The Adequacy of the Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) Systems for the Creation of Intangible Managerial Accounting Information: an exploratory study

Abstract

The general objective of this work was to study the contribution of theERP for the quality of the managerial accounting information, throughthe perception of managers of large sized Brazilian companies. Theinitial principle was that, presently, we live in an enterprise realitycharacterized by global and competitive worldwide scenery where theinformation about the enterprise performance and the evaluation of theintangible assets are necessary conditions for the survival, of thecompanies. The research of the exploratory type is based on a sample of37 managers of large sized-Brazilian companies. The analysis of the datatreated by means of the qualitative method showed that the greatmajority of the companies of the sample (86%) possess an ERP implanted.It also showed that this system is used in combination with otherapplicative software. The managers, in its majority, were also satisfiedwith the information generated in relation to the dimensions Time andContent. However, with regard to the qualitative nature of theinformation, the ERP made some analysis possible when the BalancedScorecard was adopted, but information able to provide an estimate ofthe investments carried through in the intangible assets was notobtained. These results Suggest that in these companies ERP systems arenot adequate to support strategic decisions.