PwC embarks on new global strategy to tackle modern issues

15th June 2021

By: Donna Slater

Features Deputy Editor and Chief Photographer

     

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Assurance, advisory and tax services firm PwC launched its new network strategy narrative – called The New Equation – on June 15, with the aim of focusing on two interconnected needs that clients are facing and will increasingly face in the coming years.

PwC Africa CEO Dion Shango says The New Equation is a brand expression that will enable PwC, as a global network of firms, to more consistently and meaningfully bring its strategy to life.

PwC global chairperson Bob Moritz comments that, by bringing PwC’s unique combination of capabilities together and matching it with serious investment and its commitment to quality, the firm can help them do that.

“In doing so, we will help clients unlock value for shareholders, stakeholders and wider society.”

“As part of the strategy, we are making substantial investments to further enhance audit quality and expand our capabilities,” states Shango.

As such, PwC firms, which are established in 155 countries, will invest a combined $12-billion over the next five years, creating over 100 000 net new jobs across PwC’s network, as well as continuing to develop the skills of PwC’s partners and employees.

PwC’s planned investments include those into centres of excellence for specialists on key environment, social and governance (ESG) matters, as well as climate risk and supply chain.

The firm will create a global ESG Academy which will enable all PwC partners and staff to integrate the fundamentals of ESG into their work.

Also, the firm plans to bolster its quality, with $1-billion dedicated to accelerate deployment of technology that further automates the implementation of quality frameworks in audit, as well as build the delivery model for the audits of the future.

PwC also plans to invest into institutes to foster the leaders of the future, with the first such institute earmarked for the US. Another leadership institute will be created in Asia-Pacific.

In terms of technology, PwC will continue its strategy of being “human-led and tech-powered”, the firm states.

As such, PwC will continue to rapidly expand its use of cloud-based infrastructure, artificial intelligence, technology alliances, virtual reality and other emerging technologies to deliver insight and drive competitive advantage for clients.

FOCUS AREAS
The first area in which PwC will focus its new strategy is on building trust, which the firms states has never been more important, nor more difficult.

Organisations increasingly need to earn trust across a range of topics that are important to their stakeholders, with success in this field depending on fundamental shifts in the way executives think, organisational culture, systems and ambition.

The second focus for PwC, going forward, is to deliver sustained outcomes in an environment where competition and the risk of disruption are more intense than ever and societal expectations have never been greater.

The firm notes that businesses need to change faster and more thoroughly to attract capital, talent and customers, adding that too often, however, narrowly conceived transformation initiatives do not deliver the outcomes they promise.

The New Equation is the outcome of almost two years of “outside-in” analysis and of “literally thousands” of conversations with CEOs, leaders of institutions and other stakeholders around the world about the state in which the world is in today, says Shango.

Also, the new strategy will delve into the forces that are shaping the way in which the world is moving and some of the profound dangers that have impacted the world that require everyone to respond, he adds.

The launch of our new global strategy comes at a time of unprecedented change, says Shango.

“It will enable PwC teams to support clients and other stakeholders across the African continent to move toward greater sustainability and more inclusive growth, as well as to drive their digital evolution.”

He adds that the strategy will shape how PwC Africa develops in the coming years as the firm seeks to deliver against its purpose in society, which is to build trust and solve important problems.

Edited by Chanel de Bruyn
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor Online

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