ernst and young case study example

Cracking the Ernst and Young Case Study Interview: A Step-by-Step Guide

Looking to ace your Ernst and Young case study interview? Look no further than our step-by-step guide.

Posted May 11, 2023

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Are you preparing for an Ernst and Young (EY) case study interview and not sure where to start? You're not alone. EY is one of the world's leading professional services firms, and their case study interviews are highly competitive. But fear not, with proper preparation and strategies, you can set yourself up for success.

Preparing for the Ernst and Young Case Study Interview: Tips and Strategies

The first step to crack an EY case study interview is to prepare thoroughly. Start by researching about the company, the job you're applying to, and the industry you'll be working in. Be familiar with the company's values, mission, and vision. It's also essential to get familiar with the EY case study interview format and structure and practice with mock case studies.

Another important aspect of preparing for an EY case study interview is to develop your problem-solving skills. The case study interview is designed to test your ability to analyze complex business problems and come up with practical solutions. You can improve your problem-solving skills by practicing with case studies, reading business publications, and attending workshops and seminars.

Finally, it's crucial to be confident and composed during the interview. Remember to listen carefully to the interviewer's questions, ask clarifying questions if needed, and communicate your thought process clearly and logically. Don't be afraid to take a moment to gather your thoughts before answering a question. With the right preparation and mindset, you can ace the EY case study interview and land your dream job.

Understanding the Interviewer's Expectations

During the EY case study interview, the interviewer will be assessing your critical thinking, problem-solving, analytical, presentation, communication, and teamwork skills. You'll be expected to demonstrate a logical approach to problem-solving and provide well-reasoned recommendations. The interviewer is not necessarily looking for the right answer but rather how you think through the problem.

It's important to note that the interviewer may also be evaluating your ability to handle pressure and adapt to unexpected changes. They may intentionally introduce new information or alter the scenario to see how you react and adjust your approach. Additionally, the interviewer may be assessing your industry knowledge and understanding of business concepts relevant to the case study. It's important to come prepared with a strong understanding of the industry and company you are interviewing for, as well as a solid foundation in business principles.

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The Role of Case Studies in Ernst and Young Interviews

Case studies are an integral part of EY interviews as they simulate real-life business scenarios. The case study may involve a complex business problem that requires you to analyze data, identify the root cause of the issue, and recommend a solution.

One of the benefits of case studies in EY interviews is that they allow the interviewer to assess your problem-solving skills and your ability to think critically under pressure. You will be expected to communicate your thought process clearly and concisely, and to justify your recommendations with sound reasoning.

Another important aspect of case studies in EY interviews is that they provide an opportunity for you to showcase your teamwork and collaboration skills. In many cases, you will be working with a team of other candidates to solve the case study. It is important to demonstrate your ability to work effectively with others, to listen actively, and to contribute constructively to the group's discussion.

Key Skills Required for Success in Ernst and Young Case Study Interviews

To succeed in the EY case study interview, you need to possess excellent communication, teamwork, analytical, and problem-solving skills. You must be able to think critically, convert complex data into simple concepts, and make well-supported recommendations.

In addition to the above-mentioned skills, it is also important to have a good understanding of the industry and the company's values. You should be able to demonstrate your knowledge of the industry trends, the company's mission, and how your skills align with their goals. It is also important to be adaptable and flexible, as the case study may require you to think on your feet and adjust your approach based on new information.

Top Mistakes to Avoid During the Ernst and Young Case Study Interview Process

The biggest mistake candidates make during the EY case study interview is jumping to conclusions without fully analyzing the data. Another mistake is not asking enough clarifying questions or not communicating your thought process. It's also essential to be mindful of time and plan your presentation and recommendation accordingly.

Additionally, it's important to remember to stay calm and composed during the interview. Nervousness can lead to rushed decisions and poor communication. Take a deep breath and approach the case study with a clear and focused mind. Finally, don't forget to showcase your teamwork and collaboration skills. EY values candidates who can work effectively in a team, so be sure to demonstrate your ability to collaborate and communicate with others throughout the interview process.

How to Structure Your Approach to Solving the Case Study Problem

When given the case study prompt, take the time to break down the problem into smaller parts and identify the root cause. Use frameworks such as SWOT analysis, Porter's Five Forces, or the 4Ps of Marketing as reference points. It's crucial to demonstrate a logical and structured approach to analyzing and solving the problem.

