PricewaterhouseCoopers: Description of the Firm and its Services

PricewaterhouseCoopers, abbreviated as PwC, is a multinational firm which offers professional services to other enterprises and businesses. The name has evolved from Price Waterhouse in 1849 to Coopers & Lybrand in 1854 and finally PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1998. PwC headquarters are located in London, United Kingdom. Since its initiation, the multinational has spread its network across 157 countries thus enabling it to operate in over 750 locations with 208,000 employees (PwC, 2016). The range of services offered includes advisory, tax, legal, consulting and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Other services include helping firms with people and organization, dealing with entrepreneurial and private clients as well as family business services. Additional consultancy services include sustainability and climate change. The broad range of services, which are in consultancy have enabled the firm to expand and earn a global reputation. Most importantly, the expansive network allows the company to help individuals and firms to create value for their services.

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Company history

PricewaterhouseCoopers was created in 1998 following the merger between Coopers & Lybrand and Price Waterhouse. Before the merger, both firms had existed since the 19th century. Coopers & Lybrand was founded by William Cooper in 1854 as an accountancy firm that operated in London (British Museum, 2016). It later became Cooper Brothers when his three brothers partnered to offer accounting services. In 1973, the term Coopers & Lybrand was used to cap the international market as the firm expanded in the UK, US, and Canada. At one point in 1990, the firm merged with Deloitte Haskins & Sells. However, the merger was reverted in 1992 thus returning to the previous company name.

Samuel Lowell Price founded Price Waterhouse as an accounting practice in 1849. The firm was operating in London, offering accounting services to businesses and individuals. In 1865, a partnership was formed between Samuel Price, Edwin Waterhouse, and William Hopkins Holyland. However, William Hopkins left the business; thus the remaining partners named it Price, Waterhouse & Co. in 1874. The name later evolved to Price Waterhouse which gained significant recognition in the United Kingdom. In 1890, the firm established an office in New York which made it easier to expand in the United States (Cave, 2016). The expansion enabled Price Waterhouse to work as a federation of collaborating firms rather than through mergers. The collaboration between different firms made it easier to attract competent employees and offer better services.

In 1998, the present firm was formed as a merger between Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand which formed PricewaterhouseCoopers. The new firm enjoyed access to a large professional base thus was able to provide management consultancy services due to the wide coverage (Cave, 2016). The growth since 1998 has involved the acquisition of Omnilogic Systems from Canada, Arthur Andersen LLP affiliates from China as well as Paragon Consulting Group and Bearing Point.

Vision and mission statement

PwC defines its mission as a goal which is to provide an unrivaled level of service and to contribute to the sustained growth of the economy through the execution of vigorous, fair and high-quality audits based on clear leadership through creative teamwork (PwC, 2016). As such, its achievement is dependent on three most important principles which include integrity, intelligence, and innovation. The company values that drive the mission include excellence, leadership, and teamwork. The vision is to have one firm doing the right thing for our clients, our people, and our communities. Most importantly, the company emphasizes on a personal responsibility approach which means that every stakeholder is expected to take personal responsibility and play their part in the delivery of the firm`s strategy.

The values of teamwork, excellence and leadership are unique and resonate with the mission and vision statements of the company. Indeed, trust thrives where teamwork and proper leadership exists. Additionally, excellence is the target and expected outcome for all activities within the firm. Therefore, PwC serves its clients using a set of tools which guide all the activities. Every stakeholder understands his or her duty and this helps the firm which has very many partners working together towards a key objective (PwC, 2015). The past and future growth of the firm can be attributed to the clear and precise definition of what needs to be done and who needs to do it. Furthermore, PwC understands that it is a global leader in consultancy and professional services thus its vision and mission focus on maintaining this prestigious status.

Assessment of mission and vision

The PwC vision and mission statements specify the business objective and purpose. Clearly, trust is an important pillar at the firm which is achieved by doing the right thing as the vision indicates. Similarly, the mission declares an intention by the company to provide high-quality services to the clients while maintaining fairness and providing industry leadership. These are key pillars for both employees and the clients (PwC, 2015). Workers at PwC understand what they are working towards whenever they look at these specifications. Additionally, clients know what to expect when they ask the firm to work on some assignments. The trust relationship is built upon understanding the goals as well as having clear expectations (Liebowitz, 2012). The business is driven by the fact that trust thrives in both situations since clients can measure their results or outcomes based on the initial promise of delivery. Employees are also able to self-evaluate and understand whether they are moving towards the right direction of achieving the mission and vision of PwC.

The vision and mission statements are coupled with the company strategy which directs all stakeholders on how to achieve. The purpose specified is to build trust in society thus solve important problems. The ambition is to become an iconic firm which is always on peoples minds when professional services are mentioned. These tools have facilitated the creation of a success culture which defines and distinguishes PwC from other professional service firms (PwC, 2015). The performance goals are also clear as they include a definition of the successful delivery of the strategy. Most importantly, the delivery of goals is measured using the firm`s balanced scorecard (Liebowitz, 2012). Evaluating the key performance indicators indicates that the strategy applied has enabled PwC to achieve its goals and move towards its mission and vision statements effectively. The indicators show that the company is a leading firm due to consistency in high-quality services and growth. Furthermore, leadership is also seen in the growth and profit. These are indicators that the vision and mission statements are important tools which provide a sense of direction for the stakeholders towards the expected outcomes.

References

British Museum. (2016). Term details. British Museum. Retrieved 8 September 2016, from http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=164843

Cave, A. (2016). Forbes Welcome. Forbes.com. Retrieved 8 September 2016, from http://www.forbes.com/companies/pricewaterhousecoopers/Liebowitz, J. (2012). Beyond knowledge management. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

PwC. (2015). Annual Report 2014 Responsible profitable growth. Pwc Annual Report, (1).

PwC. (2016). Our Mission and Vision. PwC. Retrieved 8 September 2016, from http://www.pwc.com/jp/en/assurance/corporate/mission.html