Company Research
Accenture SCA: Managed Consulting Services
Matthew Finnerty
A26075430
Corporate Overview:
 Accenture is a publicly traded company on the NYSE under the symbol “ACN”. The
stock was valued at $27.67 a share at the end of trading on Friday August 11, 2006
 Revenue for fiscal year 2005: $15.5 billion
Revenue for fiscal year 2004: $13.7 billion
The increase in sales can be attributed to an increase in off shoring/out sourcing
operations into new markets and Accenture’s “Horizon 2012” strategy which
identified the greatest potential for growth in consulting, technology and the
aforementioned out sourcing.
 Accenture is divided into five operating groups that are further divided into 17
industry groups. Within each industry group Accenture provides three primary
service areas: Consulting, Technology and Outsourcing
1. Communications and High Tech: Revenue for fiscal year 2005: $4,001,347,000
 Communications
 Electronics & High Tech
 Media and Entertainment
2. Financial Services: Revenue for fiscal year 2005: $3,408,166,000
 Banking
 Capital Markets
 Insurance
3. Products: Revenue for fiscal year 2005: $3,569,975,000
 Automotive
 Consumer Goods and Services
 Health and Life Sciences
 Industrial Equipment
 Retail
 Transportation and Travel Services
4. Resources: Revenue for fiscal year 2005: $2,388,845,000
 Chemicals
 Energy
 Natural Resources
 Utilities
5. Government: Revenue for fiscal year 2005: $2,171,458,000
 Government
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The financial services group experienced the most growth from 2004 with a 23%
increase in revenue.
Given that Accenture is a global corporation with nearly 140,000 employees, they
have 110 offices in 48 countries mainly concentrated in Europe, the Americas and
Asia. In the United States they have offices in 30 cities across 23 states. I am most
interested in interviewing with the consulting arm of the financial services group. In
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the United States Accenture has locations in New York, Chicago and Charlotte that
focus primarily on financial services.
The consulting arm of the financial services group is further broken down into nine
specific service areas:
1. Accenture Communications Solutions for Revenue Assurance
2. Electronic Invoice and Settlement
3. Enterprise Performance Management Services
4. Finance and Accounting Operation Services
5. Finance and Performance Management for Government
6. Finance Strategy Services
7. Next Generation Enterprise Solutions
8. Revenue Assurance, Credit and Collections
9. Trading, Risk Management and Treasury Services
Corporate Strategy
 Accenture was named one of the top 50 global brands by US News and World
Report for 2004 and 2005; this is significant because as a brand Accenture is
relatively new. It was not until Arthur Andersen spun off its consulting arm in an
IPO in 2001 that the brand Accenture was born.
 In 2005 Accenture signed a $10 billion contract with the United States Department
of Homeland Security. This was the largest contract in company history
 In May of 2006 Accenture obtained Hagberg Consulting Group. The Hagberg
group specializes in organizational culture and corporate strategy. Hagberg brings a
tool box of databases and systems that will augment Accenture’s Organization and
Change strategy. This will allow Accenture to offer a much deeper skill set to its
corporate strategy clients.
 In August of 2006 Accenture acquired Advantium and Meridian Informed
Purchasing. Combined with the April 2006 acquisition of Savista Corp. Accenture
is now able to better provide human resources accounting and financial services to
mid sized companies.
 The acquisition of other consulting and corporate services companies of different
sizes and scopes would indicate a desire to increase both horizontal and vertical
integration.
 The main theme for corporate strategy is delivering results for today and at the same
time positioning the company for future growth without compromising Accenture’s
core values: Stewardship, Best people, Client value creation, Global network,
Integrity and Individual respect.
Career
 As a new hire in Accenture Financial Services, MBA’s are brought in primarily as
Senior Analysts. This position provides those with advanced degrees a certain
amount of tenure over Analysts which are new hires that only have a Bachelors
degree. As a senior analyst you need to prove that you are able to execute specific
assigned projects and oversee logistics. After 6 months to a year the next career
promotion is to Consultant. As a consultant the primary job function is to plan and
organize the assigned project. After 2 to 3 years as a consultant the next move is to
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Manager. The manager position is considered executive level. As a manager the
primary job function is to lead a group of consultants and analysts on an assigned
project. After 3 years as a manager the next level is Senior Manager. As a senior
manager the role is shifted from execution of projects to building the business and
building relationships with existing clients. Senior managers are promoted to Senior
Executives. This position was formerly known as partner prior to the spin off from
Arthur Andersen. Senior executives are responsible for building new business and
the overall success of the organization.
I spoke with an MSU alumnus, Steve M. Smith BA 2001, currently working as a
consultant and on the cusp of being promoted to manager. The culture of his office
in Charlotte can be summed up as “work hard, play hard”. He enjoys “filling
multiple rolls” based on the size and scope of the client he is assigned to.
Additionally he has no standard boss because each project/client has different
managers and senior managers assigned to it. His recommendation for rapid
promotion was to have a deep skill set in one particular area and “to make a lot of
noise”. One negative comment was that given the rapid expansion of Financial
Services the company has lowered hiring standards in order to increase the size of
the work force. He feels that new hires have a decreased skill set and lack the
necessary “street smarts” (common sense) to effectively work as analysts.
Given the scope and size of the company foreign assignments are a possibility at any
point along the career path. Most foreign assignments go to those looking for
international experience. One can gain international experience here in the US by
working with Accenture employees from other countries that have been assigned to
the US. The MSU alumnus I spoke with recently worked on a project in San Jose
with managers from London and Bangalore.
Travel is dependent on the nature of each project, the location of the client and the
availability of work in each market. Accenture has recently put more emphasis on
local staffing for projects. When local staffing is not an option they utilize a “3-4-5”
policy, meaning three nights away from home, four days at the client and five days
working. This is a relatively new ideology for the company and they try to utilize it
whenever possible.
Hiring Process
 Recruiting occurs via the Accenture website, career fairs and on campus recruiting.
 Accenture recruits at MSU and most of the top tier universities.
There are quite a few MSU MBA graduates working for Accenture. The most recent
hire was Aristide Nkoumondo from the class of 2003.
 For entry-level positions in financial services all new hires start at either the Analyst
or Senior Analyst level.
 They are primarily looking to hire candidates with business and engineering
backgrounds, essentially those with hard skill sets. Additionally they are looking for
leadership ability, analytical problem-solvers, quick-learners, team players, and
flexibility. Given the size of the company they are able to hire a wide variety of
people with varying skills and abilities. I feel that my work experience paired with an
MBA would make me a strong candidate in the eyes of an Accenture recruiter.
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After the first on campus interview, those candidates who qualify will be invited back
for a second interview that will take place either on campus (whenever possible) or
over the phone. Those who make it past the second round of interviews will be
invited for an office visit. The office visit is a full day of presentations and
interviews.