Free Essay. Executive Summary for PricewaterhouseCoopers Company

The purpose of PricewaterhouseCoopers is to build trust in society as well as solving essential problems in society. PricewaterhouseCoopers is abbreviated as PWC, which was developed from the merger of many top accounting companies around the globe. PWC offers a variety of services such as auditing, assurance, taxation, acquisitions, business recovery services, anti-bribery compliance, and commercial due diligence. Important to note is the fact that PWC has over 236,000 employees in 153 countries across the globe (Hormozi, Sutton, McMinn, & Lucio, 2012). The company has been working in Eastern and Central Europe for over 25 years which includes 29 countries with approximately 9000 members of staff. PWC is known for providing professional services as well as maintaining trust with its clients across the world.

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The company management

PricewaterhouseCoopers has approximately 236000 employees, led by Bob Moritz, who is the group global chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). PWC is has managing directors in each country they have a branch in but they get overall direction from the global Chief executive officer.

Introductory description of the venture

Business plans are essential documents to have while starting a new business venture. A business plan helps in establishing and achieving the targets of the owner of the business through setting specific objectives for managers. Business plans also have a vital role in sharing the strategy of the market, action points and, priorities to the expected clients and stakeholders. In addition, a business plan outlines the specific direction the new business venture or organization is to take, for instance, recruiting new members of staff, establishing new business alliances or how to grow the already existing business (Hormozi et al, 2012). Important to note is the fact that business plans help businesspeople and companies to remain focused and organized for purposes of ensuring there is some viable financial potential. The paper below focuses on a business plan case analysis for PricewaterhouseCoopers Company.

Overview of PricewaterhouseCoopers Company

PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international company that offers accounting and auditing services in various sectors of the economy. Some of the clients of the institution include banks, government institutions, churches, international organizations such as the United Nations and other private businesses. PricewaterhouseCoopers professionally offers financial services. PricewaterhouseCoopers has many branches across the world through its headquarters are based in London, United Kingdom. PricewaterhouseCoopers is the largest professional financial service provider in the world. However, the company has been in the recent past opening branches in various parts of the world such as Africa which requires an effective business plan for the execution of its goals and targets (Barringer, & Ireland, 2015). PricewaterhouseCoopers is currently in 158 countries across the world. The organization seeks to grow in countries located in North America as well as Africa and other parts of the world which requires the company to establish and maintain an appropriate business plan on how to execute its mission.

Industry analysis

Auditing and accounting services usually involve the processes of reviewing the financial statements of an institution through an external auditing company. Auditing conducted for purposes of ensuring that financial figures are prepared with the utmost accuracy as well as guaranteeing a fair view of the financial position within a particular industry or an institution (Kirsch, Goldfarb, & Gera, 2017). PricewaterhouseCoopers has been conducting its daily operations for the purposes of preventing fraud, maintaining rigorous systems as well as identifying accounting irregularities and other forms of fraud such as corruption and bribery. Many countries across the world have regulations where they make it mandatory for public companies to conduct both internal and external audit on an annual basis. Therefore, PricewaterhouseCoopers has most of its clients as private companies and government institutions where they offer expert advice on tax compliance and proper preparation of financial statements (Perry, 2013).

Determination of their unique value proposition

The value proposition is a marketing statement that explains why a consumer should engage or buy products from a certain company. In the case of PricewaterhouseCoopers, the value proposition is to build trust in society and solve important challenges. The values of the company include professionalism, honesty, integrity, role model, humility, creativity and innovation (Perry, 2013). The value proposition of the company helps in communicating to their clients and potential customers who they are, what they do and how they behave (Shaw, & Pretorius, 2014). Employees at the company come from different cultures and companies. However, they have common values and beliefs which have made the company to be the global leader in taxation, accounting and auditing services. The company is anchored on strong values which help them in building trust among their clients as well as the general public. The value proposition of the company promises to deliver to clients should they choose it as their service provider. The value proposition of the company outlines to clients how their needs will be fulfilled through the services provided by the company.

