Strategic Information Systems: Analyzing Suncorp Limited's Operations and Accounting Software

This report examines Suncorp Limited's organizational structure, operational challenges, and the use of accounting software. It analyzes the company's current system, identifies control problems and potential fraud risks, and explores the development and adoption of accounting software packages. The report also discusses the competitive landscape of the banking and insurance industry, highlighting key competitors and their competitive advantages. Finally, it addresses current challenges faced with accounting software and provides relevant suggestions for improvement.

Strategic information system
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Table of Contents
Part 1............................................................................................................................................3
1. Current structure of organizational.......................................................................................3
2. Operational problems Arise because of the organisation structure......................................3
4. Sales process diagram:..........................................................................................................6
5. Identify control problems in the system and sorts of fraud..................................................8
Part B.........................................................................................................................................10
1. Development and adoption of the accounting software packages......................................10
2. Current market size.............................................................................................................12
3. Leaders in the market and competitive advantage for them...............................................13
4. Current challenges of accounting software and relevant suggestions................................14
Conclusion:....................................................................................................................................15
References:....................................................................................................................................16
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Introduction:
Accounting software is most important part of financial management in the modern business
scenario and gives diverse benefits to a business entity. This report is about Suncorp limited
which is using a customized ERP system to manage its business operations. The report explains
the structure of management of the company and gives analyzed information about such
problems which are faced by the company due to the improper management structure. New
innovations come with some critical troubles and aforementioned report enables the managers to
make a wide view towards these problems and solutions. The report describes knowledge about
the market coverage of the company with some main arrivals of the company and explains key
points of strategy which are used by such companies to take competitive advantage.
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Part 1
1. Current structure of organizational
Mainly Organisational structure can be defined as the distribution of powers and responsibilities.
It tells about the relationship between peoples, operation process, systems and allocation of
rights. A good organizational structure improves productivity and efficiency and helps to execute
plans without extra efforts. Suncorp limited is managed by two level senior board and
management and every member of management has relevant experience and ability to perform
his obligation. Allocation of power among management in Suncorp is explained below:
Board of company: company board includes eight members, seven Non-executive directors,
and one Executive director. All members of the board have relevant experience in their sector
and ability to handle crucial matters (Zziwa, 2014).
Senior executives: company has eleven members in its executive team and all members have
separate responsibilities according to their skills and experience. The company has a
remuneration committee which manages the remuneration of director and board members after
considering all facts. The company also have a nomination committee which is dedicated to
ensuring the proper combination of skills in management (Zbirenko and Andersson, 2014).
Committees: the company has an audit committee, risk committee, remuneration committee and
nomination committee. These committees assist the management to maintain sound internal
control and low-risk level so that business can grow without any interruption.
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2. Operational problems Arise because of the organisation structure
A good organisational structure decides regular growth for company and Suncorp limited also
has a good structure of management and internal control system. The company is reporting
regular profits in financial statements which prove that company has a sound strategy making
and implementation team and such team is dedicated to gain the trust of investors (Steiger, et.
Al., 2014). Even the company has a good arrangement of management it is still facing some
problems and they are:
Information leak: a major problem faced by the Suncorp limited is an information leak.
Actually, Suncorp limited is working in the area of insurance, money lending and other financial
solutions with its branches across Australia and facing serious problems related to information
the security. Recently company face a problem related to the security of data related to the
investors, hacked by a third party (Zziwa, 2014).
Delay in decisions: Suncorp limited is working in the banking industry and due to the structure
of management, company faces a problem related to timely decision-making. Actually, every
decision related to business is taken by the board and management team assist the board in this
process but this process requires time and when decision required in short time company face
delay problems.
Problems between different departments: company have a diversified portfolio of businesses
and every business have several departments. Sometimes company faces lack of coordination
between different departments. For example, sales department of insurance business guarantee
the customers that company will pay claims in seven days but the claim department of the
company takes time of 15 days in the investigation of the case. Due to this reason, sales and
claim department has conflict situation (Maduenyi, et. Al., 2015).
NPA: this problem arises at a low level in the organisation but affects the whole profitability.
Actually, company policy allows only secured loans and only 80 % value of the property will
granted as loan but to improve the revenues, company make a new policy to provide unsecured
loans also. Due to this policy, the company is facing the problem of Non-performing loans.
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3. Most appropriate system acquisition method
Commercial software Custom software Enterprises Resource
Planning
Commercial software is made
to serve or sell to end user in
commercial purpose and
covers several advanced and
exclusive features.
Custom software is made on
special orders and involves
mixed features of several
software systems. It is
constructed as per the needs of
the user.
Enterprises resource planning
software is used to manage all
aspects of the business. It
covers planning,
implementation, data
management, HRM
management and real-time
data processing (Wang, et. Al.,
2017).
