Accenture in Ireland
Keem Bay, Achill Island, Co. Mayo Photo taken by Brian Quigley, Accenture Photography Club
Contents Introduction
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About Accenture
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Our Offerings
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Irish Leadership Team
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European Service Centre
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Our Clients
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Corporate Citizenship
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Sponsorships
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Our People
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Introduction As Country Managing Director of Accenture in Ireland I am very pleased to bring you this brochure which provides information around our range of consulting, technology and outsourcing services here in Ireland. In this brochure we profile some of our client case studies, showcase our commitment to corporate citizenship and highlight the type of people who make up our Accenture team in Ireland. Accenture is the largest management consulting, technology and outsourcing services company in Ireland, employing over 1,200 people in the Republic and Northern Ireland. Our business is an integral part of Accenture’s global network of 175,000 employees operating in 200 cities and 52 countries around the world. At Accenture, we work with some of Ireland’s largest public and private sector organisations and have been
successfully doing so for the past 30 years. We deliver “value driven outcomes” that focus on improving business performance and economic indicators by implementing people (behaviour, skill & capabilities), process (simplification and efficiency maximisation) and technology (proven & leading edge) improvements.
to help solve complex problems for our clients. This includes enterprisewide business and technology transformation programmes.
We hire the best talent, invest significantly in building their skills and capabilities, and implement an ongoing programme of work experience both in Ireland and in the Accenture global network to ensure our clients get people with deep skills, experience and expertise.
In difficult economic times innovation and new ideas have never been more important to organisations who are thinking creatively about reducing costs, minding their customers and engaging with their own people. The drive for “operational excellence” i.e. costs and efficiencies and trying to do “more for less” has never been greater. Accenture is hugely focused on these imperatives as we help our clients make difficult decisions to continue to change and evolve their business.
When working with clients to help improve their business performance we bring proven methodologies, tried and tested business frameworks and fresh thinking with a clear focus on outcomes. In simple terms we leverage both our local and global capabilities
As Country Managing Director I hugely value the strong relationships we have with our clients. I am also very proud of our organisation’s success in Ireland and the achievements of our people both in our client work and in our work in the community.
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Our workforce reaches out to the community via our Skills to Succeed programme, working in collaboration with community experts to tackle the many social challenges facing Ireland today. I am also extremely pleased that our Global Board of Directors changed Accenture’s place of incorporation to Ireland, making Accenture PLC Ireland’s largest company. I hope this brochure gives you some real insight into our Irish business, the types of client projects we undertake and our approach to doing business. Should you have any queries or would like to know more about how we can help you achieve high performance, please contact me on mark.ryan@accenture.com.
“ When working with clients to help improve their business performance we bring proven methodologies, tried and tested business frameworks and fresh thinking with a clear focus on outcomes.”
Mark Ryan Country Managing Director, Accenture, Ireland 5
“ Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.”
About Accenture Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. Of course, there’s no straightforward, off-the-shelf formula for creating high performance in business. When the going gets tough, there are some fundamental keys to survival, and we can help our clients solidify their positions in their markets.
But as we work with some of the world’s most ambitious businesses, we find the solutions we’re asked to create are about not just surviving, but thriving. These businesses are often very successful already, and aren’t satisfied until they’ve raised their performance to optimum levels. We help companies survey their business landscape and make the most of the opportunities available at any given moment. We can spot ways for our clients to work more efficiently, save money, get to know their customers better, deal with change, update their operations for the future – and more.
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We’re a trusted partner, called in when it’s time for that extra boost of business and technology expertise that comes with a fresh pair of eyes and a disciplined, analytical mind. Our support means our clients can focus on what they do best – whether they’re a bank, a multinational, a utilities business, a government or a charity. Our business structure ensures we can bring together the very best and most relevant expertise from across the business by function or industry to tackle and overcome any challenge our clients face.
Our Offerings In Ireland, as in all of the 52 countries that we operate in, we bring together multi – disciplined teams, a rare level of technology expertise, plus insight, and experience of solving complex problems. We’re not generic. We’re not tied to one technology platform, hardware or way of performing. We bring together people at the forefront of their field and go about each project with a freshness that ensures innovation and high performance for clients.
