Accenture

Accenture is a global management

consulting and professional services firm
that provides strategy, consulting, digital,
technology and operations services. A
Fortune Global 500 company,[5] it has been
incorporated in Dublin, Ireland, since 1
September 2009. In 2018, the company
reported net revenues of $39.6 billion, with
more than 459,000 employees[3] serving
clients in more than 200 cities in 120
countries.[6] In 2015, the company had
about 150,000 employees in India,[7] about
48,000 in the US,[8] and about 50,000 in the
Philippines.[9] Accenture's current clients
include 95 of the Fortune Global 100 and
more than three-quarters of the Fortune
Global 500.[4]
 Accenture plc

Formerly Andersen Consulting

(January 1, 2001)
Type Public

Traded as NYSE: ACN (Class A)

S&P 100 component
S&P 500 component

ISIN IE00B4BNMY34

Industry Professional services

Technology services

Founded 1989

Headquarters Dublin, Ireland

Area served Worldwide

Key people Marjorie Magner
(Chairperson)[1]
David Rowland (Interim
CEO)[1]
Services Strategy, consulting,
digital, technology,
operations, services,
and solutions[2]

Revenue US$41.60 billion

(2018)[3]
Operating income US$5.84 billion
(2018)[3]
Net income US$4.06 billion
(2018)[3]

Total assets US$24.45 billion

(2018)[3]

Total equity US$10.36 billion

(2018)[3]
Number of employees 477,000 (2019)[4]

Website www.accenture.com

History
Formation and early years

Accenture began as the business and

technology consulting division of
accounting firm Arthur Andersen[10] in the
early 1950s when it conducted a feasibility
study for General Electric to install a
computer at Appliance Park in Louisville,
Kentucky,[11] which led to GE's installation
of a UNIVAC I computer and printer,[12]
believed to be the first commercial use of
a computer in the U.S.[13] Joseph Glickauf,
an early pioneer of computer consulting,
held a position as head of Arthur
Andersen's administrative services
division.[11]
Split from Arthur Andersen

In 1989, Arthur Andersen and Andersen

Consulting became separate units of
Andersen Worldwide Société Coopérative
(AWSC). Throughout the 1990s, there was
increasing tension between Andersen
Consulting and Arthur Andersen. Andersen
Consulting was paying Arthur Andersen up
to 15% of its profits each year (a provision
of the 1989 split was that the more
profitable unit – whether AA or AC – pay
the other the 15 percent), 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
(AABC). This dispute came to a head in
1998 when Andersen Consulting put the
15% transfer payment for that year and
future years into escrow and issued a
claim for breach of contract against AWSC
and Arthur Andersen. In August 2000, as a
result of the conclusion of arbitration with
the International Chamber of Commerce,
Andersen Consulting broke all contractual
ties with AWSC and Arthur Andersen. As
part of the arbitration settlement,
Andersen Consulting paid 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.[14]

Emergence of Accenture

On 1 January 2001, Andersen Consulting

adopted its current name, "Accenture". The
word "Accenture" is derived from "Accent
on the future". The name "Accenture" was
submitted by Kim Petersen, a Danish
employee from the company's Oslo,
Norway office, as a result of an internal
competition. Andersen 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.[15]

Accenture's banner hanging on the New York Stock

Exchange (NYSE) building for its initial public offering
on 19 July 2001.

On 19 July 2001, Accenture's initial public

offering (IPO) was priced at $14.50 per
share, and the shares began trading on the
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE);
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley
served as its lead underwriters. 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.[16]

Bermuda 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.[17] The other three, unlike
Accenture, were incorporated in the United
States before they re-incorporated in a tax
haven, thereby lowering their US taxes.
Critics, most notably former CNN
journalist Lou Dobbs,[18] have reported
Accenture's decision to incorporate in
Bermuda as a US tax avoidance ploy,
because they viewed Accenture as having
been a US-based company.[19] The GAO
itself did not characterize Accenture as
having been a US-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."[20]
Accenture engaged in an IT overhaul
project for the National Health Service
(NHS) in 2003, making headlines when it
withdrew from the contract in 2006 over
disputes related to delays and cost
overruns.[21] The government of the United
Kingdom ultimately abandoned the project
five years later for the same reasons.[22]

Ireland headquarters

Accenture announced on 26 May 2009

that its board of directors unanimously
approved changing the company's place of
incorporation from Bermuda to Ireland and
would become Accenture plc.[23]
Accenture was chosen to replace CGI
Group as the lead contractor for
HealthCare.gov in January 2014.[24] In
December 2014, Accenture won a $563
million contract to provide ongoing
maintenance, software development and
technology support for HealthCare.gov
through 2019.[25]

In July 2015, the United States Department

of Defense awarded a major Electronic
Health Records contract to Cerner, Leidos
and Accenture. The contract valued $4.33
billion will serve 55 hospitals and 600
clinics. Accenture Federal Services and
Leidos will play the role of configuration
specialist, while Cerner is the prime
contractor.[26]

On 29 August 2017, Apple Inc. announced

a partnership with Accenture to create iOS
business solutions.[27]