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System
Acquisition
Method
Enterprise Resource
planning
Commercial
Software
Custom software

An organisation should choose software which can fit the needs of business, nature of
organisation and size of the organisation. Commercial software systems are appropriately
suitable for medium and small business. Custom software systems are made according to the
needs of a business so it is more suitable if a business does not have cost-related problems
(Özkarabacak, et. Al., 2014). ERP system is more appropriate for large organisations like
Suncorp limited. ERP software system is used to manage the several business activities and it is
also accountable for other accounting, planning and management software. In large
organisations, there are different departments for each area of working and every department
have its personal customised software. ERP system is able to be interconnected with other
customised software systems which are essential to enhance the productivity of business
processes.
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4. Sales process diagram:
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5. Identify control problems in the system and sorts of fraud
ERP system software works like a helping hand for the managers and decision-makers to solve
the planning, execution and fund management related problems but the new implementation of
ERP system creates variegated controlling problems. Some of them are as below:
Data controversy: when a company establishes new system software, it hopes that system will
be helpful in the analysis and management of data but due to technical reasons, it is possible that
system will not support the data requirements of company. In this situation, the company will
face the problem of data controversy and data unavailability.
Information security: establishment of ERP software makes a sound two-way flow of business
information within the organisation and the same is very helpful to make healthy working
environment at workplace But this facility creates a complex situation also. Online information
cannot be controlled completely by the management and a risk of data theft or data leak always
consist (Venkatraman and Fahd, 2016).
System failure: a user of ERP software can manage the working of a system according to the
need of company but a risk related to the failure of the system also exists. A system failure
occurs due to several reasons and the user and management of the company do not able to
control this threat. If a system failure occurs it may affect the business process seriously.
Unsuitability with new installed other software: different technological assistance is required
to manage the different activities of business and if a company establish new software for a
special purpose it is possible that current ERP system will require an update to be uniform with
new software. In this situation, an extra cost of ERP system updating will arise and management
of the company cannot control this cost (Weng and Hung, 2014).
Frauds are occurred due to inadequate control and authority and can be eliminated by using
suitable control solutions. Following are some possible frauds in ERP software systems:
 Unauthorised accesses: ERP software always has threats of fraud which may arise due to
unauthorised access. An unauthorised access to the system may generate serious losses
for the company.
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 Fraud from technical controller side: ERP software systems are complex in structure and
a person without technical knowledge cannot understand it. It is possible that technical
controller of the company makes a serious fraud (Azevedo, et. Al., 2012).
 Fraud from developer side: a fraud from the developer side is also possible in the
establishment of ERP system.
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Part B
1. Development and adoption of the accounting software packages
Accounting software can be defined as the package of systems which assists the accounting
department in the recording and processing of financial data and generates variegated managerial
summaries to support the budgeting, forecasting, analysing and decision-making process.
Variegated free and paid accounting software systems are available in the market and a company
should choose suitable software for analysing all needs of business (Nikitina and Mattsson,
2014).
Development of accounting software:
Accounting software systems are developed by the technology companies and at present time,
various companies are working in this area. Accounting software packages can be developed
according to the requirements of the company or can be prepared by mixing different available
packages. Development of accounting software covers steps:
 The company should make a list of required features and targeted problems which are to
be solved by the use of accounting software (Alashqur, 2016).
 The company should share information with developer and developer will make an
appropriate and suitable accounting software package.
 Developed software will be installed in the company and developer and company
employee will monitor the appropriateness and problems of new package (Azevedo, et.
Al., 2012).
 After identifying problems of the new system, the developer will provide a solution for
the same.
Adoption of accounting software:
Variegated software packages for accounting is available in market and company can adopt a
software package according to the needs. If the company does not require customisation,
adoption of software is appropriate for it. Adoption of software requires following steps:
 The company should find the reasons of requirement.
 Identify the exclusive features of the new software package.
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 Previous year data will be entered into new software so that it will available when
required.
 The company will start the use of the new software along with old software so that if new
software creates any problem, the company will have an alternative (Alashqur, 2016).
 When new software becomes friendly for the user, the old software will be stopped.
Some accounting software is as follows:
 Quick-books: Quick-book is leading accounting software developed by Intuit and very
useful for the small and medium businesses. A free trial is also available for a particular
time and user can avail the benefit of cloud computing also. The user can also make BAS
report with extra efforts and software also generates various reports which are helpful in
tax assessment.
 XERO: Xero is also a popular accounting software package which comes with various
advanced fractures. The user can choose the amount of subscription according to the
needs for example if a user does not require tax assessment feature of the package than he
does not need to pay for the same.
