PRICE WATERHOUSE COOPERS

Price Waterhouse Coopers

Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC)

Abstract

This research proposal is aimed to understanding the issues related to Corporate Social Responsibility, and how the company PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, contributes to the present CSR issues. PwC provides services for a diverse range of businesses and organizations and thus customizes its operations to fit the needs and values of its clients. Its primary focus, however, is to assist the companies at achieving their CSR targets and devising procedures for them that will prove to be beneficial in this regard. By carrying out this research, more ways to enhance the CSR practices can be designed, and efforts in this regard can be improved. The more companies PwC provides services for, the more care it would have to take in order to guarantee that standards are not compromised and that everything works accordingly to the rules and regulations set out by governing authorities. This will ensure that they are being socially responsible.

Introduction

PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a multinational firm providing professional services. Its headquarters is situated in London, United Kingdom. It is currently the world's biggest professional services firm. It also holds the title of being the largest of the accountancy firms according to revenues collected in the year 2012 (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2012, p.n.d). With offices in 771 cities located in 158 countries, and employing over 180,000 people, PwC has a large human resource. The country's revenues totalled up to $31.5 billion in the fiscal year of 2012 (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2012, p.n.d).

Two companies, namely Coopers & Lybrand and Price Waterhouse laid the foundation of the company by merging themselves in 1998. However, this name was condensed to PwC in September 2010, and the whole brand was re-branded in a series of processes. The organization operates in various fields such as tax, assurance, human resources, crisis management, performance improvement and transactions. Since 2010, this organization ranks the seventh on the list of largest privately owned organizations (Forbes, 2010, pp. 7).

Timeline

A timeline outlining the progress of PwC in detail is as follows:

1849 - Samuel Price initiated business in London.1854 - William Cooper started his own work in London, which converted into Cooper Brothers later.1865 - Price and Waterhouse, along with Holyland signed contract for partnership in the year 1874, changing the name to Price, Waterhouse & Co.1898 - William M. Lybrand, Robert H. Montgomery, Adam A. Ross Jr. along with his brother T. Edward Ross formulated Lybrand, Ross Brothers and Montgomery.1957 - Companies namely Cooper Brothers & Co (UK), Currie and Co (Canada), McDonald and Lybrand, Ross Bros & Montgomery (US) merge to form Coopers & Lybrand.1982 - The firm named Price Waterhouse World was formed.1990 - Coopers & Lybrand formed a merger with Deloitte Haskins & Sells in various countries around the globe.1998 -Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand merge to laid the basis of PricewaterhouseCoopers.2002 -PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting is sold to IBM.2004 - PricewaterhouseCoopers integrates the Connected Thinking method.2010 - PricewaterhouseCoopers officially condensed its name to ...