Additionally, it's important to consider the potential impact of your proposed solution. Will it be feasible to implement? What are the potential risks and benefits? It's also helpful to consider alternative solutions and weigh the pros and cons of each. By thoroughly analyzing the problem and considering all possible solutions, you can present a well-rounded and effective approach to solving the case study problem.

Analyzing Data and Making Recommendations in the Ernst and Young Case Study Interview

During the EY case study interview, you will be given data to analyze, and you'll need to make recommendations based on your analysis. It's crucial to identify the key drivers of the problem, analyze trends, and derive meaningful insights. Your recommendations should be data-driven and supported with well-reasoned arguments.

Additionally, it's important to consider the potential impact of your recommendations on various stakeholders, such as customers, employees, and shareholders. You should also be prepared to discuss any potential risks or limitations of your proposed solutions. Effective communication and presentation skills are also essential in conveying your analysis and recommendations to the interviewer.

Developing Effective Communication Skills for the Ernst and Young Interview Process

Effective communication is critical during the EY case study interview. You need to be able to present your analysis and recommendations clearly and concisely. It's essential to use meaningful examples and use a structured approach when presenting your recommendations. It's also crucial to actively listen to the interviewer and ask clarifying questions.

Another important aspect of effective communication during the EY interview process is to be aware of your body language. Nonverbal cues such as eye contact, posture, and facial expressions can convey confidence and engagement. It's important to maintain eye contact with the interviewer and sit up straight to show that you are attentive and interested. Additionally, smiling and nodding can show that you are actively listening and engaged in the conversation.

Building Confidence and Managing Stress during Ernst and Young Interviews

An EY case study interview can be stressful, but it's essential to stay calm and collected. Practice deep breathing and visualization techniques to manage stress and stay focused during the interview. It's also essential to have a positive mindset and believe in yourself.

Another way to build confidence during an EY interview is to prepare thoroughly. Research the company and the position you are applying for, and practice answering common interview questions. This will help you feel more confident and prepared for the interview.

In addition to managing stress and building confidence, it's important to make a good impression during the interview. Dress professionally, arrive on time, and be polite and respectful to everyone you meet. Remember to listen carefully to the interviewer's questions and answer them thoughtfully and honestly. By following these tips, you can increase your chances of success during an EY interview.

What to Do After the Ernst and Young Case Study Interview: Follow-Up Strategies

After the EY case study interview, it's essential to follow up with a thank-you note. Reiterate your interest in the job and express gratitude for the opportunity to interview. It's also acceptable to ask for feedback on how you performed during the interview.

In addition to sending a thank-you note, it's also a good idea to connect with your interviewers on LinkedIn. This will help you stay on their radar and potentially open up future job opportunities. Make sure to personalize your connection request and mention something specific from your interview to show that you were engaged and interested in the conversation.

Real-life Examples of Successful Ernst and Young Case Study Interviews

Many candidates have successfully cracked the EY case study interview. Take inspiration from their success stories and learn from their experiences. You can find real-life examples of successful EY case study interviews online or through your network.

One example of a successful EY case study interview involved a candidate who was able to identify key issues and provide innovative solutions for a client in the healthcare industry. The candidate demonstrated strong analytical skills and the ability to think outside the box, which impressed the interviewers and ultimately led to a job offer.

Another successful EY case study interview involved a candidate who was able to effectively communicate their ideas and recommendations to the interviewers. The candidate demonstrated excellent presentation skills and was able to clearly articulate their thought process and reasoning behind their proposed solutions. This candidate was also offered a job with EY.

The Benefits of Preparing for the Ernst and Young Case Study Interview

Preparing for an EY case study interview has numerous benefits. It helps you develop and enhance your critical thinking, problem-solving, analytical, presentation, communication, and teamwork skills. It also gives you an opportunity to learn about the company and the industry you're applying to.

Another benefit of preparing for an EY case study interview is that it can boost your confidence. By practicing and familiarizing yourself with the types of questions and scenarios that may be presented, you can feel more prepared and less nervous during the actual interview. Additionally, the skills you develop during the preparation process can be applied to other areas of your life, such as school projects or work assignments.