Our cross-industry expertise means we can offer an exceptionally high level of delivery in areas such as consulting, technology and outsourcing. We also have industry groups and through this matrix structure we provide fusion of ideas and innovation that helps deliver high-performance results.
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“ Innovation that works: Leadingedge ideas and technologies grounded in pragmatic, realworld judgment.”
We have five industry groups to serve our clients through including Communications & High Tech, Financial Services, Health & Public Service, Products and Resources.
Additionally across these industry groups we have skills centres of Management Consulting, Technology and Business Process Outsourcing.
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Through these industry groups and skills centres we can truly tailor what we offer and become a client’s most effective business partner.
Irish Leadership Team “ Combining specific industry knowledge with a broad range of client experience, our leaders focus on building effective teams dedicated to helping our clients achieve high performance.�
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Country Managing Director
Accenture European Service Lead
Mark Ryan, Country Managing Director
Julie Spillane European Service Centre
Growth Platform Leads
Marian Corcoran, Management Consulting
Ian Slattery, Business Process Outsourcing
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Hilary O’Meara, Technology
Client Service Group Leads
Alastair Blair, Financial Services
Paul Duff, Health & Public Service
Aidan Gregan, Resources
Cathal Quigley, Communications & High Technology
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Andrew Fleming, Products
European Service Centre Business Challenge Accenture faces many of the same challenges as its clients. As a result, Accenture continually examines its own practices and has an ongoing programme of analysis, re-engineering and continuous improvement. This ensures that our internal business processes are always aligned with our global vision and the needs of our clients. Until 1999, the Accenture office in each European country operated its own internal support functions such as Finance and IT Helpdesk. These functions operated according to local standards, with the result that service levels were uneven and processes were not standardised. How Accenture Helped In 1999, Accenture established the European Service Centre (ESC) in Dublin. The vision for the ESC was to provide a world-class service to the business by unifying and reengineering repetitive processes
and continuously improving them. Accenture offices in each country were relieved of the management overhead and effort associated with a range of financial processing, IT development and support, human resource administration, procurement, marketing & communications, alliances and facilities. With the establishment of the ESC, employees in Dublin now deliver centralised high quality services to the 15 European and Middle Eastern offices with greatly improved efficiency. Since setting up the centre, the cost per transaction has been reduced by over 50 percent, and the company has achieved savings of over €40 million on procurement costs alone. Since inception, the ESC has changed significantly in the nature of the work it undertakes. As the shared services industry has developed globally so too has the ESC where our work is extremely complex requiring highly 14
skilled individuals. Accenture was one of the early adopters of shared services and at the time of our establishment in 1999 the ESC was only Accenture’s second shared services centre globally. Today, Accenture has almost 3000 professionals working in shared services with centres right across the world, supporting over 170 Accenture entities. Accenture ESC Director Julie Spillane notes: “The types of activities the ESC now undertakes are far more complex and far more strategic to our business than when we first started out back in 1999. Gone are the days when Shared Services was viewed as suitable for processing functions only – today we play a key role in driving global business transformation by working across functions to drive strategic cross-enterprise change” People Focus In an organisation like Accenture our product is our people and we invest heavily in developing our employees
Accenture European Service Centre Photo taken by Siham Zouiten, Accenture Photography Club
through a managed set of People Programs to facilitate training and development. We employ ambitious people looking to build their skills and experience so we must constantly innovate and create smarter ways of doing things not just to improve our service but to retain the best people and keep them engaged with their work and our organisation. The ESC is all the time evolving especially as Accenture business grows both locally and internationally. High Performance Delivered In 2009, the service offering of the ESC and our innovation across shared services delivery was recognised by the CCMA (Contact Centre Management Association) who awarded the ESC International Shared Service Centre of the Year at their annual awards. The judges cited the breadth and complexity of the services the ESC provides to Accenture across a wide
range of processes as well as our quality and continuous improvement initiatives and extensive people development programs as the reasons for awarding us the prestigious accolade. The ESC also acts as a showcase environment so that client companies can see and feel the realities of shared services and business process outsourcing implementation for themselves. The custom-built centre uses leading-edge technologies and illustrates in a very practical way Accenture’s thought leadership and dynamic approach in the area of shared services. The real-world experience gained internally has been used to help many clients develop a suitable platform to support their continued growth, increase efficiency, improve service levels, achieve economies of scale and increase profits.
