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Accenture
Type Public
(NYSE: ACN, ISIN: BMG1150G1116)
Founded 1989 as Andersen Consulting
Headquarters Accenture Ltd. A public company usually refers to a company that is permitted to offer its registered securities ( Stock, bonds, etc The New York Stock Exchange ( NYSE) is a Stock exchange based in New York City. An International Securities Identifying Number (ISIN uniquely identifies a security. Hamilton, Bermuda (registered)
Key people William (Bill) D. Hamilton is the Capital of Bermuda. Although there is a parish of the same name, the city of Hamilton is in the parish of Pembroke. Green, Chief Executive Officer
Industry Management Consulting, Technology Services and Outsourcing
Revenue ▲ $22. A chief executive officer ( CEO) or chief executive is typically the highest-ranking corporate officer ( executive) or administrator For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" Management consulting refers to both the industry of and the practice of helping organizations improve their performance primarily through the analysis of existing business problems Outsourcing is Subcontracting a process such as product design or Manufacturing, to a Third-party company In business revenue or revenues is Income that a company receives from its normal business activities usually from the sale of goods and services 39 billion (2008)
Net income ▲ $1. Net income is equal to the Income that a firm has after subtracting costs and Expenses from the total Revenue. 34 billion (2008)
Employees about 178,000 (2008)
Website www.accenture.com

Accenture (NYSE: ACN, ISIN: BMG1150G1116) is a global Management Consulting, Technology Services, and Outsourcing company. Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages The New York Stock Exchange ( NYSE) is a Stock exchange based in New York City. An International Securities Identifying Number (ISIN uniquely identifies a security. Management consulting refers to both the industry of and the practice of helping organizations improve their performance primarily through the analysis of existing business problems Outsourcing is Subcontracting a process such as product design or Manufacturing, to a Third-party company It is registered in Hamilton, Bermuda. Hamilton is the Capital of Bermuda. Although there is a parish of the same name, the city of Hamilton is in the parish of Pembroke. It is said to be the largest Consulting Firm in the world. [1] With more than 178,000 people in 49 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$19. 70 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2007. Accenture's clients include 91 of the Fortune Global 100 and more than two-thirds of the Fortune Global 500. [2] Accenture is also the sponsor of the annual WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. The WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship is one of the annual World Golf Championships for male professional golfers

Contents

History

Formation and early years

Accenture originated as the consulting division of Arthur Andersen, which Arthur Andersen and Clarence DeLany founded in 1913 as Andersen, DeLany & Co. Arthur Andersen LLP, based in Chicago, was once one of the "Big Five" accounting firms among PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Touche Accenture's origins are in a 1953 feasibility study for General Electric. " Feasibility Study " is also the title of an episode from The Outer Limits television show GE asked Arthur Andersen about the feasibility of automating payroll processing and manufacturing at GE's Appliance Park facility near Louisville, Kentucky. Arthur Andersen recommended installation of a UNIVAC I computer and printer, and GE agreed, which is the start of what became the first-ever commercial computer in the United States. The UNIVAC I ( U N I V ersal A utomatic C omputer I) was the first commercial computer made in the United States Joe Glickauf was Arthur Andersen's project leader for the GE engagement and was responsible for the payroll processing automation, launching commercial data processing in the United States. Considered to be the father of computer consulting, Glickauf headed Arthur Andersen's Administrative Services division for 12 years.

Splitting from Arthur Andersen

In 1989, that division split from Arthur Andersen and began using the name Andersen Consulting. Both Arthur Andersen and Andersen Consulting consisted of groups of locally-owned independent partnerships and other entities around the world, each in a contractual agreement with Andersen Worldwide Société Coopérative (AWSC), a Swiss administrative entity. Andersen Worldwide Société Coopérative (AWSC was a Swiss-based entity which managed the global offices of accounting firm

By 2000, Andersen Consulting had achieved net revenues exceeding US$9. 5 billion and had more than 75,000 employees in 47 countries,[3] whereas Arthur Andersen had revenues of US$9. 3 billion with over 85,000 employees worldwide in 2001.

