Managing IT Change—Return on Investment (ROI) as a Motivational Tool

Previous articles in this series have provided examples for management accountants to understand integrated business processes and the role that they play. In a world where enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications define the operation of integrated business functions, understanding and interpreting the financial results becomes a more operational role. In this article, the authors extend this view to the implementation program itself, whether initial implementation or continuing additions. While ROI calculations are widely understood for evaluating and managing capital investments, the role they play in change management is often undervalued. While identifying and accurately measuring these can be challenging, not developing them handicaps program teams’ ability to engage employees to provide critical support. This article discusses revenue and cost functions that are normally affected by the conversion to integrated business processes. Along with this analysis, how these areas are defined, estimated, and tracked becomes more important to project success. Most of the changes discussed in previous articles are implemented to improve efficiency and effectiveness of business processes. Taking the time to establish not only the metric itself, but also the measurement approach can be a key role that management accountants play both for executive leadership and for change management within the implementation program.