ARBEIDSNOTAT 08/18 WORKING PAPER This working paper provides a description of the Big Four Professional Service Firms (PSF): PwC, EY, KPMG and Deloitte. The working paper is based on publicly available A comparison of the Big Four information. It provides an overview of the Big Four PSFs, including their history, revenue, values, services and industries. The working paper describes the four PSFs Professional Service Firms according to the following topics: organization, recruitment, way of working, technology, corporate social responsibility, and alliances and clients. Overall, the paper offers a brief overview on how the PSFs create value. Ingeborg Louise Gustavsen Mathias Hove Zimmer Samfunns- og næringslivsforskning AS Centre for Applied Research at NHH Helleveien 30 NO-5045 Bergen Norway P +47 55 95 95 00 E [email protected] W snf.no Samfunns- og næringslivsforskning AS Centre for Applied Research at NHH Trykk: Allkopi Bergen SNF SAMFUNNS- OG NÆRINGSLIVSFORSKNING AS - er et selskap i NHH-miljøet med oppgave å initiere, organisere og utføre ekstern- finansiert forskning. Norges Handelshøyskole og Stiftelsen SNF er aksjonærer. Virksomheten drives med basis i egen stab og fagmiljøene ved NHH. SNF er ett av Norges ledende forskningsmiljø innen anvendt økonomisk-administrativ forskning, og har gode samarbeidsrelasjoner til andre forskningsmiljøer i Norge og utlandet. SNF utfører forskning og forsknings baserte utredninger for sentrale beslutningstakere i privat og offentlig sektor. Forskningen organiseres i program- mer og prosjekter av langsiktig og mer kortsiktig karakter. Alle publikasjoner er offentlig tilgjengelig. 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SNF Working Paper No. 08/18 A comparison of the Big Four Professional Service Firms by Ingeborg Louise Gustavsen Mathias Hove Zimmer SNF Project No. 4285 The working paper is written as part of the research project Cross-Border Value Creation at SNF funded by Research Council Norway, Deloitte, DNB, Laerdal Medical and Telenor. Centre for Applied Research at NHH Bergen, August 2018 ISSN 1503-2140 © This copy has been drawn up by agreement with KOPINOR, Stenergate 1, NO-0050 Oslo.The production of further copies without agreement and in contravention of the Copyright Act is a punishable offence and may result in liability to compensation. Preface This working paper is part of the FOCUS/Cross-border Value Creation (CiBiViCi) research program. The overall aim of the program is to study how firms organize their international activities to create cross-border value creation. Professional Service Firms (PSF) represent one type of firms in this program. The purpose of this working paper is to provide a description of the Big Four PSFs: PwC, EY, KPMG and Deloitte. The working paper is based on publicly available information. Ingeborg Louise Gustavsen and Mathias Hove Zimmer have collected, structured and summarized the information. Content 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Who is this report for ........................................................................................................ 1 1.2 The structure of the report ................................................................................................ 1 1.3 Implications ....................................................................................................................... 1 2 The “Big Four” ................................................................................................................ 3 2.1 PwC ................................................................................................................................... 3 2.1.1 About PwC ........................................................................................................................... 3 2.1.2 Vision and values ................................................................................................................. 5 2.1.3 Services ................................................................................................................................. 6 2.1.4 Business areas and industries ............................................................................................. 8 2.1.5 Clients ................................................................................................................................... 8 2.2 EY ..................................................................................................................................... 8 2.2.1 About EY .............................................................................................................................. 8 2.2.2 Values, purpose, culture .................................................................................................... 10 2.2.3 Services ............................................................................................................................... 11 2.2.4 Business areas and industries ........................................................................................... 13 2.2.5 Clients ................................................................................................................................. 14 2.3 KPMG ............................................................................................................................. 14 2.3.1 About KPMG ..................................................................................................................... 14 2.3.2 Vision and values ............................................................................................................... 16 2.3.3 Services ............................................................................................................................... 17 2.3.4 Business areas and industries ........................................................................................... 20 2.3.5 Clients ................................................................................................................................. 20 2.4 Deloitte ............................................................................................................................ 20 2.4.1 About Deloitte .................................................................................................................... 20 2.4.2 Vision, purpose, values ...................................................................................................... 22 2.4.3 Services ............................................................................................................................... 23 2.4.4 Business areas and industries ........................................................................................... 25 2.4.5 Clients ................................................................................................................................. 25 3 Value creation in PSF .................................................................................................... 26 3.1 PwC ................................................................................................................................. 26 3.1.1 Organization ....................................................................................................................... 26 3.1.2 Recruitment and employees .............................................................................................. 28 3.1.3 Way of working .................................................................................................................. 31 3.1.4 Technology ......................................................................................................................... 33 3.1.5 Corporate social responsibility ......................................................................................... 34 3.1.6 Alliances and important clients ........................................................................................ 34 3.2 EY ................................................................................................................................... 35 3.2.1 Organization ....................................................................................................................... 35 3.2.2 Recruitment and employees .............................................................................................. 37 3.2.3 Way of working .................................................................................................................. 39 3.2.4 Technology ......................................................................................................................... 41 3.2.5 Corporate social responsibility ........................................................................................