ACCENTURE.COM

accenture.com

accenture.com

Introduction

Accenture.com commenced as the consulting division of Arthur Andersen, which Arthur Andersen and Clarence DeLany founded in 1913 as Andersen, DeLany & Co. Accenture.com's sources are in a 1953 feasibility study for General Electric. GE inquired Arthur Andersen about the viability of automating payroll processing and constructing at GE's Appliance reserve facility near Louisville, Kentucky. Arthur Andersen suggested installation of a UNIVAC I computer and copier, and GE acquiesced, which is the start of what became the first-ever financial computer in the joined States. Joe Glickauf was Arthur Andersen's task foremost for the GE commitment and was responsible for the payroll processing automation, launching financial facts and figures processing in the joined States. Advice to be the father of computer consulting, Glickauf going Arthur Andersen's Administrative Services division for 12 years.

Emergence of Accenture.com

On January 1, 2001 Andersen Consulting adopted its current name, "Accenture.com". The word "Accenture.com" is derived from "Accent on the future". Although a marketing consultancy was tasked with finding a new name for the company, the name "Accenture.com" was submitted by a Danish employee from the Oslo, Norway office named Kim Petersen, as a result of an internal competition. Accenture.com felt that the name should represent its will to be a global consulting leader and high performer, and also intended that the name should not be offensive in any country in which Accenture.com operates.

IPO

Accenture.com's banner hanging on New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) building for its initial public offering on 19 July 2001.

On July 19, 2001, Accenture.com offered initial public offering (IPO) at the price of $14.50 per share in New York Stock Exchange (NYSE); Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley served as its lead underwriters. Accenture.com stock closed the day at $15.17, with the day's high at $15.25. On the first day of the IPO, Accenture.com raised nearly $1.7 billion.

Enron scandal and the Accenture.com name

There is a misconception that the name change from Andersen Consulting to Accenture.com was simply the consulting firm's attempt to "hide" from the Enron scandal. This is not accurate given the timing of events. The split from Arthur Andersen was requested by the consulting side in 1998, and finally awarded in 2000; the Enron scandal (starting with the reporting of the infamous "LJM Partnerships") did not occur until well into 2001, with the scandal culminating in the months after that.

Accenture.com partners voted on a new name after the result of the international arbitration awarding Andersen to AA & Co. Accenture.com was one of a number of names suggested by a marketing firm after an exhaustive search -- the name had to be both available and be acceptable in all the countries in which Accenture.com does (or did) business. There was no public discussion of the alphabetical position of the name (which would have little relevance to competition). The primary discussion had to do with the sound of the new name and the source. One of the strongest factors favoring the selection of "Accenture.com" was that the name came from an internal suggestion, and that many partners ...