274.E试论IT环境下如何加强会计信息系统风险管理 外文原文.doc

Information Quality for a University Accounting Information System Abstract: This study reports about the information quality for a university accounting information system. The department aims to provide high quality information to staff and students using the accounting information system. The case findings show that there are many problems facing the staff and students which has an impact on their experience, motivation, usefulness and ease of use and usage of the accounting information system. The qualitative data reveals a difference not matching user requirements and the accounting information system characteristics. The evidence suggests that as a result poor information quality is delivered to the user which has an impact on their work. 1. IntroductionThe University is an institution with a good reputation for distance learning in Australia. The Department in this case study operates from the capital city office and provides its services to staff and international students on other campuses. The Departments primary objective is to increase the overseas student enrolment in the university. In this process the department aims to provide a high quality of information to the staff and students on electronic services systems. The other functions of the Department are to manage customer relationships with new international students, to manage international students admission applications and to administer the legal and administrative responsibilities required of the university on the website. The department is implementing the electronic delivery of its services on the website.2. Theoretical FrameworkThe discussion is based on theoretical concepts in analyzing the emerging evidence and its implication in accounting information system. Rogers (1983) argue that attributes that have an indirect effect on innovation adoptions may also play an important role. User attributes may influence the adoption decision of web-based accounting information system. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) of Davis (1989, 1993) represents an understanding of IS usage and acceptance behavior (Davis et al (1989). TAM has been applied in a variety of end- user studies on world-wide-web (Heijden 2000; Gefen and Straub 2000; Steer et al 2000; Moon and Kim 2001; and Wright and Granger 2001). Applying the TAM model to investigate the user acceptance of accounting information system may provide insight into what makes accounting information system usefulness and user friendliness. TAM focuses on two such beliefs: perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU), it may be suggested that integrating end-user factor in TAM may have an influence on users acceptance (Davies1999 and Venkatesh 2000).Attitude towards using a technology is omitted in TAM (Davis 1989), albelt the users early attitude towards controlling the system (not vice versa) played a pivotal role in its adoption and consequently its diminishing usage.Research with the model found that the users experienced working within fixed standards and personalizing task features on individualized basis are not available.There is a gap between users personalizing the task (which though rested in systems features and not with the users) and the scope of electronic service assisting the user with the task.The users determined that these early perceptions of the new system being without ease of use. Senior management and systems development team, when implementing the system, worked on the concept of standardizing the web-based electronic service output. This developed into end-user resistance in adopting the web-based electronic service within the set parameter.The end-user found the usage factor as inheriting within the system and not with themselves (i.e. end-users) and this made the electronic task difficult to perform. The end-users based their expectations on reasonable experience in the past when task inherited with the user and not the system. To some extent the users felt isolated from the system and the disparity believed to be growing.Regan and OConnor (1994) suggest several techniques for developing and reinforcing the users conceptual model of the interface in systems development. These include using metaphors, avoiding modes, ensuring consistency, making the interface user driven, and making the interfacetransparent.Providinguserwiththeconsistencyin interacting with the metaphors that convey the same meaning enhances user control over the electronic service task. In this paper we will focus on easing user task interface in the web-based environment.3. Research MethodThe problem facing the international admission department is that the staff is not adopting the web electronic service in processing student admission applications; instead they were continuing with the old system that is a traditional paper based service. Printing documents, storing them in folders, and processing correspondence with students through traditional mail were central to the workflow system. Reliance on the paper-based service tended to duplicate and increase task load leading to errors and confusion. As a result of this, theElectronic copy available at: department lag behind in providing good service to its clients(students), resulting in considerable backlog.The department introduced the web electronic service to catch up with the increasing backlog and to improve their service to students. The staff account for their resistance to adopt web electronic service on the basis of factual information such as: it added additional load to their current task, there was a lack of confidence in web electronic service, there was fear of providing wrong information on the web, and there was a resistance to seeking help when required.This case study examined evidence from multiple sources of documentation, open-ended interviews, and participant-observation (Yin 1994). The discussions and interviews were open-ended, the researchers in the beginning provided the topic, and the respondents were probed their opinion about the events. The respondents were asked to explore their understanding of exercising control in the accounting information system. Each interview was taped and subsequently transcribed for analysis. A reasonable approach was taken to verify the responses with information from other sources.The respondents were encouraged to provide their own insight into the problem and this was later converged with responses from other respondents and sources. The researchers avoided following sequence of certain set of questions only, as it would have limited the scope of study and may not provided important and rich information.4. Case Analysis and DiscussionsA.Staff experience with the accounting information systemThe reaction of the staff to using the accounting information system related primarily, as one would expect, to issues in their everyday work. Unanimously, the staff believed that the usability of the accounting information