Through the 1990s there was increasing tension between Andersen Consulting and Arthur Andersen. Andersen Consulting was upset that it was paying Arthur Andersen up to 15% of its profits each year (a condition of the 1989 split was that the more profitable unit - AA or AC - paid the other this sum), while at the same time Arthur Andersen was competing with Andersen Consulting through its own newly established business consulting service line called Arthur Andersen Business Consulting. This dispute came to a head in 1998 when Andersen Consulting claimed breach of contract against AWSC and Arthur Andersen. Andersen Consulting put the 15% transfer payment for that year and future years into escrow and issued a claim for breach of contract. Escrow is a legal arrangement in which an asset (such as Cash, Real property or other tangible assets is deposited into safekeeping (e In August 2000, as a result of a conclusion of the International Chamber of Commerce, Andersen Consulting broke all contractual ties with AWSC and Arthur Andersen. The International Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit private international organization that works to promote and support global trade and Globalization. As part of the arbitration settlement, Andersen Consulting paid over the sum held in escrow (then $1. 2 billion) to Arthur Andersen, and was required to change its name, resulting in the entity being renamed Accenture.

Perhaps most telling about who had "won" the decision was that four hours after the arbitrator made his ruling, Arthur Andersen CEO Jim Wadia suddenly resigned. Jamshed "Jim" Wadia was a CEO of Arthur Andersen in August 1997 a post from which he resigned on August 7 2000 due to his inability to favorably steer the then impending Industry analysts and business school professors alike viewed the event as a complete victory for Andersen Consulting. [4] Jim Wadia would provide insight on his resignation years later at a Harvard Business school case activity about the split. It turned out that the Arthur Andersen board passed a resolution saying he had to resign if he didn't get at least an incremental $4 billion (either through negotiation or via the arbitrator decision) for the consulting practice to split off, hence his quick resignation once the decision was announced.

Accounts vary on why the split occurred — executives on both sides of the split cite greed and arrogance on the part of the other side, and executives on the Andersen Consulting side maintained breach of contract when Arthur Andersen created a second consulting group, AABC (Arthur Andersen Business Consulting) which began to compete directly with Andersen Consulting in the marketplace. Many of the AABC firms were bought out by other consulting companies in 2002, most notably, Hitachi Consulting and KPMG Consulting, which later changed its name to BearingPoint. Hitachi Consulting is an international management and technology consulting firm with headquarters in Dallas, Texas. BearingPoint Inc ( is one of the world’s largest providers of management and technology consulting services to Global 2000 companies and government organizations

AC's change of name proved to be fortunate as it avoided the taint when Arthur Andersen was dissolved as a result of its role in the Enron scandal. The Enron scandal was a financial scandal involving Enron Corporation Former ( NYSE ticker symbol ENE and its accounting firm Arthur Andersen

Emergence of Accenture

On January 1, 2001 Andersen Consulting adopted its current name, "Accenture". New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. The word "Accenture" is derived from "Accent on the future". Although a marketing consultancy was tasked with finding a new name for the company, the name "Accenture" was submitted by an employee from the Oslo office named Kim Petersen, as a result of an internal competition. Accenture felt that the name should represent its will to be a global consulting leader and high performer, and also intended that the name should not be offensive in any country in which Accenture operates. The choice of name also means that the company appears closer towards the top of any alphabetised lists, and retains the AC letter sequence of its previous identity.

IPO

Accenture's banner hanging on New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) building for its initial public offering on 19 July 2001.
Accenture's banner hanging on New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) building for its initial public offering on 19 July 2001. The New York Stock Exchange ( NYSE) is a Stock exchange based in New York City. The New York Stock Exchange ( NYSE) is a Stock exchange based in New York City.

On July 19, 2001, Accenture offered initial public offering (IPO) at the price of $14. Events 711 - Muslim forces under Tariq ibn Ziyad defeat the Visigoths led by their king Roderic. Year 2001 ( MMI) was a Common year starting on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. Initial public offering (IPO, also referred to simply as a "public offering" is when a company issues Common stock or shares to the public for the first 50 per share in New York Stock Exchange (NYSE); Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley served as its lead underwriters. The New York Stock Exchange ( NYSE) is a Stock exchange based in New York City. The New York Stock Exchange ( NYSE) is a Stock exchange based in New York City. The Goldman Sachs Group Inc, or simply Goldman Sachs ( is a large global Bank holding company that engages in Investment banking securities Morgan Stanley ( is a global Financial services provider headquartered in New York City New York United States Accenture stock closed the day at $15. 17, with the day's high at $15. 25. On the first day of the IPO, Accenture raised nearly $1. 7 billion. [5]

Organizational structure

Its organizational structure includes divisions based on client industry types and growth platforms.

