IT Applications and Managing Change

AuthorThomas R. Weirich,Art Worster,Frank Andera
Date01 September 2015
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1002/jcaf.22092
Published date01 September 2015
87
© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).
DOI 10.1002/jcaf.22092
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IT Applications and Managing Change
Art Worster, Thomas R. Weirich, and Frank Andera
In any implementa-
tion of information
technology (IT)
applications known
as enterprise resource
planning (ERP)
and their ancillary
systems that may be
part of the enterprise
platform, there are a
number of key play-
ers. Since integrated
systems require cross‐
process designs, the
bulk of the design
work has to be done
in discussions between
functional areas.
However, through-
out these financial
applications, whether
financial accounting
or cost accounting
of various types, one
of the central lead-
ers in any program
needs to be the chief
financial officer
(CFO) or equivalent.
Regardless of how
the logistics business
process operates,
it is a requirement
that the results of all
transactions must
result in timely and
accurate financial
transactions. It has
become increasingly
important that senior
financial leaders take
a key role to ensure
that the results or
the designs maintain
financial integrity.
In order to play this
key role in determin-
ing what changes will
be required and how
they will be designed
to ensure accuracy,
there are some new
principles that need
to be understood.
While these principles
are important to all
of the design team
and their leaders, it
is most important
that since all of the
designs will have to
meet strict standards
in finance, the finan-
cial leaders must also
understand the new
principles.
The introduction of integrated business applica-
tions (enterprise resource planning [ERP]) has
caused a tectonic shift in how we think about
business logic. Some involve fundamental logical
principles that can then be applied to individual
functions. In the first of a series of articles, the
authors lay the groundwork for understanding
why implementation of these applications causes
significant disruption in how business executives
need to look at business improvements. The
introduction of cross‐functional applications that
require a redefinition of business processes inte-
grated across functional boundaries has resulted
in more than just relearning how business trans-
actions work. To make optimal use of these
business applications, thought processes must
change, also. As the financial leaders within a
business, financial executives play an instrumen-
tal role in creating and executing these designs,
not only in finance but also in how other functions
design and execute their roles. In the new appli-
cations world, understanding these principles
is key to providing direction to the business as
processes are reengineered. By taking a different
view of how integrated business processes affect
these design issues, this article lays the founda-
tion for more detailed discussions in the ensuing
articles. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
This is the first installment in a series
of articles that will appear in the com-
ing issues of the JCAF. Art Worster
and his associates, Thomas R. Wei-
rich and Frank Andera, will address
matters that arise during and after
the implementation of integrated IT
applications in a business.

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