Furthermore, preparing for an EY case study interview can help you stand out from other candidates. Employers are often impressed by candidates who take the initiative to prepare thoroughly for interviews, and demonstrating your skills and knowledge during the interview can make a strong impression. This can increase your chances of being offered the job or advancing to the next stage of the hiring process.

Conclusion: Final Thoughts on Cracking the Ernst and Young Case Study Interview

Cracking the EY case study interview requires thorough preparation, critical thinking, problem-solving, analytical, presentation, communication, and teamwork skills. Remember to stay calm, listen actively, ask clarifying questions, and present your recommendations clearly and concisely. With practice and determination, you can set yourself up for success and land your dream job at EY.

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Ey helps clients accelerate their digital transformations through intelligent automation supported by microsoft ai, rethinking approach to traditional services.

EY, a global professional services firm, saw an opportunity to automate and streamline their auditing processes using AI technology.

Supporting staff rather than replacing them

Using AI, EY developed several key principles to accompany the roll-out of any automation technology: free up resources, improve decision making, and ultimately complement people rather than replace them.

Benefiting organizations through automation

From the government of Malta creating a national AI strategy to a dairy products business transforming its inventory management, public, and private sectors have benefitted using AI solutions developed by EY.

EY dates back to 1849, and over the 170 years since, has become one of the most successful and respected global professional organizations. Its name is synonymous with credibility and trust, serving many of the largest multinational enterprises on their most complex business needs.

EY has a rich history of innovation and is no stranger to advising and helping clients navigate through their digital journeys. The organization explores new and emerging technologies to innovate inside its walls, and also passes those learnings and values to clients. For example, one area has been in adopting AI to its approach to traditional services like tax and audit by tapping into the power of AI to automate and streamline processes dramatically.

AI accelerates digital business

AI and automation have been hot topics, both for their transformative potential and also for their capacity to introduce new opportunities by disrupting old models. EY took a hard look at the impact that AI would have on its audit services: What if AI and automation could drastically reduce the number of documents EY smart auditors needed to review so that they could spend more time advising clients?

EY identified ways to give its people time back to work on the most important activities. This exploration culminated in the use of AI capabilities, supported by Microsoft,  to automate over 250 processes globally—freeing up an estimated 2,000,000 human hours annually while improving quality and accuracy.

A multi-year vision for AI

The EY  vision to improve its services through AI and automation has manifested in a multi-year plan, with each year in its road map representing specific and real advancements. Each step and progress must adhere to EY key principles for automation: That they free up resources, improve decision-making, and ultimately complement rather than replace people.

Now that EY had successfully  proven the internal service value of AI, it was ready to apply and  provide those types of successes as new services to its global clients. The EY approach is  human-centered, pragmatic, and outcome focused. Its goal is to help clients achieve tangible  progress, and guided by a robust ethics framework, to improve its workers’ and customers’  lives. To EY, AI and intelligent automation are proven tools and capabilities used to advance  and improve services in ethical and thoughtful ways.

A strong EY and Microsoft AI alliance, grounded in customer value and ethics

When looking to support its new AI and automation services, EY wanted an alliance partner with values. The organization found similar values with Microsoft. Both organizations focus on the empowerment of people. Both organizations take the ethical implications of AI seriously. Moreover, both organizations address business and societal needs in practical ways.

Microsoft endeavors to empower organizations to apply AI across the spectrum of their business to engage customers, empower employees, optimize operations, and transform products. “We are partnering with EY to combine Microsoft AI with intelligent automation. Using Azure AI, we are automating traditional services, streamlining processes, and improving worker productivity,” says, Gavriella Schuster, Corporate Vice President, One Commercial Partner, Microsoft.

Simran Sachar, AI Partner Lead and Sr. Strategy Manager, Microsoft, believes a strong alliance partner ecosystem is key to to bringing AI innovations that deliver high value to customers. “Our alliance with EY is solid, grounded on the strong ethical use of AI and creating business value for customers,” says Simran. “Together, we bring the power of our AI platform and EY knowledge to help customers accelerate their digital transformation through AI, solve high-value problems, and gain business service value by deploying AI solutions at enterprise scale.”

For EY, the benefits of practical and useful AI tools that could be deployed immediately were important. The organization found this in the AI platform developed by Microsoft, which provides pre-built solutions like Azure Cognitive Services. Chris Aiken, Executive Director, AI and Automation Practice, EY, sees this as a great way to quickly provide customer value. "Our alliance with Microsoft helps enable us to offer joint solutions that marry Microsoft’s innovative technology with EY deep domain and sector knowledge. We help our clients accelerate performance by realizing the full potential of digital across the enterprise.”