Service areas

Management Consulting

Systems Integration and Technology Consulting

[6]

Controversy and criticism

Enron scandal and the Accenture name

There is a misconception that the name change from Andersen Consulting to Accenture was simply the consulting firm's attempt to "hide" from the Enron scandal. The Enron scandal was a financial scandal involving Enron Corporation Former ( NYSE ticker symbol ENE and its accounting firm Arthur Andersen This is not accurate given the timing of events. The split from Arthur Andersen was requested by the consulting side in 1998, and finally awarded in 2000; the Enron scandal (starting with the reporting of the infamous "LJM Partnerships") did not occur until well into 2001, with the scandal culminating in the months after that.

In reality, planning for a new name was underway before the arbitration decision was announced (Andersen Consulting partners felt that the word "Consulting" in the name was a drawback, since the firm was moving into non-consulting work such as outsourcing and ventures). Interestingly, internal Arthur Andersen emails in 2001 sent to all employees discussed future plans for Arthur Andersen to move ahead in the market with 3 names: Andersen Tax, Andersen Audit, and Andersen Consulting now that they had ownership over the name. Arthur Andersen was never able to revive the "Andersen Consulting" name since it was brought down by the Enron scandal before doing so. Enron Creditors Recovery Corporation (formerly Enron Corporation, former NYSE ticker symbol ENE was an American Energy company based in Accenture is typically listed in the top 100 corporate brands,[7] so the name change appears to have been a positive for the consulting firm. The fact that it is disassociated from the Arthur Andersen name certainly proved to be a positive after the Arthur Andersen/Enron scandal.

In addition, Accenture was absolved and not held liable of any involvement in the Enron scandal in court.

There is also a second story that says "Andersen Consulting" changed its name into "Accenture" after "Arthur Andersen" had changed it into "Andersen". Each company wanted to be seen before the other one in the business directories where the alphabetical order is applied because of the competitive advantage it produces.

Accenture partners voted on a new name after the result of the international arbitration awarding Andersen to AA & Co. Accenture was one of a number of names suggested by a marketing firm after an exhaustive search -- the name had to be both available and be acceptable in all the countries in which Accenture does (or did) business. There was no public discussion of the aphabetical position of the name (which would have little relevance to competition). The primary discussion had to do with the sound of the new name and the source. One of the strongest factors favoring the selection of "Accenture" was that the name came from an internal suggestion (by an employee in the Copenhagen office), and that many partners felt good about the source of the necessarily made up word -- taken from "Accent on the Future". The other names considered were names coined by the naming consultant. Many of them had a "dot. com" feel that might have had less appeal to non-American partners, who made up 60% of the voting partners and the meeting.

Tax haven headquarters

In October 2002, the Congressional General Accounting Office (GAO) identified Accenture as one of four publicly-traded federal contractors that were incorporated in a tax haven country. October 2002: January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - The Government Accountability Office ( GAO) is the Audit, Evaluation, and investigative arm of the United States Congress. A tax haven is a place where certain Taxes are levied at a low rate or not at all [8] The other three, unlike Accenture, were incorporated in the United States before they re-incorporated in a tax haven country, thereby lowering their U. S. taxes. Still, critics have panned Accenture's incorporation in Bermuda, generally because they viewed Accenture as having been a U. S. -based company trying to avoid U. S. taxes. [9] The GAO itself did not characterize Accenture as having been a U. S. -based company; it stated that "prior to incorporating in Bermuda, Accenture was operating as a series of related partnerships and corporations under the control of its partners through the mechanism of contracts with a Swiss coordinating entity. "

Non-US partners made up the majority of owners at the time Accenture split from Arthur Andersen & Co. In determining where to establish headquarters for an international company with very large operations in North America, Europe, Asia and South America the Firm presumably looked for the most favorable legal and tax environment. Historically, the physical location of the Managing Partner had determined the headquarters location at any given time. For example, under George Shaheen headquarters were in New York/Palo Alto, while under Joe Forehand the location moved to Dallas.

While Accenture has its roots in a Chicago audit firm, more than 50% of its clients, work, and employees are outside of the United States. At the time of the split from Arthur Andersen & Co. , 60% of its partners were from outside the United States, with particularly large practices in Spain and England.

Movement of jobs outside the U. S.

