Accenture’s Code of Business Ethics

Executive Summary

The HBS case Accenture's Code of Business Ethics was written in the year 2019 by

Eugene Soltes. In this case, leaders of Accenture’s compliance and ethics program are seeking

to design a new code of business ethics for its global workforce of over 400,000 employees. The

case explores the decision-making process that went into the design process and ultimately

how they created a revised code. Accenture is a leading global professional services company,

providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and

operations. Accenture helps clients reduce costs and also outsource technology functions.

Employees have experience in a variety of industries in key business areas, including customer

relationship management, supply chain management, business strategy, technology and

outsourcing. Accenture began as the business and technology consulting arm of Arthur

Andersen and was spun off as Andersen Consulting in 1989. In 2001, the firm changed its name

to Accenture after all ties with Arthur Andersen were cut, and while Accenture thrived, Arthur

Andersen was effectively shut down by the Enron scandal in the early 2000s. Over the years,

Accenture has grown to a large, publicly traded professional services company that employed

over 400,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Accenture’s commitment to

doing business ethically and legally is rooted deeply within their culture, which is shaped by

their code of business ethics. This code stems from six core values –Client Value Creation, One

Global Network, and Respect for the Individual, Best People, Integrity and Stewardship. While
the company had adjusted to the changing nature of its business and regulatory exposure, the

Ethics & Compliance leadership team realized that the company’s Code of Business Ethics a

printed statement reflecting the company’s values and expectations for employees’ conduct

had not kept pace. There were numerous issues within the Code of Business Ethics. For starters,

the code was described as a very long, comprehensive PDF document that wasn’t the friendliest

with its information. For example, if an Accenture employee had questions or concerns

regarding gifts, they had no way of going directly to Accenture’s code specifically related to that

subject. They would have to not only guess the correct core value the issue fell under; they

would also have to search through that section until that subject was found. Accenture’s

Director of Ethics, Paul Steinke said of the code, “I couldn’t find things in it. The code was very

comprehensive. In fact, I think it was probably too comprehensive, and it took me too long to

find things in it. At Accenture, our people care deeply about doing the right thing. Together, we

have proven that we can succeed—providing value to our clients and shareholders and

opportunities for our people—while being a powerful force for good. Our shared commitment

to operating with the highest ethical standards and making a positive difference in everything

we do is what makes Accenture special. In today’s environment, we go beyond mere

compliance; we innovate with integrity by using our understanding of technology and its impact

on people to develop inclusive, responsible and sustainable solutions to complex business and

societal challenges. To get this right, we must empower our people to make good decisions, act

responsibly and speak up with confidence.

Problem Statement

Accenture had grown to a large, publicly traded professional services company that

employed over 400,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. While the company

had adjusted to the changing nature of its business and regulatory exposure, the Ethics &

Compliance leadership team realized that the company’s Code of Business Ethics a printed

statement reflecting the company’s values and expectations for employees’ conduct—had not

kept pace. The code wasn’t integrated with compliance and other programs and policies that

had grown up and around the code over the ensuing decade. With many different stakeholders

within the company, including the CEO and global management committee, having an interest

in how the code was framed that any changes to the code would require considerable effort.

There are many ways to raise a concern, and the most effective way may depend on the

nature of the concern. It can always raise a concern with management or other trusted

advisors, any Accenture Leader, Human Resources or Legal. In most cases, you may remain

anonymous when using the Accenture Business Ethics Helpline; however, in certain countries

this may not be the case due to local legal restrictions.

The primary purpose should be to serve as a practical guide for employees, while also

serving as a public commitment for external stakeholders including clients, investors, vendors,
and regulators. They wanted the document to serve as an expression of the company’s

principles for which employees would be held accountable. The code should be organized by

more intuitive topics to help employees find answers more easily. Ideally, the code would

support day-to-day decision making in moments that matter and, if necessary, also help

employees locate relevant policies and procedures. They wanted to improve the employee

experience when interacting with the code. In thinking about the presentation, they wanted to

strike the appropriate balance between including everything needed for the organization to

operate effectively, and highly customized information for employees specific to each person’s

role and career level.

Situational Analysis

SWOT Matrix

World’s largest consulting In terms of revenue it’s the world’s largest consulting firm

firm which mainly focuses on IT and business consultancy. It

has fantastic business ethics & uncompromising standards

for high performance.

Strong Clientele It has a large client base with some top notch companies

having Accenture as their consultants. Nearly 90 out of

the fortune top 100companies & more than three

quarters of fortune global 500 companies have Accenture

 as a consulting firm.
Service Delivery Network Accenture have global service deliver y network with

presence in more than 200 cities, 56 countries &

employing 390,000passionate employees continuously

working to give optimum service delivery to end

customers.
Client Driven processes Strong business relations & client driven approach by

Accenture helps them in creating industry based,

sustainable value for their consulting partners.

Diverse capabilities With its five operating groups namely communications,

media and technology, financial services, health and

public services and product resources it can created

diverse capabilities within its items. Dedicated and trained

manpower for each vertical is what differentiates

Accenture from the rest.

Expertise With its client base stretching out from health care to

automobile to IT services, Accenture has a lot of

experience and the talent behind it to get things done.

Hence, Accenture has become the specialist or experts

across different industries.

Strategic Alternatives
 The mission is articulated in a broadly defined to develop and sustain competitive

advantage a state whereby a firm’s successful strategies cannot be easily duplicated by its

competitors so that the organization’s mission is fulfilled.

 Discover how embracing the cloud can lead to interconnected, intelligent and innovative

supply chains.

 Learn how a purpose-driven strategy is about doing the right thing for customers and

society--and also a powerful way to drive growth.

 Learn how to create value, drive resilience and create positive change through

responsible business.

 Across the globe, one thing is universally true of the people of Accenture: We care

deeply about what we do and the impact we have with our clients and communities. It

is personal to all of us.”

Analysis and Conclusion

This finding creates a need for exploring the area of supplier selection processes using

discrete event simulation. In addition, companies do care about the reaction of customers in

the market. Moreover, strategic supply chain decisions are related with issues in suppliers’ and

customers’ tier. Finally, it can be useful for companies to take into consideration customers’

preferences for the decisions in their supplier selection processes. As a conclusion, the use of

discrete event simulation for studying supply chain strategic issues, focusing on supplier

selection processes and customers’ preferences, creates the knowledge gap of this research.
Recommendation to Management

That difference can benefit Accenture’s clients, because it can provide any company

with multi-dimension results (decision about appropriate supplier, customer choices, market

share value) without big costs (simulation model). Management is also responsible for the

information and assertions contained within the report; for determining Accenture´s objectives

in respect of the selection and presentation of sustainable development performance, including

the identification of stakeholders and material issues; and for establishing and maintaining

appropriate performance management and internal control systems from which the reported

performance information is derived.