“We are partnering with EY to combine Microsoft AI with intelligent automation. Using Azure AI, we are automating traditional services, streamlining processes, and improving worker productivity.”

—gavriella schuster, corporate vice president, one commercial partner, microsoft, ey helps a dairy company transform its inventory management.

Today, EY clients are getting real value from this flexible approach to AI. One such client, a major Asia Pacific dairy products business, delivers its products across a vast network spanning from small local stores to large groceries. Because its products have short shelf lives, typically five days or less, ensuring effective inventory management is critical. EY and Microsoft helped enable this client  to revolutionize its inventory management approach, improving both top-line  sales, and operational savings.

From the data, this client can infer whether the local store is running special promotional prices to move aging products, or pinpoint unique demand for particular products in that area. The information also enables automating of the ordering process so that the optimal amount of each product is shipped to the store. This granular information, provided at the local level, helps drive targeted product consumption, pricing, demand, and inventory replenishment strategies. This client's senior leadership team and Board of Directors are very excited about the potential to transform its business.

EY helps Government of Malta enact ambitious AI transformation

EY is also advising governments on how they can apply AI to boost national economies and drive new levels of efficiency and quality in government services. The Government of Malta has been working with EY to create a first-of-its-kind national AI strategy.

As EY continues to work with Malta, they are pursuing AI advancements on a number of fronts,  from improving government services, to promoting business, and making Malta a magnet for  new AI talent. This work includes:

• Development of an AI program aligned to national policy objectives and to identifying AI use cases and design prototypes for delivery of government services.
• Identification of private sector industries that can benefit from IT, and exploration of policies that can stimulate AI adoption.
• Strengthening of Malta’s education system to attract AI researchers and graduates, positioning AI as a way to advance skills for the nation’s workforce.

Together,  the government of Malta, EY, and Microsoft are advancing a national digital  transformation program with the capacity to affect every segment of Malta’s economy, every  government agency, and every business, and citizen in the island nation.

" EY and Microsoft are working together to help the Government of Malta realize its digital  transformation objectives, enabling business agility through the use of once-futuristic  technologies to meaningfully improve service quality for our citizens and businesses,” says,   Pierre Vella, Head of Program Management, Malta Information and Technology Agency.

The next AI horizon

As EY works with clients to uncover their next AI opportunities, it also looks ahead to the  horizon across its AI automation vision — going from robotic process automation to hybrid and  intelligent services, the use of cognitive automation, and beyond. As it does, the company will  continue to push the art of the possible through AI-driven automation to transform how  organizations work and more value to their customers. EY will also continue to be a steward for  safe, and ethically sound AI solutions—ones that help deliver on the promise of AI for the good  of the planet.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. The views reflected in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the global EY organization or its member firms. EYG no. 003799-19Gbl.

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Hacking the Case Interview

EY-Parthenon (Ernst & Young) interviews consist of case interviews, group case interviews, and behavioral or fit interview questions. It is important to know that EY-Parthenon's consulting business is divided into two different groups:

• Strategy consulting (Parthenon Group)
• EY Advisory

Strategy Consulting (Parthenon Group) : EY acquired management consulting firm The Parthenon Group in 2014. Parthenon focuses on strategy and management consulting and does projects similar to the types of projects at McKinsey, BCG, and Bain. They focus on strategy, marketing, organization, operations, transformations, and mergers and acquisitions.

EY Advisory : This group focuses on customer experience, customer engagement, risk transformation, analytics, technology implementation, program management, and finance consulting services.

Depending on what group you are interviewing for, the types of case interview and group interview questions that you get can vary significantly.

For example, if you are interviewing specifically for EY’s strategy consulting group, formerly known as The Parthenon Group, your cases will be focused on business strategy and operations problems. If you are interviewing for EY Advisory, your cases would focus on technology implementation or risk transformation.

