Accounting Information Systems (AIS) Development/ Acquisition Approaches by Greek SME

This paper reports some findings from a wider pilot research study that addresses the Accounting Information Systems (AIS) development/acquisition practices adopted by a sample of Greek companies. Organizations, worldwide, realize that existing AIS are not flexible enough to adapt to rapidly changing conditions induced by globalization and new business paradigms. Many companies, despite high replacement costs, have replaced their legacy systems with off-the-shelf systems in order to remain competitive. In many case these efforts were not entirely successful. This paper, based on a mail survey addressed to Chief Information Officers involved specifically in AIS development/acquisition in Greek SME, provides a picture of current trends in Greece. This study aims at improving practice and alerting researchers and managers of some of the issues involved in the area of AIS related to flexibility and adaptability of systems to changing conditions. It will also provide the basis for conducting a national survey regarding AIS later this year.