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 the 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, the organizational reporting levels are divided into the following three main layers:

• Operational management
• Middle management
• Senior management

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

The scope of information 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 operational management level. Managers in this level, typically, receive information relevant to their particular subunit. They require narrow scope of 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 managerial level. Managers in this level, typically, receive summarized information. They require the 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 the 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 as 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 as static or dynamic.
• Unstructured: This style is used by the 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 as dynamic.