system should enable them to complete their work electronically. This was not possible at the time of the case study, and in follow up 2 years later, because the accounting information system was not fully developed. The majority of staff (90%) responded to this situation by differentially using features of the accounting information system and by making different decisions about whether each feature could be useful in their work to capture information. The staff perceptions was that it was difficult to decide on accepting and then using the accounting information system because some tasks could only be partly performed electronically retrieving information and the rest had to be completed using the older paper- based system. The staff perceptions were that it was complicated to determine which system best suited their work task requirements.AlloftheAdmissionsstaff(100%)complainedthatwhen electronically processing the admissions applications, the accountinginformation system increased their workload, slowed the work process, and brought complexity to the task which stemmed from poor information quality. The reason for this, in their opinion, was the increasing number of paper documents, information from which had to be manually entered into the accounting information system before an application could be processed electronically. Some documents, for example student fees and financial records could not be entered into the accounting information system at all because the system lacked that feature and this lowered the actual quality of the information system which negatively affected the staff perceptions.In the opinion of the staff members as a whole, the systems design team did not adequately explore the need for staff to understand the task sequence from start to finish or the need to integrate those functions into the accounting information system based on staff skills. As a result 70% of the staff lacked essential skills that were needed to use the system for information retrieval. Land (1999) previously noted that users may not have consistent skills in using the system because of differing levels of expertise. This was also the situation for the staff in the Department.Performing work tasks electronically required staff to have more experience and to know what was happening beyond their individual computer screen. In the paper-based system, the different processes that connected to the tasks were familiar to the staff: where information was stored, such as in files, and the organisation and storage of documentation, and retrieving information which was systematically interconnected. In the new accounting information system, little was understood by staff about what constituted accounting information system task process beyond the computer screen, when it involved sharing information across different users. Appropriate documentation providing information about this, in their opinion, was either not produced or was poor quality that had a negative effect on staff perceptions.Staff were asked to enter all information directly into the accounting information system without knowing how to retrieve that information. Even with some training, ninety percent of the staff resisted to usingthe accounting information system appeared to increase over the case study period and in follow ups with staff over the next 12 months. This emerged as an issue because of different levels of confusion caused by the lack of complete functionality of the new systems and poor integration with the other systems in use in the Department. One staff member (1) said:There are quite a few fields where we cant use the accounting information system. It just doesnt work. We have to use the paper-based system to complete the work, and that adds on to our workload to use both systems at same time. It takes a lot of time especially when we want to get a simple task done. The two systems are not compatible to each other and we have to depend on both and sometimes it is confusing to know which one works better than the other.There was a consistent view amongst majority of the staff (80%) that the accounting information system was inadequate and it was obvious in all of the interviews and in discussions with staff that no staff member believed that the training given was adequate. Land (1999) suggested that the skills in using the system can be acquired, providing an incremental learning experience exists. In its absence in this case study, staff were juggling with multiple paper-based sources to gather information needed to complete the accounting information system task. One staff member (2) added:We need to rely on paper documents and another database to complete the tasks.we have to use both systems (i.e. paper- based and accounting information system based).and sometimes we are busy; it is too much. We need to gather more expertise about using the system rather than the system helping us in our work. There are paper-based records, which have no connection with the accounting information system. We keep using them as well. Plus we use another database, which is not connected to the accounting information system, but the IT Manager told us that it should soon start working with the accounting information system. Its been quite long and that hasnt happened yet.In the discussions and interviews with the staff, they focused on issues of systems usability, familiarity, work comparison with both systems, and on the task complexity when doing their work. Task complexities can be defined in terms of navigation on the accounting information system, information retrieval and search, transaction processing, and online support (i.e. help). The staff had evaluated the system in terms of usability and what the system could do for them rather than the other way around. For example staff member (3) revealed:The accounting information system is not intelligent enough to check simple errors using spell checks, or grammar checks, which we have experience in using in MS office software. These are basic tools that can make our work easier. In the accountinginformation system these tools are not available, and when we are busy these tools can mean a lot to us in doing our work. avoiding simple mistakes by spelling checks, grammar checks, and this saves a lot of time. We feel the system should be built with such features to help us in our work. Why cant it be done?In essence then the expectations of the staff users of the accounting information system were not being met. The lack of information to assist their work tasks reflected negatively in terms of their prior experience. The staff had used some e-functionalities in another system and expected the new one to match that experience. The impression of the staff of the accounting information system was that it was inadequate and delivered poor information quality and not helpful in doing their work. In other words, the accounting information system did not meet their information requirements for the tas