In June 2018, Accenture generated

controversy over the amount the firm has
been charging to recruit 7,500 Customs
and Border Protection officers. Under the
$297 million contract, Accenture had been
charging the US Government nearly
$40,000 per hire, which is more than the
annual salary of the average officer.[28]
According to a report published by the
DHS Office of Inspector General in
December 2018, Accenture had been paid
$13.6M through the first ten months of the
contract. They had hired two agents
against a contract goal of 7,500 hires over
5 years. The report was issued as a
'management alert', indicating an issue
requiring immediate attention, stating that
"Accenture has already taken longer to
deploy and delivered less capability than
promised".[29]

Finances
For the fiscal year 2018, Accenture
reported earnings of US$4.060 billion, with
an annual revenue of US$41.603 billion, an
increase of 13.2% over the previous fiscal
cycle. Accenture's shares traded at over
$159 per share, and its market
capitalization was valued at over
US$104.2 billion in October 2018.[30]

Revenue Net income Total Assets Price per Share

Year Employees
in billion USD$ in billion USD$ in billion USD$ in USD$

2005 17.098 0.940 8.957 19.63

2006 18.228 0.973 9.497 24.22

2007 21.453 1.243 10.747 31.04

2008 25.314 1.692 12.399 29.00

2009 23.171 1.590 12.256 28.02

2010 23.094 1.781 12.835 35.20

2011 27.353 2.278 15.732 47.23

2012 29.778 2.554 16.665 54.58

2013 30.394 3.282 16.867 67.91 275.000

2014 31.875 2.941 17.930 74.87 305.000

2015 32.914 3.054 18.203 91.88 358.000

2016 34.798 4.112 20.609 108.54 384.000

2017 36.765 3.445 22.690 126.73 425.000

2018 41.603 4.060 24.449 159.92 459.000

Services and operations

A worldmap showing the countries where Accenture

has operations as of 2016

Accenture Strategy provides business

strategy, technology strategy and
operations strategy services.[31]
Accenture Consulting provides
technology, business and management
consulting.[32]
Accenture Digital provides digital
marketing, analytics and mobility
services.[33]
 Accenture Technology focuses on
technology solutions, implementation,
delivery, and research & development,
including its Technology Labs for
emerging technologies.[34]
Accenture Operations focuses on an
"as-a-service" model of service delivery.
This includes business process
outsourcing, IT services, cloud services,
managed operations, security and
infrastructure services.[35]

Marketing, branding and

identity
In 2011, Accenture launched a new
campaign of results-based ads featuring
clients such as Marriott, Unilever and the
Royal Shakespeare Company alongside its
slogan “High performance. Delivered”.[36]
As of 2018, Interbrand ranked Accenture
No. 34 on its list of best global brands.[37]
The brand consultancy noted Accenture's
focus on branding and marketing of its
Accenture Strategy, Accenture Consulting,
Accenture Digital, Accenture Technology
and Accenture Operations divisions.[38]

From at least 2005[39] until December

2009, Accenture used Tiger Woods as a
celebrity spokesperson and advertised
using the service mark "Go on, be a Tiger"
and the ancillary statement "We know
what it takes to be a Tiger" in association
with his image. On 13 December 2009
after details of Woods' extra-marital affairs
were exposed, the company terminated
Woods' six-year sponsorship deal.[40]

The company uses a standardised system

of branding, with extensive use of the font
Graphik.[41]

From 1999, the firm's culture was parodied

by the webcomic Bigtime Consulting,
operated pseudonymously by its San
Francisco-based employee James
Sanchez.[42][43]
Diversity policy

Accenture has implemented policies to

reduce gendered discrimination such as
gender neutral bathrooms and gender
neutral dress-codes. Denise Norris, a
transgender activist and Accenture
employee, said “In cultures that don’t
embrace gender diversity, Accenture’s
workplace can become a haven, a safe
space for our transgender employees.”[44]

Awards
In 2016, Accenture was ranked No. 289
on the Forbes Global 2000 list.[45]
In 2016, Accenture was ranked No. 312
on the Fortune Global 500 list.[46]
In 2016, the firm was named 15th in the
Top 50 Companies for Diversity by
DiversityInc.[47]
In 2017, Accenture was ranked No. 272
on the Forbes Global 2000 list.[48]
In 2017, Accenture was ranked No. 305
on the Fortune Global 500 list.[49]
In 2017, the firm was named 14th in the
Top 50 Companies for Diversity by
DiversityInc.[50]
Accenture is one of 12 best
management consulting firms of 2017
in America according to Forbes.[51]
In 2018, Fortune magazine named it as
the world's most admired Information
Technology Services company.[52]
In 2018, the Ethisphere Institute named
Accenture one of the world's most
ethical companies for the 11th time[53]
Fortune named Accenture one of the
100 Best Companies to Work For from
2009 to 2018[54]
CR Magazine named Accenture No. 2 in
its top 100 Best Corporate Citizens list
for 2018[55]
In 2018, Accenture was ranked No. 288
on the Forbes Global 2000 list.[56]
 In 2018, Accenture was ranked No. 316
on the Fortune Global 500 list.[57]
In 2018, the firm was named 9th in the
Top 50 Companies for Diversity by
DiversityInc.[58]
In 2019, Fortune magazine named it as
the world's most admired Information
Technology Services company.[59]

See also
List of IT consulting firms
Avanade, an IT consulting subsidiary of
Accenture

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External links
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