ERP Systems and Management Accounting : New Understandings Through 'Nudging' in Qualitative Research

This paper seeks to show how our understanding of the effects of EPR systems on management accounting are influenced through “nudging” by researchers in their preamble before interviews begin. In particular, we examine how their preamble influences participants and affects their responses to subsequent open-ended questions. To carry out this study, we compare the findings of ERP systems use from Sanchez-Rodriguez and Spraakman (2012) with the findings of ERP system use from Spraakman et al. (2015). Both studies asked the same four questions, on the impact of IT (and ERP) systems on management accounting, but were administered to two groups of respondents, with different nudges. When the impact of ERP implementation on the physical, transactional, and information flows within the firm were nudged, the responses focused on how the chart of accounts had to be expanded to account for the additional data introduced by transaction processing. When the IT and ERP system knowledge and skills were nudged, the responses tended to emphasize analyses or the use of new information through the use of drill down functionality. This demonstrates that nudging in qualitative research augments our understanding of the impact of ERP systems on management accounting in practice. This research provides new insights and contributions to understanding how nudging affects or directs respondent assessments of the impact of ERP systems on management accounting