Exploring ERP and reporting

The main principles of reporting are reliability of business information and the ability to produce the right information, at the right time, for the right person. Reports that analyze ERP data in a meaningful way represent the output of the ERP implementation; it is considered as the cream of the implementation, the next level of value that the solution owners should aim for. This ideal outcome results from building all reports based on a single information source, the ERP solution where the business is recording all transactions on a daily basis.

As shown in the following diagram, organizational reporting levels are divided into the following three main layers:

• Operational management
• Middle management
• Senior management

Each level has a different perspective on report usage, irrespective of whether it is tactical/short term usage or strategic/long term usage, and a different opinion on report complexity:

The dimensional characteristic of information is divided into two dimensions; the first is scope of information and the second is types of decision making.

Information scope defines the required level of detail for each managerial level. Typically, the scope can be described as follows:

• Narrow, specified, and detailed: This is the first layer of the information scope for the operational management level. Clerks or supervisors in this level typically receive information relevant to their particular subunit. They require a narrow scope for reports, with details to the lowest level of information (transactional level) and specific to the daily operational work.
• Focused, specific, and scheduled: This is the second layer of the information scope for the managerial level. Managers at this level typically receive summarized information. They require reports with a scope focused on aggregate and summarized transactional information. These reports cover specific periods: weekly, monthly, quarterly, half yearly, and yearly.
• Broad, interactive, and general: This is the third layer of the information scope and is the highest level for top management. They require reports with a broader scope to get more comparisons, actual versus budget, period comparisons, and KPIs, in addition to aggregated reports that cover specific monthly, quarterly, half yearly, and yearly performance.

The type of decision making used by an organization is another dimension of reporting analysis. Typically, decision-making styles can be described as follows:

• Structured: This is a repetitive and routine decision-making style and is best used in the operational layer. This style requires reports that are considered static.
• Semi-structured: This is a mix between the structured and unstructured decision-making style and is best used in the middle management layer. This style requires reports that are considered static or dynamic.
• Unstructured: This style is used by decision makers at the executive level, who must provide judgment, evaluation, and business insight to evaluate the overall business performance. This style requires reports that are considered dynamic.