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“ The ESC acts as a showcase environment so that client companies can see and feel the realities of shared services and business process outsourcing implementation.�
Our Clients We help many of the world’s largest and most successful companies and governments deliver results and ultimately achieve high performance. In Ireland some of our clients include:
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“ With a rapidly changing technology landscape, An Garda Síochána turned to Accenture for help with replacing their legacy fingerprinting system with a new Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS).” Case Study
An Garda Síochána Executive Summary An Garda Síochána required a new fingerprinting system to automate the capturing of finger and palm prints to aid in the solving of crimes. Business Challenge With a rapidly changing technology landscape, An Garda Síochána turned to Accenture for help with replacing their legacy fingerprinting system with a new Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS). Because of their unique qualities, fingerprints are considering the most effective tool for solving crime.
How Accenture Helped Accenture offered a solution that surpassed the functionality, capability and capacity of the legacy fingerprinting system. With the introduction of LiveScan machines, the new AFIS system allows for the automated electronic capture of finger and palm prints.
High Performance. Delivered. Since the launch of AFIS the use of fingerprints has evolved from being solely used in criminal investigations to the current position of being used as a unique biometric identifier for the verification and identification of individuals in non crime-related situations.
As well as searching Irish fingerprint records, AFIS supports the increasing demand for civil searches through its seamless integration with EURODAC, the European fingerprint database for Asylum Seekers. This has been hugely beneficial to Ireland’s Department of Justice in tackling fraudulent and multi member state asylum applications.
AFIS is now also integrated with GNIB (Garda National Immigration Bureau), the Garda Síochána’s PULSE computer system and other external agencies.
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“ Delivery Excellence: Consistent delivery of outstanding service and results on a global basis.”
Case Study
Microsoft Executive Summary Microsoft choose Accenture as its outsourcing provider to deliver finance and procurement services to more than 90 international Microsoft subsidiaries. Business Challenge One of the key characteristics that enabled Microsoft’s phenomenal growth—a high degree of autonomy for subsidiaries—also resulted in high fragmentation of the company’s finance, accounting, and procurement functions. For example, most subsidiaries managed finance, accounting and procurement functions independently, resulting in duplication of effort, as well as inconsistent processes and performance. Such fragmented, non-standardised processes created a number of challenges for the company, impacting costs, efficiency, and time spent on non-strategic activities, and control and visibility.
Microsoft believed the best way of achieving these goals would be to globally transform the finance and procurement processes. The initiative, dubbed “OneFinance”, assessed the current state, benchmarked the organisation, identified challenges, and then progressed to designing and implementing the future state of Microsoft’s global finance and procurement operations. How Accenture Helped Microsoft teamed with Accenture in 2007 to achieve its vision through a seven year bundled agreement to outsource procure-to-pay and record functions. Microsoft selected Accenture as its business partner for its comprehensive finance and procurement experience, scale, global delivery network, change management capabilities, and most importantly, its ability to go beyond cost savings to long-term value creation. 20
The OneFinance effort encompassed 95 countries and 450 individual roles. Given this significant scale and scope, Accenture’s deep experience and proven outsourcing transition methodology—including business case development, and the creation of process blueprints, communication plans and implementation plans— would be critical to success of the transition and the overall program. The global transition was completed over 18 months. Each transition had five major milestones, starting with a country level launch event and ending with a formal hand-off of operations. At the peak of activity were 35 simultaneously running transitions with 230 go live events underpinned by more than 6,000 new desktop procedures.