Accenture has been criticized repeatedly by Lou Dobbs of CNN and others for moving some jobs outside the U. Louis Carl Dobbs (born September 24 1945 is a CNN anchor and managing editor for Lou Dobbs Tonight. Cable News Network, usually referred to by its Initialism CNN, is a major English language Television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner S. , resulting in loss of work and employment for some U. S. citizens. This is because Accenture utilizes Global Delivery Centres in South Asia and Southeast Asia (such as Bangalore and Mumbai in India, and, Manila and Cebu in the Philippines) to reduce cost and increase profit margin in outsourcing deals with major U. Bangalore ( officially Bengaluru ( Kannada: ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು) is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Mumbai ( Marathi:,, IPA: formerly Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the financial India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The City of Manila Cebu is one of the Provinces of the Philippines. It lies to the east of Negros Island; to the west of Leyte and to the southeast is Bohol The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP S. companies. This enables Accenture to perform work (such as software development and call centre support) at a greatly reduced employee cost as compared to U. S. employees.

As of October 2007, Accenture employs more people in India than in the U. S.

As a balance to the criticism about movement of jobs outside the U. S. , Accenture's employee population in the U. S. has increased from 28,000 in 2005[10] to more than 29,000 in 2007. [11] According to the map of Accenture’s Delivery Centre locations,[12] the Delivery Centres are evenly distributed across the world with 7 centres in Europe, 7 centres in South East Asia and 7 centres in North America. There are no operations in Africa.

Loss of sensitive data

In September 2007, Accenture was implicated in a high-profile case of loss of sensitive data (sometimes referred to as a "data spill") on individual American citizens. Data spill is a somewhat ironic term derived from such phrases as Oil spill, toxic or hazardous waste spill etc The information was contained on a backup computer tape being used in the development of a government information system for the state of Ohio which was stolen on June 10, 2007. The term information system (IS sometimes refers to a System of persons Data records and activities that process the data and Information in an organization Ohio ( is a Midwestern state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region, Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads Events 1190 - Third Crusade: Frederick I Barbarossa drowns in the Sally River while leading an army to Jerusalem Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The stolen tape contained the names and Social Security numbers of every Ohio state employee, more than half a million people owed tax refunds by the state of Ohio, 602 Ohio Lottery winners who had not cashed their winnings, 84,000 welfare recipients, tens of thousands of other individuals, taxpayer identification numbers for Medicaid providers, and bank account information for school districts and local governments. In the United States, a Social Security number (SSN is a 9-digit number issued to citizens Permanent residents and temporary (working residents under section 205(c(2 A tax refund or tax rebate is a refund on Taxes when the tax liability is less than the taxes paid The Ohio Lottery is run by the state of Ohio Its games include Pick 3 and Pick 4 ("numbers games" Rolling Cash 5, Mega Millions, and many instant Welfare is financial assistance paid to people by governments A national identification number is used by the Governments of many countries as a means of tracking their Citizens Permanent residents and temporary residents Medicaid is the United States health program for eligible individuals and families with low incomes and resources A bank account is a financial account with a Banking institution recording the financial transactions between the customer and the bank and the resulting financial position of School districts are a form of Special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools

In addition to the Ohio data, the tape also contained a great deal of information related to the state of Connecticut, also an Accenture client, including "information on nearly every bank account held by state agencies – including checking accounts, money market accounts, time deposit accounts, savings accounts, trust fund accounts, treasury and certificates of deposit – which could total billions of taxpayer dollars. Connecticut ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The tape lists agency names, account numbers, bank names and types of accounts . . . the account numbers of numerous state procurement cards – known as ‘P-Cards’ – most of which were fortunately out of date . . . the names and Social Security numbers of dozens of Connecticut taxpayers . . . [and] numerous detailed documents from the development and implementation of the CORE-CT project," according to a press release by Connecticut governor Jodi Rell on September 16, 2007. A news release, media release, press release or press statement is a written or recorded Communication directed at members of the News Mary Jodi Rell (born June 16 1946 is a Republican Politician who became the 72nd Governor of the U Events 1400 - Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers [13] Governor Rell stated that the Connecticut data was being used in Ohio by Accenture to aid in the development of a similar state government information system. [13]

