Electronic data interchange (EDI) is an information technology that standardizes the exchange of information between transacting parties. Using data from a major U.S. office furniture manufacturer who adopted EDI primarily to improve the efficiency of accounting transactions, Professor Shannon W. Anderson and co-author William N. Lanen from the University of Michigan evaluate whether EDI reduces order processing time (the time from sales order receipt to sales order scheduling) and whether this improvement is greater for more complex orders.

This paper won Anderson and Lanen the Notable Contribution to the Management Accounting Literature Award, an annual award presented by the American Accounting Association’s Management Accounting Section.