The third research question examined the importance of data mining techniques as a criterion to assess the performance of an Accounting Information System in the government sector. The question posed was:
Research question 3: Is the ability to utilise data mining techniques one of the important criteria in assessing the performance of Accounting Information System in the Malaysian public sector?
This research question is intended to investigate whether data mining utilisation is a major issue or important criteria in assessing the performance of AIS.
Apart from four qualities of AIS30, other important factors considered in the process of evaluating the performance of AIS were suggested which also include statements which relating to the ability to utilise data mining. The first part of the questionnaire
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(question 5, see Appendix 1.2) asked respondents to indicate their agreement on the importance of factors reflected in the evaluation of the performance of the Accounting Information System (AIS). Table 5.16 summarizes the responses. Nine- five percent of the respondent (130) agreed that ease of use of the system (factor 5.1) was an important factor in assessing the performance of the systems (this factor ranked number 1). Ability to automatically validate the data (93%, rank 2), having an adequate and sufficient documentation (86%, rank 4), that was easy to modify and upgrade (79%, rank 5), and the ability to implement new data analysis tools (such as data mining) (77%, rank 6) having an effective data management approach via a centralised database and data warehouse (88%, rank 3) were also identified to be important factors in the process of evaluating the performance of AIS.
Table 5.16: Important factors for evaluating the performance of AIS
Agreement(By Number of Responses), % and ranking
Factors Strongly Agree Agree Percentage agree % Rank31 of most important factor
5.1 The systems are easy to use 69 61 94.9 1
5.2 The systems are able to automatically validate the data
74 54 93.4 2
5.3 The systems have an adequate and sufficient documentation for employees to follow
80 38 86.1 4
5.4 The system are easy to modify and upgrade
56 52 79.4 5
5.5 The systems implement new data analysis tools (such as data mining)
48 56 76.5 6
5.6 The systems have an effective data management approach such as, centralised database and data warehouses
64 57 88.3 3
In responding to this third research question, an ability to utilise data mining within the Accounting Information System (AIS) was represented by statement 5.5 (The systems implement new data analysis tools) and statement 5.6 (The systems have an effective data management approach such as centralised database and data warehouses). Statement 5.5 specifically referred to the actual implementation of data mining technologies while statement 5.6 referred to the existence of a centralised database to enable data mining to be efficiently undertaken within the system. Descriptive statistics (Table 5.17) showed that the average response to those two
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Ranking was base on the summated percentage of agreement toward each factor. It indicated that the higher the ranking is the more important the factor is, in evaluating the performance of AIS.
factors was greater than 3 with mode and median equal to 4 in case of statement 5.5 while mode of 5 and median of 4 for statement 5.6. T-Tests also indicated significant results for both statements ((p(135)=14.417, <.0001 and p(136)=19.629, <.0001) respectively which indicate respondent agrees that the ability to implement new data analysis tools and having an effective data management via centralise data warehouse, are importance in the process of evaluation of their Accounting Information Systems within government sector.
Table 5.17: Descriptive statistics: Factors representing the ability to utilise Data Mining
Descriptive Statistics t-tests32
(two-tailed/test value=3)
Factor Mode Median Mean
T value Sig 5.5 The systems implement
new data analysis tools (such as data mining)
4.00 4.000 4.0662 14.417 .000
5.6 The systems have an effective data management approach such as,
centralised database and data warehouses
5.00 4.000 4.3139 19.626 .000
Interviews also indicated the importance of data mining utilisation in that it enabled the department to access reliable and up to date data. Interviewees commented that accurate data, fast, timely, current and data accessible online were some of the vital factors in assessing the performance of the AIS. The ability to utilise data mining for example in doing forecasting ‘makes our work a lot easier’. However, across the interview data, interviewees were more likely to discuss the importance of basic requirements such as the ability to generate reports on a periodical basis, data control, easy of access, flexible reports, integrated with other systems, real time data, security features, strong internal control and systems with audit trail. The system itself needed to possess user friendly interfaces, be easy to understand, easy to use and offer completeness for reporting. ‘...as a user, I like the software to be user friendly, the data that we have is current, and in terms of reporting, it has various functions upon request base on our requirement. That’s it that we want.’ A basic requirement
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One-Sample T-Test was used with 3 as the ‘test value’ which represents a midpoint of agreement. Value above 3 suggests that respondents generally agreed that the factor was important in evaluating the performance of AIS.
was technology that exhibited fewer problems within the working environment. ‘A good accounting system is actually one which doesn’t have much problems...what ever you key in, it will correctly record, accurately, quickly and give an impact to satisfied users. For example, in terms of collections, when they pay we can retrieve all the data, all the receipts, we can give a prompt feedback to the tax payer as fast as possible. The other thing is, we record as correct as what we collected. That’s for the incomes. For the payment, we only need to key in once and the payment goes straight to payee’s bank without hassle, so they can get the money quicker and also with a very good maintenance.’
Another important criteria or factor was internal control. As one interviewee commented: ‘A good system... internal control is very important, in designing it, all the possible loophole were considered. Possibilities of errors, misconduct or fraud is important. We don’t want any unsystematically error to the system. Normally, problems arrive when the developer just developed it just for the sake of getting it done. For example, if the objective was to make a payment, so as long as the system could pay then it is ok. However, in terms of payments, there must be a control mechanism, whether the payment is genuine, is the approval come from the right person, is there any supporting documents, any allocation for that payment, all that has to be considered.’
Typically a good accounting system is one perceived to be useful, exhibits fewer problems, easiness (easy to use, to understand, user-friendly), reports which are current, timely, accurate and enable good internal control. The responses show that the ability to utilise data mining was a significant factor quantitatively and the interviews were able to draw out the issues. Therefore it can be concluded that the ability to utilise data mining techniques is one of the important criteria in assessing the performance of Accounting Information System in the public sector.