Exploring Shared Services from an IS Perspective: A Literature Review and Research Agenda <s> Volume 22 Article 15 <s> Enterprise systems packages have long been associated with process change. However, it was assumed that most organizations would simultaneously design and implement process change while implementing the systems. A survey of 163 organizations and detailed interviews with 28 more suggests that enterprise systems were still being implemented even among early adopters of the technology, and that process change was being undertaken on an ongoing basis. After the prerequisites of time, critical mass of functionality, and significant expenditures were taken care of, the factors most associated with achieving value from enterprise systems were integration, process optimization, and use of enterprise‐systems data in decision making. <s> BIB001 </s> Exploring Shared Services from an IS Perspective: A Literature Review and Research Agenda <s> Volume 22 Article 15 <s> In today's volatile global economy, where many organizations face severe pressure to downsize, the “shared services” model, in which a firm merges common functions performed by multiple units into a single service delivery organization, provides an innovative approach to make business more efficient and effective. To successfully implement shared services, firms need to strategically decide whether and how to pursue various service transformation alternatives such as simplification, standardization, consolidation, insourcing, or outsourcing. In this study, we develop the notion of real options into a unique theoretical lens for conceptualizing service organizations and their transformation in an uncertain business environment. Specifically, we view service organization as a set of strategic options that give the firm preferential access to future transformation opportunities. We create a taxonomy of these options, and introduce a decision methodology for valuing alternative shared services transformation approaches. We illustrate this methodology by applying it in a real business case to justify a global firm's decision regarding the transformation of its finance organization. <s> BIB002 </s> Exploring Shared Services from an IS Perspective: A Literature Review and Research Agenda <s> Volume 22 Article 15 <s> Shared service has proven to be a key element when it comes to increasing government efficiency by collaboration. Here, we seek to investigate into the shared services phenomenon in the context of government reforms. For this purpose, an interview and document analysis-based multiple case study has been conducted in Germany. The qualitative analysis covers three shared service implementations on the local government level and identifies important preconditions for shared service emergence, namely cost pressure as motive, the existence of key actors promoting the topic and the existence of prior cooperation. Moreover, it is shown that the structure of such previous cooperation determines, if shared services are being organised in a centralised (shared service centre) or decentralised format (shared service network). <s> BIB003
As  "The business functions that may be shared are very diverse, including both front-office work, such as customer support, and back-office work, such as finance" BIB002 2) Process -A process or several processes in a function (e.g., payroll, budgeting) 14 12 "Therefore, shared services can especially be applicable for supporting processes like wage and salary administration" BIB003 "Thirty-three percent of the organizations in our study are even taking the concept of consolidation and shared services beyond the organization's four walls by sharing applications, hardware or core business processes with other firms to further reduce costs." BIB001 3) Knowledge and Expertiseknowledge and expertise that can be shared  5) IT ApplicationsSoftware and application suites that can be shared.