Previous research on digital transformation of Finance & Accounting is largely conceptual, lacking insights into financial specialists’ roles in adopting and implementing digital technologies. By employing Resource Orchestration Theory, this study examines digitalization’s impact on F&A functions through four case studies. Findings reveal diverse adoption strategies, evolving F&A processes, and data-driven decision-making. The results show that due to the adoption of digital technologies, the elusive boundaries of F&A functions have become opaque. This paper contributes to F&A functions literature and provides new knowledge on how to seize the opportunity arising from the more elusive boundaries of F&A within diverse organizations.

The concept of Global Business Services (GBS) is well recognised and researched by both scholars and practitioners. However, the complexity of applying GBS has been the subject of various critiques due to its effect on firms’ business processes, service portfolio and provisioning of in-house as well as outsourced services. Although GBS results have been much criticised, this book argues that the rise of digitalisation reopens the question of implementing GBS successfully.

The findings of this novel research, which is based on a multi-method approach, provide insights in relevant GBS factors and how these factors affect a GBS implementation strategy. Further analysis show how digitalisation, including platforms and AI, enable GBS organisations to decrease implementation issues. Research outcomes illustrate that firms which apply an enterprise ecosystem approach are better able to exchange GBS information. The willingness and ability of firms to intensify the collaboration at managerial and subject matter level will help to overcome GBS implementation challenges. This book puts forward the case that the rise of digitalisation enables GBS organisations to provide benefits and ensure that the GBS business model still matters. It will be of great interest to scholars and students of digital business and innovation.

Acting in a dynamic market, organizations experience global competition, face Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) requirements, they must keep pace with rapid technological developments, and be resilient to handle geopolitical turbulence. To maintain their competitive position in the market, organizations use Global Business Services (GBS), which includes Shared Service Centers (SSC), to respond to customer demands adequately. GBS is considered to be a complex model, and various factors need to be orchestrated continuously to ensure proposed benefits. However, it is unknown which factors affect the implementation of GBS from a holistic perspective. Importantly, it is assumed that digital technologies may overcome GBS implementation challenges. Based on an international study, the authors identified six factors that form a part of an organization’s GBS orchestration capability, namely: plural sourcing strategy, business services portfolio, customer orientation, modularized business processes, information technology (standardization) and governance (decision rights). In addition, we find that various digital technologies are applied that overcome GBS implementation challenges. Our findings contribute to the effective implementation of GBS by practitioners.

Purpose: Organizations nowadays require services supplied by shared service centers (SSCs) to achieve organizational responsiveness. Previous contributions focused on distinct qualitative-explorative factors for explaining successful SSC implementation but failed to consider the interdependencies and combined effects between factors. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on complexity and configuration theories, this research employed a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). A unique dataset of 121 international firms was obtained to examine the combined effects of five conditions (factors), namely, modularization, standardization, decision-rights, portfolio and customer-orientation. Findings: The findings show that multiple configurations of conditions (or solutions) can lead to successful SSC implementation. The fsQCA results indicated that portfolio and standardization are perceived as core conditions in all configurations. Firms that focus on portfolio and continuous evaluation of customer-orientation are more likely to be successful. Furthermore, in some configurations, the size of the firm size matters. Research limitations/implications: The cross-sectional survey data might be a potential limitation. In future research, a more extensive survey can be collected to help generalize the results. Practical implications: Success factors are dependent on the SSC configuration. Standardization, portfolio management and regular evaluations of changing customer services by executive management are needed. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, there is no academic study that examines SSC implementation based on salient conditions using a configurational thinking approach. As such, the findings of the research allow us to better understand the causal complexity and interdependencies between essential SSC factors.