PricewaterhouseCoopers use their value proposition statement to explain to their clients the type of benefits they expect from the company without a lot of explanation. The company has a unique value proposition from other auditing companies and it is communicated directly through the company's website or through advertisements and promotions. PricewaterhouseCoopers have an elaborate value proposition statement that stands out among its competitor and tends to have a strong headline that outlines how the top management of the company plans to pass benefits to its clients. Therefore, the company's value proposition can be defined as a unique one compared to other auditing companies which makes it to have a competitive advantage over its competitors and other companies.

Evaluation of the company's marketing plan, operational plan and financial plan

Marketing plan

The marketing plan of PricewaterhouseCoopers is divided into the four marketing mix which includes place, price, product and promotion. The company has its clients over the world. However, 40 percent of the clients are based in Europe (Barringer, & Ireland, 2015). Some of its most valuable clients belong to industries such as petroleum, mining, automotive, communications, media, banking and entertainment. The company's marketing plan is based on the products it offers which include advisory, assurance and tax. The company has developed many ways of ensuring that its marketing plan is achieved which focuses on many ways such as through social media, business marketing in the internet, promotional marketing, digital marketing campaigns, product branding, strategy and branding, use of marketing firms as well as the use of consultants in marketing. The company has a strong marketing department which ensures that any new products developed within the institution are marketed in a fast way and there is enough product awareness on the company's services and products. Products in the company also includes pension management, human resources, insurance and actuarial services.

Place is also one of the marketing mixes that the company uses for its marketing plan. The company headquarters are based in London. However, the company has many branches all over the world and therefore plays a significant role during the development of a marketing plan. The company decides on the countries it will operate in depending on the regulations of the nation as well as the availability of potential customers within their jurisdiction. By the year 2015, the company had a total of 208000 employees of which a majority of them were from Europe.

The company also uses price for its marketing plan which helps in determining the rate at which to charge a particular service offered. For instance, by the year 2017, the revenues of the company were approximately 35 billion US dollars (Hormozi et al, 2012). The company ensures that all services offered within the company are charged at the market price or slightly below their competitors for purposes of ensuring they remain competitive in the industry. The company operates on a people based system and therefore has an obligation of ensuring that their pricing strategy matches that of their client's capabilities. The company has also segmented its clients based on their net worth and plans to maintain a value-based approach while at the same time offering quality services.

Promotion is among marketing mix principles that PricewaterhouseCoopers use to evaluate its marketing plan. Since the services offered by the company are intangible, they have a robust promotional strategy which helps to promote its services (Kirsch et al, 2017). The promotional strategies of the company focus on providing information about the services offered and the methods of handling as well as outlining their track record to fulfill the desires of their previous clients. The company has a unique marketing plan and aims to create a unique marketing strategy that focuses on positioning its products efficiently.

Operational and financial plan

PricewaterhouseCoopers has a robust financial as well as operational plan where it gives an outline of its financial forecasts. For instance the company has a forecast of attaining over 40 billion US dollars in revenue. In addition, the company has forecasts on how to minimize on operational costs in sectors such as fuel consumption costs of power (Hormozi et al, 2012). The company seeks to partner with many clients to maintain a long term relationship which in the end leads to increased profitability.

Risk Assessment

PricewaterhouseCoopers has a risk management department that helps in identifying potential hazards as well as analyzing the impact of the hazard were it to occur. The department is tasked with the responsibility of determining the likelihood of a certain negative event occurring within the company and having a negative impact on its financial performance (Kennerley, & Neely, 2014). Some of the risks that the company considers include fraud, reputation, fluctuation of foreign exchange currency and various vulnerabilities. In addition, the company through the risk department proposes on the development of ways of handling the potential threats that may negatively impact the company (Barringer, & Ireland, 2015). In addition, PricewaterhouseCoopers has a mitigation department for certain risks that are not financial such as terrorism, fire, cyber-attack, and mechanical breakdown, hazardous material spill over, fire, explosion and natural hazards. The risk mitigation department is mandated with the role of preventing certain impacts brought about when a risk hazard strike the company such as lawsuits, penalties and fines, environmental contamination, casualties, property damage, loss of customers and lack of confidence as well as the reputation of the organization (Kennerley, & Neely, 2014). Important to note is the fact that the company has a mechanism to deal with hazards that are caused by human beings such as workplace accidents and structural failure (Kirsch et al, 2017).