High Performance Delivered While OneFinance is an ongoing engagement, results so far have been impressive. For example, Microsoft has achieved an initial 35% reduction in operating costs and driven improvements in procurement process compliance and realisation of supplier discounts. Since the initial transition, Microsoft has leveraged the benefits of the OneFinance model, with additional countries included in the scope, including its extensive US procure-to-pay processes. In addition to these cost savings, Microsoft now enjoys a reduced administrative burden, improved compliance with regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley and with corporate procurement guidelines, and increased procurement efficiency. Indeed, the business value generated by OneFinance was enough to win
The Outsourcing Center’s 2008 Outsourcing Excellence award in the “Most Strategic� category. However, the most valuable aspect of OneFinance may be the potential for continuous improvement and cost reduction it has created, an especially important benefit during tough economic times. Accenture recently saved Microsoft an additional 20% by simplifying, streamlining, and/ or automating key procurement and accounts payable processes. With such substantial achievements already realised and future improvements in sight, Microsoft is making great strides toward high performance.
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Bank of Ireland, College Green, Dublin Photo taken by Brendan Moran, Accenture Photography Club
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“ Bank of Ireland Group is committed to providing our employees with best in class learning, development and educational opportunities that meet their development needs and are aligned to business requirements. We believe our decision to outsource learning and partner with Accenture Learning in the provision of an end to end learning service called ‘learningzone’ has made a considerable contribution in enabling the Group deliver on this commitment” Quote from Eamonn Eaton, Head of Group Learning, Bank of Ireland
Case Study
Bank of Ireland Executive Summary Bank of Ireland outsourced its Learning Services to Accenture in order to create a group-wide learning organisation that could develop the skills and knowledge required to achieve high performance. Business Challenge Bank of Ireland wanted to centralize and outsource all of its training and development including content development, course administration, scheduling and delivery management. How Accenture Helped Accenture formed a partnership with Bank of Ireland through the creation of ‘learningzone’ which enabled the bank to outsource its learning and development to Accenture. Accenture implemented a Learning Management System (LMS) and provided input into
the curriculum and annual training planning process for the bank. The LMS tool implemented can be used to schedule, track and administer all training taking place at Bank of Ireland. All 15,000+ employees at the bank can access the LMS online and view a comprehensive training catalogue which has been created based on core banking and management competencies. Employees can review and select available courses and self-register for relevant training. High Performance. Delivered. Accenture through its partnership with Bank of Ireland, ‘learningzone’, has successfully introduced the concept of e-learning to Bank of Ireland and consistently delivers high quality instructor led training programmes focused on the bank’s strategic priorities. Accenture, in partnership
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with Bank of Ireland, has also successfully developed and deployed a whole range of newly developed courses spanning Credit Management, Sales & Customer Service and Leadership Development.
The Causeway Coast, Co Antrim Photo taken by Brian Quigley Accenture Photography Club
Case Study
Northern Ireland Civil Service Executive Summary Accenture in conjunction with BT provided assistance to the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) in the Finance Transformation Programme for its 11 departments and associated agencies resulting in a Shared Services Centre – Account NI. Business Challenge As part of the Review of Public Administration, NICS were committed to achieving high performance and better service delivery to the citizens of Northern Ireland. To enable this, NICS embarked on a program to standardise its finance and accounting processes (and their enabling technologies) across its 11 departments and associated agencies, and to create a dedicated shared services centre, known as Account NI.
How Accenture Helped Accenture was responsible for the design, build, test and deployment of the core financial application for the Shared Service Centre. This application included implementation of the Oracle modules - Accounts Receivable / Purchasing / Accounts Payable / iExpenses / Cash Management / Inventory / iProcurement and General Ledger. The development of the financial application included offshore development from Accenture’s delivery centre in Hyderabad. Accenture provided many of the in-depth and multifunctional skills needed for a project of this complexity and range to augment the programme team managed by BT. Accenture supported the business transformation elements of the programme, helped drive the design of the business operating model within the Shared
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Services Centre (SSC), helped in the design of the Helpdesk function, supported the transition to an SSC model and supported the design of the interface points between the SSC and the department’s retained finance function. High Performance Delivered To date, Account NI has processed over £1.5 billion in payments and in the Shared Service Centre is currently processing 5000 payments per week. The setting up of a dedicated Shared Services Centre delivery model has achieved the following benefits: • S tandardised processes across the Shared Service, departments and associated agencies including financial reporting, document approvals, expense claim processing, invoice and receipt recording and
a common chart of accounts and reporting centre of excellence • A n infrastructure adaptable to the changing needs of the NICS organisation and capable of meeting new challenges and emerging business models • A flexible and scalable solution which can be extended to accommodate future entities within the Northern Ireland Civil Service.
“ Accenture was a key strategic partner in the successful development and implementation of the Account NI Shared Service Centre for the Northern Ireland Civil Service” John Crosby, Account NI SSC Chief Executive
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“ ARM and IWM have been implemented very successfully and provide us with an excellent IT platform to enable the achievement of our business objectives particularly in the areas of asset management and capital work programme management and delivery.” John Gallagher, IT Manager, ESB Networks
Case Study
ESB Networks Executive Summary Accenture assists ESB Networks in implementing SAP to enhance ESB Networks’ enterprise asset management, maintenance planning, tracking and efficient construction of capital projects to achieve high performance. Business Challenge ESB Networks is the owner of the electricity network in the Republic of Ireland and is responsible for building and maintaining all transmission and distribution electricity infrastructure in the country, which delivers power to over 2 million domestic, commercial, and industrial customers. ESB Networks decided to embark on a business strategy that would deliver additional value to its stakeholders and contribute to the ongoing development of the electricity industry in Ireland. It decided to implement an SAP based Asset Register & Maintenance (ARM) and Integrated Work Management
(IWM) solution to support the delivery of business objectives. The purpose of the ARM project was to provide for efficient asset management, including integrated processes for maintenance planning, maintenance work management and asset register management. The purpose of the IWM Project was to improve the management control and efficiency of the capital programme delivery – ranging from domestic connections, to new stations and lines, to major new industrial connections. How Accenture Helped Accenture was selected as the system integrator for these projects on the strength of the deep SAP and industry skills that Accenture brings and the successes of previous SAP implementations by Accenture in ESB. Accenture teamed with ESB Networks, ESB ICT and alliance partner SAP across all aspects of the implementation 27
carrying out the design, configuration, testing, data conversion and transition management of the projects. High Performance Delivered The ARM and IWM systems have now enabled more efficient asset management and the capital programme delivery. It also enables standard integrated business processes with a single SAP solution to support the creation of capital projects, delivery of standardisation of designs, scheduling of work, advance notice of long lead time materials, settling of costs and creation of new assets. “The successful implementation of these systems is a credit to the project teams and our implementation partners. These projects have been notable for the very good teamwork between ESB Networks, ESB ICT and Accenture” John Gallagher, IT Manager, ESB Networks
Case Study
Pfizer Executive Summary Pfizer is the world’s largest researchbased biomedical and pharmaceutical company operating in more than 150 countries. Pfizer engaged Accenture to set up a European Shared Services Centre, which was subsequently expanded to its global business units to become its Global Financial Shared Services (GFSS) Centre. Business Challenge Prior to 2004, Pfizer had six financial shared service centres across Europe (UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Belgium) operating on a variety of applications and processes. Pfizer realised it needed to consolidate and leverage technology to become more efficient and provide more effective back office support to its expanding business needs.
How Accenture Helped Pfizer engaged Accenture to set up an European Shared Services Centre based on an Oracle 11i platform. The scope of the solution involved the full suite of financial and administrative support functions incorporating Order-toCash, Procure-to-Pay, Record-toReport, Tax, Treasury, Intercompany and Travel and Expense. In building the system, Accenture led the development effort, which integrated Oracle EBS with Ariba, the data warehouse, and other systems through over 160 interfaces. Over 100 conversions were needed to migrate from legacy systems to this solution. The solution also utilizes Oracle’s application security functionalities. Accenture was responsible for Applications Management and Applications Delivery and played a
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key role in shaping the business and technology framework. Multiple vendors were involved in this initiative, and Accenture managed the overall program. High Performance. Delivered. The partnership between Pfizer and Accenture has successfully created a European Financial Shared Service centre which subsequently became Pfizer’s global blueprint. The solution is currently live for 26 countries, 19 in Europe plus Canada, Australia and New Zealand, China and Northern Latin American with continued efforts to deploy to other countries. The integrated program resulted in operational excellence and created standardized policies, financial processes and systems globally. The use of Accenture Delivery Methods
and a release management strategy developed based on ITIL concepts were key success factors for a repeatable and high quality implementation and delivery lifecycle. Accenture brought to Pfizer global knowledge and assets, using a unique mix of skills and experience and assisted Pfizer in realising their vision in multiple business areas - Finance & Performance Management, Global Business Solutions, Health & Life Sciences and Global Architecture & Core Technologies practices.
“ Accenture has been a key partner with us on this journey, delivering high performance over the past 8 years.� Colin Price, Senior Director, GFSS, Pfizer
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Corporate Citizenship Corporate Citizenship is a fundamental part of Accenture’s character and the way we run our business. It is reflected in our core values, our Code of Business Ethics and, ultimately, in the actions of our people. From our focus on Skills to Succeed to our environmental stewardship, our corporate citizenship efforts target outcomes that make a real impact. Skills to Succeed Skills to Succeed, our corporate citizenship focus, educates people around the world, building skills that enable them to participate in and contribute to the economy. It combines our passion, experience and constant commitment to developing and nurturing talent, and it guides Accenture’s efforts to make a significant impact on the economic well-being of individuals, families and communities.
Our Accenture business class (Abc) programme aims to do just that. Abc gives community-based organisations access to our professionals, who volunteer their skills and expertise. In an innovative approach, these volunteers offer free-of-charge skills-building sessions to community organisations and the people they support.
programmes for the organisation’s clients, and it supports the day-to-day delivery of this training via structured workshops. In 2009, more than 25 Accenture employees committed their time and skills to assist Jobcare staff who deal with approximately 18,000 callers to their resource room each year - with interview skills training and employment preparation.
In Ireland, Accenture has wellestablished partnerships with organisations such as Concern Worldwide (see case study on next page), Jobcare and Junior Achievement.
Accenture has a long-standing partnership with Junior Achievement. Last year, 47 employees volunteered with Junior Achievement, teaching primary and secondary school programmes, assisting with European Union Day or volunteering at the Accenture-sponsored Challenge Science event in Dublin. Additionally, three employees mentored secondary school students throughout the “Company Programme”. The Accenture volunteers helped the students turn their entrepreneurial
Jobcare, a charity based in and serving inner-city Dublin, exists to empower individuals so they can shift from long-term unemployment to employability. Accenture’s partnership with Jobcare has helped to refine and develop local market-specific training
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“ From our focus on Skills to Succeed to our environmental stewardship, our corporate citizenship efforts target outcomes that make a real impact.” ideas into actual business enterprises and coached them in operating various business functions such as Finance, Marketing and IT. They ran a skills-building workshop focused on communication and presentation skills and provided advice on the students’ written reports. All three schools reached the Regional Finals of the 2010 competition. Accenture fully supports the enthusiasm of all employees to make a difference in the lives of others and in our communities around the world. We provide employees with two days paid leave every year, so they can participate in voluntary/community activities, and we match the funds that they raise through their own endeavours.
Environmental Stewardship Accenture is committed to understanding and reducing its environmental impact in terms of carbon, water and waste. In addition to running our business in an environmentally-responsible way, we provide sustainable solutions to our clients, choose suppliers based on their environmental performance and foster employees’ efforts to reduce their individual impacts. We continue to measure our progress and partner with key stakeholders to make an even greater impact. For example, we have developed detailed measurement tools to enhance our reporting, and we have set carbon reduction targets in conjunction with the Carbon Disclosure Project. In
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fact, in our fiscal 2009, we achieved our initial target, measured against our fiscal 2007 baseline. Additionally, we achieved global ISO 14001 certification for our environmental management system in 2009. In June 2009, we launched the Accenture Eco Challenge - our first global employee environmental program - which helped our people understand their personal carbon footprints. More than 32,000 Accenture people, including our most-senior leaders, took the Eco Challenge and pledged to reduce their carbon footprint by more than 45,000 tonnes. Collectively, our employees are contributing to Accenture’s goal of running a more sustainable business.
Case Study
Concern Worldwide Executive Summary The Accenture Corporate Citizenship Council and Accenture Foundations work closely together to bring robust and sustainable outcomes to communities around the world. Through our global giving efforts, Accenture and Accenture Foundations help educate individuals, building skills to improve the economic well-being of their families and communities.
Note: Although this is the first Accenture Foundations grant to Concern, Accenture and Concern have long-standing links in Ireland. Since 2005, Accenture Ireland employees have raised close to €100,000 for the charity, a number of employees are volunteering their time and skills on 14 different Concern projects locally, and an Accenture employee sits on Concern’s Board in Ireland.
In 2010, Accenture Foundations awarded Concern Worldwide a grant of US$1,500,000 to fund the development of conservation farming (CF) programmes in Zambia and Malawi. This three-year project will train 6,400 farmers in conservation agriculture techniques in the two countries, covering at least 800 hectares in each country. Local trainers will provide participating farmers with the skills necessary to attain food security and produce a surplus harvest.
Business Challenge The challenge facing farmers in subSaharan Africa is clear. Crop yields are low - and declining - as current, conventional farming techniques degrade the land. In fact, 70 percent of land is currently assessed as partially or severely degraded. Additionally, changing climate patterns, including erratic rainy seasons, have exacerbated problems for farmers. Maize yields decrease by 1.5 percent each day that planting is delayed and, in Western Zambia, this 32
increases the risk of crop destruction due to floods. At the same time, food production in Africa has not kept pace with demand, and the number of chronically hungry people in Africa has increased to over 200 million – more than 28 percent of the population. Lastly, there has been little investment in smallholder agriculture, particularly in helping women farmers, who are largely responsible for food production in sub-Saharan Africa. How Accenture Helped Accenture worked closely with Concern to ensure this project was fully aligned with Skills to Succeed. The company also teamed with one of its clients, Nokia, to help drive the project. With Nokia’s Data Gathering Tool – a handheld device – Concern will track farmers’ progress in the field. Accenture employees in Ireland and Finland are volunteering their time and skills to help Concern capture this data efficiently.
Expected Outcomes The CF programme is expected to yield the following outcomes in Zambia and Malawi between now and 2012: • 6 ,400 farming households will be trained in and will adopt CF techniques, directly affecting 20,000 people per country. • At least 800ha per country will operate under CF techniques. This is the equivalent of approximately ¼ ha CF plot per farmer – some 50 percent of available land. • Clear evidence of the positive impact of CF on the lives of the poor • CF crop yields will be 70 percent higher than yields from conventional cropping. This increase will enable CF farmers to exceed their livelihood protection threshold (2,600 kcal per person per day), and allow them to invest or trade their surplus resources.
• 2 0 village-level extension workers will be trained in CF practices and able to support existing farmers and train new ones • Senior District Agriculture staff will understand the agronomic principles behind CF and integrating CF into district planning. • 2 village blacksmiths per village will have the skills to convert oxdrawn mouldboard ploughs into rippers. We also expect benefits that include: an increased capacity to adapt to a changing climate and contribute to a range of public goods; carbon sequestration; increased water infiltration; reduced clearance of virgin bush; and the wider use of mobile phone technology.
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Concern Worldwide is a non-governmental, international, humanitarian organisation dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries. Concern’s mission is to help people living in extreme poverty achieve major improvements in their lives which last and spread without ongoing support from Concern.
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“Accenture works with some of Ireland’s leading arts organizations, helping them to pursue excellence, to grow their presence and to explore innovative business ideas.”
Sponsorships Accenture’s sponsorships in Ireland range from world-class orchestras to cause-related activities that raise significant funds for charity. More than just lending our name and financial support, Accenture strives also to make a difference in each of our sponsorships by lending our technology and management expertise. Some of our current sponsorships include: National Concert Hall Accenture is proud to be associated with the National Concert Hall as a Platinum Friend. Orchestras sponsored to date include: London Philharmonic, 2005; St. Petersburg Philharmonic, 2006; Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, 2007, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, 2008 and in 2009 Accenture was delighted to sponsor the Sir James Galway 70th Birthday Celebration.
Accenture Young Musician of the Year Award The Accenture/Camerata Ireland Young Musician of the Year award aims to encourage established orchestras and artists to take talented young musicians under their wing, helping to ease them into public performance. Accenture Leaders of Tomorrow Award The Accenture Leaders of Tomorrow Award aims to identify, foster and recognise leadership potential and innovative thinking amongst Irish graduates. The Award is designed to nurture and develop innovative ideas or concepts which may positively impact some of the challenges facing Ireland today. Open to third level university graduates across the country, the Leaders of Tomorrow Award seeks to develop the next generation of talent that will help in shaping the public, private and social landscape of Ireland in coming years. 35
Accenture Academic Innovation Award The Accenture Academic Innovation Award recognises, rewards and encourages excellence in the area of innovation in computer and technology. Open to third level university graduates in the area of Information Technology and Computer Science this award focuses on implementable innovative real world projects.
Our People Accenture strives to attract and retain the best people and provide an environment where they can all develop professionally. Our clients are global and so is Accenture. We build and maintain a global workforce that includes people from different backgrounds, with a vast range of skills and experience—all united by a common culture and commitment to help our clients achieve high performance. Cultivating a diverse workforce and inclusive work environment makes business sense. Our peoples’ varied skills are the talent engine that powers Accenture, enabling it in turn to deliver the innovative solutions that help our clients outperform competitors. We’re often asked what “diversity” means to us at Accenture—and the answer is that we take the widest possible view of it. We realize that
everyone brings distinct experience, talents and culture to their work, and we capitalize on that diversity— collaborating with each other so that we can help our clients achieve more. It all starts with the individual. At the heart of our Inclusion & Diversity strategy is finding the best people for the job, grooming them for global careers and exceeding their expectations though our visionary culture. By following through on these commitments, Accenture taps into new ideas and creativity that benefit our people and the communities in which we live and work, and that, ultimately, help our clients achieve high performance. Then, we support their growth and develop their confidence, working vigorously to exceed their expectations both today and tomorrow. We also actively encourage employees to expand their unique 36
skills and capabilities by taking on “stretch roles.” We encourage them to reach out, stretch for new opportunities, move outside their comfort zones…and trust that they’ll succeed. We are committed stewards of the next generation of leaders, and our people know that if they step forward to take on a new stretch role, with all its potential for risk and reward, the organization will be there to help them…to give them the support they need. We provide careful career management, the opportunity to work across different geographies, workforces and generations, and ongoing training and development. When we do it right, we ignite a multiplier effect that unleashes a wealth of new ideas and agile, global leaders. Accenture’s comprehensive commitment to fostering diversity
builds employees’ confidence in their ability to take on new roles, contribute to the community and grow with the company. This commitment is evident in every phase of our approach to career development, from recruitment to training to work/life programs. Unmatched global opportunities, extensive training and the support of coaches, mentors and networks create a multiplier effect that attracts the best people to join and encourages them to stay. Our commitment to diversity is a key ingredient in helping our clients and our company achieve high performance. As our workforce grows and becomes even more diverse, this commitment will continue to help us build an inclusive culture of confident individuals who work seamlessly on global teams. And it is that culture that will continue to set Accenture apart.
“ We believe that embracing inclusion and diversity in the broadest sense is central to being a high-performance business. This continues to be a top priority for Accenture and defines our character and values.�
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O’Connell Street, Dublin Photo taken by David Connolly, Accenture Photography Club
About Accenture Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 176,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$21.58 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2009. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
For more information please contact: Accenture Direct Tel: 01 407 6745 Email: accenture.direct.ela@accenture.com
Copyright Š 2010 Accenture All rights reserved. Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture.
Front cover image: Accenture Office, 1 Grand Canal Square, Dublin, Photo taken by Gunilla Groth-Hurley, Accenture Photography Club The Flipchart photos used throughout this brochure were also taken by Accenture Photography Club members: Dariusz Razniewski, Kenneth Hyndycz and Alexander Maternia