Accounting for Success : Designing Corporate Boards for a Complex World

David G Allen; Associate Dean of Student Affairs Kathleen McDermott
Harvard Business School Press
 9780875843285
0-87584-328-X

Set firmly within the larger context of American business history, Accounting for Success traces the evolution of the century-old accounting firm of Price Waterhouse (PW). Allen and McDermott divide Price.

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Waterhouse's history into three distinct periods. The first part (1890 to the mid-1920s) covers the establishment of the American outpost of a British parent and the Americanization of its practice. The second (the next 40 years) highlights PW's rise to professional leadership and the important role played by the audit. The third (the 1970s and onward) focuses on PW's response to the challenges brought about by the globalization of the economy, heightened competition among firms and the growth of non-audit services.