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ganizational and behavioural aspects of these systems” (p.300). Their purpose was “to examine the effects of integrated, enterprise-wide information systems on management accounting and management accountants’ work.” As they concluded there was “no scientific evidence on the research topic” they decided to use an exploratory field study to provide “insights” for subsequent research. Sixteen persons were interviewed at 10 large almost exclusively SAP R/3 adopters. They found no major direct or indirect impacts of ERP on management accounting systems (p. 309). The changes that did occur did not lead to changes in the logic of management accounting systems. 2.3 ERP and its impact on the work of management accountants Although none of the recent studies on the impact of ERP systems have indicated changes to management accounting systems, there have been some studies that indicated effects on the work of management accountants. For example, Burns and Baldvinsdottir(1999), Coglio (2003), Quattrone and Hopper (2001, 2005), Granlund and Malmi (2002), Baxendale and Jama (2003), Meall (2003), Scapens and Jazayeri (2003), and Dechow and Mouritsen (2005) have addressed the effects of changes to management accounting systems. Each of these studies will be discussed briefly below. In a field study of a single company, Burns and Baldvinsdottir (1999) observed that SAP centralized the accounting function and decentralized control to many people in the company who became “hybrid accountants”. The traditional core activity of management accountants, posting the books, was delegated to others in the company. They cite the director of finance saying: “They may post the odd correctional entry. In fact some analysts aren’t allowed to post. They generally are analytical people rather than analytical accountants.” Management accountants have become analysts. Caglio (2003) studied an Italian company to understand how the implementation of an ERP system challenges the definition of the expertise and roles of accountants. Caglio (pp. 140-141) found three structurational characteristics that jointly materialized during the project: - a higher degree of standardization of accounting activities and practices; - a stronger need for integration and interfunctional collaboration; and - a more prominent role for the accounting department in the management of the new IT system. Quattrone and Hopper (2001, p. 403) undertook two case studies of ERP implementations to obtain insights into how new systems give rise to multiple spaces and times within [companies].” The case studies were conducted over 12 months at multi national companies that were implementing SAP systems (pp. 410-411). One study included various hierarchical levels and locations in a large American multinational company. Twenty managers were interviewed. The other study was the sales and distribution function of the European headquarters of a Japanese multinational company. Twelve managers were interviewed in this second study. Quattrone and Hopper (2001, pp. 420-426) found that with the implementation of the ERP system, control went from a single point or “totalitarian” view of control with the controller during periodic reporting to a multiplicity of loci of control available at anytime. Anyone with access to an ERP system can “exert control as they wish, slicing and dicing the organization and information, and defining what should be controlled, how and why, different