The Investigation of the Factors Influencing the Alignment of Accounting Information Systems from the Perspective of Managers in Small and Medium Sized Industrial Companies Listed in Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE)

Abstract

Strategic alignment is deemed crucial in increasing firm performance. Therefore, this study sought to identify different levels of alignment and then investigated the factors that influence alignment. In particular, it focused on the alignment between the requirements for accounting information (AIS requirements) and the capacity of accounting systems (AIS capacity) to generate the information, in the specific context of industrial small and medium sized firms (SMEs) in Iran. Using a mail questionnaire, data about 151 firms from 249 Firms in T.S.E was collected on nineteen accounting information characteristics for both requirements and capacity. Cluster analysis was used to find two sets of groups which could be considered aligned and not aligned. The study then investigated some factors that might be associated with a small and medium firm’s level of AIS alignment. Findings from the study suggest that AIS alignment was related to the firm’s: level of IT maturity; level of manager’s accounting and IT knowledge; level of managers’ participation in information system implementation; and existence of internal IS staff and internal accounting staff.

Keywords

• accounting information system
• management informa-tion system
• alignment fit
• developing countries