Business intelligence system use to leverage enterprise-wide accounting information in shared data environments

The implementation of enterprise systems has facilitated the development of shared data environments within organizations and conjointly the capability for broader based management control systems (MCS). Yet, several studies have found that most organizations have experienced little change in their MCS post-ERP implementation with few organizations experiencing the broad integration of MCS cross-functionally that effectively leverage enterprise data for the support of strategic decision making and operational efficiencies. Business Intelligence (BI) systems are now widely adopted as a key facilitator for extracting and analyzing the enterprise-wide data captured in these shared data environments. We examine the implementation of BI systems into enterprise system environments in order to better understand the organizational factors that influence successful assimilation across the diverse range of control systems desired in contemporary MCS. Our results indicate that organizational knowledge creation strategies are critical to having an appropriate technology infrastructure in place and to having operational-level managers that are prepared to assimilate BI supported MCS for strategic use and organizational benefit. Further, the findings show that while the Top Management Team plays a significant role in effective deployment of BI systems, their impact is indirect, and is a function of operational managers absorptive capacity. This indirect effect suggests a bottom-up driving of technology innovation as opposed to the top-down, top management driven innovation traditionally perceived to dominate MCS implementation.