In this article, we’ll cover:

• EY-Parthenon interview process
• 6 steps to solve any EY-Parthenon case interview
• Examples of EY-Parthenon case interviews
• How to ace the EY-Parthenon group case interview
• 10 most common EY-Parthenon behavioral interview questions
• Recommended EY-Parthenon case interview resources

If you’re looking for a step-by-step shortcut to learn case interviews quickly, enroll in our case interview course . These insider strategies from a former Bain interviewer helped 30,000+ land consulting offers while saving hundreds of hours of prep time.

EY-Parthenon Interview Process

EY-Parthenon typically has two to three rounds of interviews.

• First round: A 30-minute phone interview with a recruiter focused on behavioral or fit interview questions
• Second round: Two 30-minute interviews conducted by Consultants or Managers. One interview is focused on behavioral or fit interview questions and the other is focused on a case interview.
• Third round: Three 30 to 45-minute interviews conducted by Managers or Partners. One interview is focused on behavioral or fit interview questions, one is focused on a case interview, and one is focused on a group case interview

Depending on the office or group that you are interviewing for, you may not have an initial recruiter phone screen.

It is important to know that EY-Parthenon heavily emphasizes behavioral and fit interview questions in the final round of interviews. Interviewers want to ensure that candidates that are interviewing for EY-Parthenon actually want to work there and are not treating it as a backup firm.

In the following sections, we’ll cover exactly how to prepare and answer the three types of interview questions you may see in your upcoming EY-Parthenon interview:

• Case interviews
• Group case interviews
• Behavioral or fit interview questions

6 Steps to Solve Any EY-Parthenon Case Interview

EY-Parthenon case interviews , also known as case study interviews, are all candidate-led. You will be in the driver’s seat of the case interview and will be expected to ask the right questions, probe for data, and propose each next step to solve the case.

Follow these six steps to solve any EY-Parthenon case interview or case study interview:

1. Understand the case

The case will begin with the interviewer giving you the case information. While the interviewer is speaking, make sure that you are taking meticulous notes on the most important pieces of information. Focus on understanding the context of the situation, the company, and the objective of the case.

2. Verify the objective

Understanding the business problem and objective of the case is the most important part of the case interview. Not addressing the right business question is the quickest way to fail a case interview.

Make sure that you ask clarifying questions to better understand the business situation and problem. Then, confirm that you understand the case objective with the interviewer. This ensures that you start the case on the right track.

3. Create a framework

Develop a framework to help you tackle the business problem. A framework is a tool that helps you structure and break down complex problems into smaller, more manageable components. With a framework, you’ll be brainstorming different ideas and organizing them into different categories.

Afterwards, walk the interviewer through your framework. They may ask a few questions or provide some feedback to you.

For a complete guide on how to create tailored and unique frameworks for each case, check out our article on case interview frameworks .

4. Develop a hypothesis

After creating a framework, you should develop a hypothesis . A hypothesis is an educated guess on the answer based on the data and information that you have so far.

Your hypothesis does not need to be correct. You’ll be continuously testing and refining your hypothesis throughout the case. The purpose of having a hypothesis is to guide your analysis and ensure that you are spending your time answering the right questions.

5. Test your hypothesis

The majority of the case will be spent testing your hypothesis.

After stating your hypothesis, it is up to you to lead the direction of the case. Depending on the context of the case, you may want to ask for data to do some analysis. You may also want to explore qualitative questions that you have. As you uncover more information, your hypothesis will likely have to change. 

Sometimes, your hypothesis will be completely wrong and you’ll need to develop a completely new hypothesis to test. Other times, your hypothesis may be on the right track, but you’ll need to refine or narrow it down further.

Throughout the rest of the case, you’ll be answering a mix of quantitative and qualitative questions. Make sure that after each question, you explain how your answer impacts your hypothesis or answer to the case.

6. Deliver a recommendation

In the last step of the case interview, you’ll present your recommendation and provide the major reasons that support it. You do not need to recap everything that you have done in the case, so focus on summarizing only the facts that are most important.

It is also good practice to include potential next steps that you would take if you had more time or data. These can be areas of your framework that you did not have time to explore yet or lingering questions that you do not have great answers for.

Examples of EY-Parthenon Case Interviews

We've compiled a few examples of EY-Parthenon case interviews given to previous candidates below.

Example #1 : A global technology company is considering entering the electric scooter sharing market in a major city. Identify key factors to consider, such as regulatory requirements, competition, target audience, and potential risks and benefits. Provide recommendations for the client's market entry approach.

