offer marketing implications for banks that are operating, or are planning to operate, business banking in both places.     

The SMEs’ perspective of trust in a B2B relationship

Despite the diversity in its associated definition and related structures, the role of trust in underpinning long-term business relationships is well established. This article presents an instrument to assess trust from the perspective of Nigerian Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) towards their banks, an area with limited research to date. Items borrowed from various scale sets presented in existing studies are combined to assess trust by encompassing both the dimensions of credibility and benevolence. Data were collected from 221 SMEs via a self-administered questionnaire completed either by the SME owner or senior manager with responsibility for relationship with their bank, providing 199 usable records. An Exploratory Factor Analysis was used to determine the underlying data structure, with subsequent deployment of Cronbach’s α as a post-hoc assessment of the internal reliability of the retained factors. The analysis presented suggests that the SMEs’ perspective of the trust they have in their banks primarily encompasses credibility, supported by only a marginal presence of benevolence. In absolute terms, these SMEs declare a strongly positive level of credibility-based trust towards their banks despite the financial crises that have plagued the Nigerian banking industry. The originality of this work lies in the investigation of a business-to-business relationship involving SMEs and banks from the perspective of the former in an under-researched emerging economy setting.     

中小企业银行业务开发与拓展

银行在中小企业融资服务中具有独特的优势。目前,中外资银行均认识到发展中小企业银行业务的必要性,但从服务成熟度来看,以花旗银行为代表的外资银行处于领先地位。我国发展中小企业银行业务仍存在着征信和担保体系不完善的困难。可以按企业经营生命周期、融资时间长短、企业类型、业务类型拓展中小企业银行业务。     

小微企业的物联网供应链融资模式创新研究

供应链融资以核心企业为中心为上下游企业提供融资,可以缓解链上的小微企业资金紧缺,并成为小微企业的主要融资方式之一,但同时也受到信息孤岛、不便监管等因素的制约。物联网技术将物与物以及人与物进行信息转换连接,具有“可视化”监管、多向交互式联系等特点,可以实现对现实世界的货物信息等的实时跟踪。从互联网供应链融资模式发展现状出发,通过分析认为风险连锁扩大、信息判断失误、监管难度加大等问题是互联网背景下供应链融资模式发展中存在的主要问题。尝试设计物联网供应链融资模式框架,从数据处理平台、模式运行路径等机制进行论述。结合典型应用案例分析物联网供应链融资在小微企业的应用,探索小微企业融资的创新模式,剖析实际运行中可能出现的问题,并提出了强化物联网运行安全、加强质押物监管等建议。     

金融科技、最优银行业市场结构与小微企业信贷供给

小微企业融资问题一直备受各界关注,金融科技的发展或许会带来新变化,但相关研究尚不充分。本文构建包含贷款技术和银行业市场结构的理论模型,提出金融科技、银行业市场结构与小微企业信贷供给的关系假说。在此基础上,手工收集百度搜索指数数据,建立与银行小微企业信贷业务相关的各省金融科技发展水平指数,并利用2011-2018年省级面板数据进行相应的实证检验。研究结果表明:针对整个银行业体系,金融科技有助于促进银行小微企业信贷供给;银行业市场结构与小微企业信贷供给之间呈现“倒U”型关系,即推动银行增加小微企业信贷供给时,存在最优银行业市场结构;与此同时,金融科技发展水平将影响银行业最优市场结构,金融科技发展水平越高,促进小微企业信贷供给的最优银行业竞争程度越高。本文的研究结论能够进一步丰富小微企业信贷理论,补充中国经验证据,为促进银行小微企业信贷供给提供重要启示。     

商业银行普惠金融支持小微企业发展研究

长期以来,由于信息不对称、信用体系不健全、市场功能不完备等摩擦性因素,商业银行支持小微企业发展困难重重与可持续性不强。随着国家对普惠金融的不断重视,商业银行普惠金融支持小微企业发展成为时代必然的选择。本文从小微企业、商业银行和金融基础设施等不同角度对小微企业发展的相关问题进行分析,通过数据对比和政策剖析得出四点主要结论:一是大型商业银行支持小微企业贷款规模最大、增速最高;二是农村类金融机构金融覆盖度持续扩大;三是信息不对称和担保体系不健全严重阻碍商业银行服务小微企业的质效;四是要密切关注大型商业银行在普惠领域的风险积聚和商业可持续。最后,提出商业银行兼顾社会效益和商业可持续、积极拥抱金融科技提升服务价值、打造差异化特色普惠金融产品等多方面政策建议。     

Firm performance and AIS alignment in Malaysian SMEs

This study focused on measuring the alignment of accounting information systems (AIS) requirements with AIS capacity and then investigating whether this AIS alignment is linked to firm performance. The study was conducted using Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. Using a mail questionnaire, data from 310 firms was collected on nineteen accounting information characteristics. The results indicated that a significant proportion of Malaysian SMEs had achieved high AIS alignment. Furthermore, the group of SMEs with high AIS alignment had achieved better organisational performance than firms with low AIS alignment. The findings provided evidence of the importance of AIS alignment and deepened current understanding of the requirements for accounting information and the use of IT as an important information processing mechanism. More importantly, it opens up possibilities for further study of AIS alignment in SMEs, both in Malaysia and on a global basis.     