 Oracle custom ERP: big size companies which are engaged in diversified businesses
required highly efficient and advanced software for the accounting due to volume and
complication of transactions. Suncorp Limited is providing financial services to its
customers and the nature and size of company work require various types of advanced
software systems. The company can install a custom ERP system which will be able to
work with other software systems (Nikitina and Mattsson, 2014).
.
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2. Current market size
Market size of an organisation explains the wideness of company activities and business. This
term is used to explain the situation of the company in its industry and area of workings. Suncorp
limited is one of the top 20 ASX listed companies and has a diversified portfolio of businesses.
Currently, the company is working in the areas of insurance, banking and financial solutions and
dedicated to increasing the monetary well-being of customers by providing a suitable and
positive response to customer needs. The company was established in 1902 and currently serving
nine million satisfied customers with the help of 13400 employees. The company design its
services and policies according to the customer needs and owns assets of $ 97 billion dollars
(Company Website, 2017).
The internationally known and reputed brands of the company are:
 Suncorp
 GIO
 APIA
 SHANNONS etc.
The company has a market cap of $18.14 Billion dollars and holds 25% of total general
insurance of New-Zealand. The company has 313 outlets to serve its customers (Market Report,
2017).
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3. Leaders in the market and competitive advantage for them
Banking and insurance industry of Australia is highly competitive and various companies are
working in this sector. Following are some competitors of Suncorp limited which are have a
significant impact on the business of Suncorp limited:
Westpac: Westpac is one of the top competitors of Suncorp limited and a leading bank in
Australia. The company is dedicated to providing best services to its customers and one of the
top banks in Australia.
Some key strength points of Westpac:
 Largest branch and ATM series.
 Working with 40,000 employees to serve 12 million customers.
 A big series of diversified financial series.
 A great goodwill among customers due to several social helping programs.
ANZ bank: ANZ is a leading bank of New-Zealand and connected with the peoples of 32
countries. The company is serving 8 million customers with an aim of maximum customer
satisfaction and value making.
Some key strength points of ANZ bank:
 Big market share and 9000 employees.
 Several types of services like risk management, asset management, banking and loan
distribution etc.
 Australia’s first bank that has a retail business license in China.
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4. Current challenges of accounting software and relevant suggestions
Accounting software comes with a wide solution of accounting problems and assists the
accounting managers to manage the financial recording and reporting work relevantly. During
the use of accounting software, the user faces various types of problems and some of them are as
follows:
Update related problems:
accounting software other than free software which comes with advanced features required a
timely update from the developer and sometimes updates create various problems for a user like
slow and complex interface, data loss etc. these issues creates a negative impact on the financial
reporting process (Trigo, et. Al., 2014).
Data misleading:
These types of problems arise due to technical errors. Sometimes accounting software does not
provide correct answers about the logical calculations and due to the same accounting reporting
become very hard.
Sharing of data:
Some accounting software does not support the sharing facility with other software and user
faces a complicated situation. It also affects the making of managerial reports for example, if
accounting software does not support the transfer of data with tax assessment software than the
user will face conflict situation (Hla and Teru, 2015.
Suggestions to solve problems:
 Sharing tools: if a user requires highly efficient sharing facility, he should ask his
service provider at the time of installation and if he fails at that time, various sharing
tools also available in market and user can use a suitable tool to solve the sharing
problems.
 Cost: the cost of accounting software can be managed by the logical selection process.
The company should choose suitable accounting software after considering all aspects of
the business. It will help to manage the cost of software at a low level.
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 The user should analyse needs and share with the service provider before making an
order for installation.
 Regular monitoring of installed software required to check the suitability of software.
 The developer should give appropriate training to the user for new updates (Trigo, et. Al.,
2014).
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Conclusion:
above report covers the problems of the organisational structure together with the structure of
management of Suncorp limited which is engaged in financial and banking services with
diversified international brands. Report explicates three types of software and concludes that
customised ERP software is most appropriate and suitable for the large and diversified
businesses. Different type of software systems faces control and management related problems
and report gives a deep knowledge about the adoption and development of software systems so
that company can eliminate these problems. Above discussion proves that Suncorp is facing
serious competition in market and problems with its accounting software and the above
Suggestions can be used to dispose of these problems.
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References:
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International journal of advanced computer science and applications, 7(12), pp.94-98.
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the use of ERP systems (Enterprise Resource Planning)–A case study in the hospitality
industry. Procedia Technology, 5, pp.264-272.
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Structure on Organisational Performance.
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System Process (pp. 109-118). ACM.
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organizational structure types and management levels on knowledge management practices
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challenge of the real-time reporting. Procedia Technology, 16, pp.118-127.
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International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology, 5(4), p.309.
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 Zbirenko, A. and Andersson, J., 2014. Effect of organizational structure, leadership and
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