The tape was stolen from the car of 22 year old Jared Ilovar, a $10. Jared Ilovar was an intern for the State of Ohio, working for the Office of Management and Budget 50 an hour intern in the Ohio Office of Budget and Management, who had been assigned to take home a backup computer storage device as part of a data security program, quickly terminated by Ohio governor Ted Strickland during the storm of public indignation after the theft became public on June 15. An intern or stagiaire is one who works in a temporary position with an emphasis on on-the-job training rather than merely employment making it similar to an Apprenticeship Data security is the means of ensuring that Data is kept safe from corruption and that access to it is suitably controlled Ted Strickland (born August 4 1941) is an American politician of the Democratic party, and the current governor of the state Events 763 BC - Assyrians record a Solar eclipse that will be used to fix the Chronology of Mesopotamian history Ilovar was fired when he refused to resign, stating that he had been made a scapegoat for this questionable policy when his car, along with four others, was broken into outside his apartment complex outside Columbus, Ohio; "I was a victim of a random car theft, and now I am the scapegoat for the state of Ohio. scapegoat was a Goat that was driven off into the wilderness as part of the ceremonies of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement in Judaism during the times Columbus is the Capital and the largest city of the US state of Ohio. On the subject of instructions, I was never instructed by my employer on how to properly secure, store or watch over the data tapes at night. . . . I was the newest person in the door, so I inherited the job of taking the data tapes out of the building. That was the extent of my instructions. "

Connecticut State Comptroller Nancy Wyman reported that Accenture would pay for two years of identity theft protection for the 57 Connecticut residents and one from out of state whose lost data originated in her office. Nancy S Wyman is the first woman elected State Comptroller of Connecticut since the office was created in 1786 Identity theft is a term used to refer to Fraud that involves stealing money or getting other benefits by pretending to be someone else

Subsidiaries

Visual identity

The typeface used in the Accenture wordmark is Rotis Semi-sans, designed by Otl Aicher in 1988. In Typography, a typeface is a set of one or more Fonts designed with stylistic unity each comprising a coordinated set of Glyphs A typeface usually comprises A wordmark subset of the term Logotype ' is a standardized graphic representation of the name of a company institution or product name used for purposes of identification The rotis Typeface was developed in 1988 by Otl Aicher, German graphic designer and typographer Otl Aicher, also known as Otto Aicher ( May 13, 1922 - September 1, 1991) was one of the leading German Graphic designers The right-pointing carat character over the t is intended to indicate the company's orientation to the future. The character is similar to an accent mark in music. In Music, an accent is an emphasis placed on a particular note, either as a result of its context or specifically indicated by an accent mark. The corporate descriptor for Accenture is "High performance. Delivered. ", which replaced the previous slogan "Innovation. Delivered. " in 2004.

Tiger Woods is a celebrity spokesperson for the company. Background and family Woods was born in Cypress, California to Earl (1932-2006 and Kultida (Tida Woods The campaign uses the service mark "Go on. In some countries notably the United States, a Trademark used to identify a service rather than a product is called a service mark or servicemark Be a Tiger," and the ancillary statement "We know what it takes to be a Tiger. "

See also

References

  1. ^ Yahoo! - Accenture Ltd Company Profile
  2. ^ Company Description Accenture website; retrieved February 16, 2008
  3. ^ Accenture: The Growth of a Global Leader; Accenture website; retrieved June 19, 2007
  4. ^ Arbitrator's Ruling Goes Against Accounting Arm: Consultants Win Battle Of Andersen; International Herald Tribune
  5. ^ Accenture IPO gains in first trades - Jul. 19, 2001; CNN Money
  6. ^ Accenture Services; Accenture website; retrieved February 11, 2008
  7. ^ BusinessWeek - The 100 Top Brands 2006
  8. ^ Information on Federal Contractors That Are Incorporated Offshore; United States General Accounting Office; October 1, 2002
  9. ^ Con. Larua DeLauro's Statement on Award of Homeland Defense Contract to Accenture
  10. ^ Source from United States Senate
  11. ^ Accenture United States
  12. ^ Accenture Global Delivery Network
  13. ^ a b Governor Rell Says Review of Data Lost in Ohio Shows ‘Unfathomable’ Breach of Information Security, State of Connecticut press release, September 16, 2007

External links

The WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship is one of the annual World Golf Championships for male professional golfers In 2002, the Accenture consulting company compiled a list of the top 50 business intellectuals. Bigtime Consulting is a webcomic parody based on Andersen Consulting, now known as Accenture.
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