定向降准、贷款可得性与小微企业商业信用——基于断点回归的经验证据

小微企业在我国经济发展中起到了重要作用,但由于长期面临融资约束问题,使其不得不诉诸非正式制度(如商业信用)来缓解融资困难。党的十九届五中全会明确提出,支持小微企业成长为创新重要发源地,完善促进小微企业发展的政策体系。其中,实施“精准滴灌”式的货币政策,对小微企业成长尤为重要,是金融服务实体经济的必然要求。我国央行的定向降准政策激励银行向小微企业提供贷款,有利于疏通小微企业通过正式制度(如银行贷款)进行融资的渠道。本文基于定向降准这一自然实验,采用断点回归设计,评估贷款可得性对小微企业商业信用的影响。研究发现:第一,正式制度对于非正式制度存在明显的替代效应,即小微企业贷款可得性上升以后,对商业信用的需求显著下降。第二,不同的模型设定与稳健性检验,均得到一致的结论。第三,贷款可得性提高对小微企业商业信用的影响因企业异质性而有所差异。本文研究为银行贷款与商业信用之间的替代关系提供了来自中国小微企业的证据,有助于理解定向降准政策对小微企业融资决策的影响,为扶持小微企业发展的政策制定提供参考。     

Many small antelopes make a dragon

This study focuses on small business in Taiwan. It first discusses the most important features that modern small firms provide, how they are involved in the growing integrated world economy, and the recent rising trends in the number of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This trend, which follows an earlier decrease is further investigated in the context of the Taiwan economy. Finally, three conditions of Taiwan’s successful small firm sector are discussed: appropriate policy, global involvement, and entrepreneurship. Alternative small business futures depend on the conditions that encourage the development of SMEs. In one scenario, where SMEs can find the niche markets quickly, and enhance their expertise in logistics, a rise in SMEs in the global market may be expected. In another scenario, if SMEs fail in forming alliances and networks when confronting with giant firms or large Foreign Direct Investment, there might be a reduction in enterprising behavior. Judging from the former performance of Taiwan’s SMEs, it can be concluded that there is a good chance that SMEs will remain a vibrant and important participant of its economy and the world economy in the future.     

Nigerian SMEs: Commitment and loyalty to their banks

Commitment has a crucial role to play in underpinning long-term business relationships, and as such, is well established in the related academic literature. Limited research does, however, exist pertaining to the specific relationships between SMEs and their banks. This paper presents and assesses commitment relationship framework that seeks to evaluate such relationships. Various validated scale-sets from the existing studies are combined here to assess commitment, advocacy and repurchase intention. Data were collected from 199 SMEs via interviews with owners or senior (financial) managers. Their assessment involved exploratory factor analysis to determine underlying data structure, with internal reliability assessment of the identified factors. Commitment is established around two components; affective and calculative, whilst advocacy and repurchase intention converge into a single behavioural intentions factor. The two-dimensional presentation of commitment and behavioural intentions are also distinct. Originality lies in the validation of commitment and behavioural intention constructs within this specific business arena and geographical location, as well as showcasing research that involves engagement with smaller organisations rather than their larger counterparts in the consideration of bank performance.     

Determinants and outcomes of IT governance in manufacturing SMEs: A strategic IT management perspective

The need to strategically manage IT resources such that they enhance the business value of firms makes IT governance (ITG), in conjunction with IT alignment, an ongoing issue for IS researchers and practitioners. In addressing this issue, the present study aims to validate a research model that relates, within a strategic IT management framework, the firm's ITG and IT alignment capabilities to its IT performance. To do so, a survey of 223 manufacturing SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) was realized. Results confirm the hypothesized relationships between the firm's environmental uncertainty, strategic IT orientation, ITG and IT alignment capabilities. They constitute a solid validation of the impact of the strategic management of IT resources and governance of IT on IT performance in the specific context of manufacturing SMEs.     

私募股权融资方式对不同生命周期中小企业的成长性研究

依据广东、浙江、江苏新三板市场2017年末挂牌的90家中小工业和服务业企业2012-2017年的平衡面板数据,考量私募股权融资方式对不同生命周期中小企业经营规模和业绩的影响。结果表明：私募股权基金进入对中小企业的规模扩张呈正向影响,即私募股权投资基金的进入会促进企业规模壮大;私募股权基金进入对中小企业的经营业绩产生正向的影响,它能够提高中小企业的主营业务收入、主营利润和净利润,推动企业经营业绩的提升;私募股权投资基金进入中小企业的时间不同其影响不同,在成长期进入较成熟期进入效果更好。