The role of a predictive analytics project initiator in the integration of financial and operational forecasts
ISSN: 1746-5265
Article publication date: 18 September 2017
Issue publication date: 21 September 2017
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the initiation of accounting information system projects. Specifically, it examines the role of the predictive analytics (PA) project initiator in the integration of financial and operational sales forecasts.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a field study method to address the studied phenomenon in eight Finnish companies that have recently adopted PA systems. The data are primarily based on 19 interviews in the companies and five interviews with the PA consultants.
Findings
The authors found that initiators appear to play a major role regarding the degree of integration of financial and operational sales forecasts. The initiators from an accounting function have a tendency to pay more attention to the integration than the representatives from other functions, such as operations and sales.
Practical implications
The study also makes a practical contribution to companies in showing and discussing the important role of the accounting department as an initiator of a project if the target is to achieve a tight coupling of financial and operational forecast figures, i.e., “one set of numbers”.
Originality/value
Even though companies have increasingly adopted PA systems in recent years, we still know little about how the initiation affects the design of accounting information systems overall. The central contribution of the paper, therefore, is to show that if a PA project is initiated by the accounting department, data integration becomes more likely. It contributes also to the discussion related to the appropriateness of data integration in the context of forecasting.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors appreciate the constructive comments of Seppo Ikäheimo, Gerhard Kristandl, Teemu Malmi, Mikko Sandelin, the participants of 10th ENROAC Conference in Galway (2015) and MARG/MCA conference in Aston (2015). The financial support granted to the authors by the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation is acknowledged with gratitude.
Citation
Huikku, J., Hyvönen, T. and Järvinen, J. (2017), "The role of a predictive analytics project initiator in the integration of financial and operational forecasts", Baltic Journal of Management, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 427-446. https://doi.org/10.1108/BJM-05-2017-0164
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited