Accenture opens the door on big four’s secret client ‘mapping’

afr.com:

When asked by a federal government inquiry if Accenture kept track of its relationships with public sector clients, Peter Burns said not only did the firm do so, but that it was a “common” business practice.

Mr Burns, the chief executive of Accenture ANZ, even shared an example of a so-called power map in his response to the inquiry – a complicated diagram with lots of boxes, lines and numbers that at first glance appears more confusing than illuminating.

Accenture’s Peter Burns. Rhett Wyman

His response could not have contrasted more sharply with his consulting sector rivals who all denied using any form of client mapping in their respective responses to questions on notice from Labor senator Deborah O’Neill.

The contrasting responses from Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC, McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group to Senator O’Neill’s questions shows the firms continue to be reluctant to reveal too much about their operations to the Senate committee.

The firms have already been forced to disclose data they had initially refused to reveal, or to resubmit information when a search of old computer systems revealed data that contrasted earlier responses.

Current and former partners at the big four firms agreed that the practice of tracking key client stakeholders was widespread, but also noted that the methods used varied by firms.

One partner at a big four firm said each sector leader would track key client stakeholders in a summary document that would always be close to hand. Another said that partners at their previous big four firm all had their own way of tracking clients and that the practice was not centralised.

The insiders reported that the tracking was done using a variety of tools including maps, diagrams, Excel spreadsheets