Search the Community

Spain’s IE Business School has partnered with EY España to launch the Global Corporation Center, a new research center devoted to examining the challenges facing 21st century business organisations as a result of globalisation. A formal presentation announcing the center’s launch took place on April 8th. For more details, read the full article. Click here to view the article

EY reports that it polled more than 750 professionals to explore the UK’s attitude towards networking. The research, comprising a white paper by Julia Hobsbawm, visiting Professor of Networking at London's Cass Business School, and a survey by Populus of 750 business professionals at all stages of their career, found that those at the earliest stages of their professional development have the strongest attachment to in-person networking. Liz Bingham, EY’s Managing Partner for Talent in the UK & Ireland, said: “...At its most basic level, networking is about forming and maintaining relationships and this is often best done face-to-face.” Other key findings of the survey include: Only 53% of business people value networking as professional skill Fewer than half of professionals have LinkedIn accounts Only one in four women convinced of need for women-only networks For more details, read the EY news release. Click here to view the article

EY has produced a bleak forecast for the eurozone compared with its outlook for the UK and the USA. EY predicts 1% growth for the eurozone in 2014. Tom Rogers, Senior Economic Adviser at EY, said “the eurozone recovery is likely to gather momentum this year ... While the risks of a breakup have diminished ... deflation and unemployment will remain ongoing concerns.” For more details, read the full article.

EY is searching for the top entrepreneurial talent in Australia to take part in the 2014 Australian EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards. Bryan Zekulich, Head of the Program, said celebrating entrepreneurial success stories helped to inspire the next generation of Australian entrepreneurs. Past Australian winners have included the founders of SEEK, iiNet, Carsales.com.au, ResMed and Atlassian. For more information about the Entrepreneur Of The Year, or to nominate, visit www.eoy.ey.com.au.

A recent EY survey estimates that Australian companies lose more than $720 in future earnings for every negative customer experience. The findings are based on interviews that EY conducted over the last 12 months with 950 consumers across Australia. For more details, read the full article.

Ernst & Young's Advisory Services has been named in the 2014 CRM Watchlist, a prestigious US-based list developed by Paul Greenberg. EY was one of two firms named as a 2014 Watchlist Elite Winner in the consulting and systems integrators category. The Sacramento Bee reports that Greenberg expects Watchlist Elite Winners "to have the strongest impact and possibly greatest rate of success in the marketplace" in 2014. For more details, read the full article.

Reuter's report that Deloitte has become the world's top accountant (by revenue). Fee income in 2013 for the Big Four is reported as follows: $32.4 billion for Deloitte; $32 billion for PwC; $25.9 billion for EY; and $23.4 billion for KPMG. This report raises three issues worth noting. Firstly, Deloitte's lead as top firm (as measured by revenue) may be brief since PwC and Booz & Co are currently in merger talks. This would increase PwC's revenue by more than $1 billion. Secondly, the report conflates the ideas of "highest revenue" and "top accounting firm". While the Big Four do have the highest revenue figures and are thereby able to spend the most on marketing, there is no evidence to suggest that the big firms actually produce the highest quality audit work. Audits at the Big Four are primarily conducted by squadrons of junior business analysts fresh out of university, and it is entirely possible that mid-tier firms like BDO and Grant Thornton (mid-tier as measured by revenue) may actually produce higher quality audits. Thirdly, and most importantly for our purposes, the Reuter's report appears to gloss over the fact that firms like Deloitte and PwC are no longer mere accounting firms. The PwC merger with Booz & Co is a case in point, and less than half of PwC’s revenues now come from its assurance business. Consulting is one of PwC’s fastest growing operations.

ConsultingNews.com reports that EY’s UK advisory team has been shortlisted in 8 categories for the MCA Awards 2014, the highest number of shortlisted categories that EY has ever been nominated for. According to Consutling News the MCA Awards are the benchmark for quality within the consulting industry. If this is true, then this is a strong sign for EY. With Deloitte acquiring Monitor in 2012, and PwC set to merge with Booz & Co this year, this is likely to put the advisory businesses of the other two big accounting firms (KPMG and EY) under pressure. Do you think we will see more consolidation in the consulting industry in 2014?