Example #2 : A retail chain is experiencing declining profits over the last year. Identify the main reasons for the decline and propose actionable steps to improve profitability.

Example #3 : A pharmaceutical company is considering acquiring a smaller biotech firm. Assess the viability of the M&A opportunity. Recommend whether the client should proceed with the acquisition or not.

Example #4 : A leading fast-food chain wants to expand its presence in international markets. Recommend specific regions or countries for market entry and outline a step-by-step plan to enter and establish a successful presence in those markets.

Example #5 : A tech startup has developed a new smart home device and wants to estimate the size of the potential market. Provide a quantitative estimate of the total addressable market (TAM) and discuss the factors influencing market growth for the smart home device.

Example #6 : A manufacturing company is facing declining profits and wants to reduce operational costs. Recommend specific cost-cutting measures while considering the potential impact on product quality and customer satisfaction.

Example #7 : A leading consumer electronics company is planning to launch a new smartphone in a highly competitive market. Propose a marketing plan, distribution channels, and promotional activities to ensure a successful product launch.

Example #8 : A non-profit organization focused on environmental conservation aims to expand its impact. Develop a growth strategy for the non-profit.

For more practice, check out our article on 23 MBA consulting casebooks with 700+ free practice cases .

EY-Parthenon Group Case Interview

EY-Parthenon uses a group case interview in their final round of interviews. This special type of case interview assesses you on your collaboration and teamwork skills.

Here’s what you should expect:

• You’ll be put into a group with 3 to 5 other candidates
• The interviewer will hand out the case background materials
• You’ll have one hour to review the materials, discuss with your group, and prepare presentation slides
• During this discussion, interviewers will be observing candidates and will not interfere
• The group will have 15 minutes to present their answers or recommendation
• The interviewer will ask follow-up questions based on the presentation

Your goal in a group case interview is to add value to the group. There are six different ways that you can do this:

• Lead or facilitate the discussion : You can propose what topics to discuss, the order they should be discussed in, and how much time should be allocated towards each topic. If the group gets off track, you can bring the group’s focus back together.
• Expand upon other people’s ideas : If a group member suggests a great idea or raises a good point, build upon it and make it even better.
• Synthesize information : You can summarize information that other people have said and reconcile different viewpoints and ideas together.
• Keep track of time : You can volunteer to keep track of time and make sure that the group is on track.
• Play devil’s advocate : You can help your group develop strong ideas by testing the team’s thinking by considering potential risks or downsides of their ideas.
• Take notes:  You can keep track of what other people are saying so that you can recall what has been discussed if any group members have questions.

Additionally, follow these five tips to improve your group case interview performance.

Tip #1: Treat your group members as teammates, not competition

The group case interview is not an exercise in which you are competing with others. Interviewers are trying to assess whether you would be a great teammate. Multiple people or even all people in your group can receive job offers.

Therefore, focus on adding value to the group rather than on making yourself look better than your teammates.

Tip #2: Don’t spend too much time reviewing the materials in silence

In the beginning of the group case interview, your group will likely want to spend time reviewing the case materials independently. This is fine to do, but make sure you move towards having a group discussion as early as possible.

There are likely many things that need to be discussed and decided on as a group, so reading materials in silence for too long is not a good use of time.

Tip #3: Don’t speak too much, but don’t speak too little

If you speak too much, this may be seen as being too aggressive or controlling. If you speak too little, you may come off as shy or timid.

If you were to rank all of the members in your group by how much each person spoke, you would want to be roughly in the middle. This would be the perfect balance between speaking and listening.

Tip #4: Don’t interrupt or talk over your group members

Interrupting others when they are speaking is rude and disrespectful. You do not want to be inconsiderate or a jerk. Be nice and respectful to your group members.

Tip #5: Involve other people

If you observe that someone has not spoken much, ask them for their thoughts or opinions. If you notice that someone has been cut off when they were speaking, ask them to finish their thoughts after the person interrupting them has finished what they have to say. This shows that you are a considerate and helpful teammate.

For a full guide on group case interviews, check out our consulting group case interview step-by-step guide .

10 Most Common EY-Parthenon Behavioral Interview Questions

In addition to case interviews, you will likely be asked a few behavioral or fit interview questions by EY-Parthenon. There are ten questions that are most commonly asked.

1. Why EY-Parthenon?

How to answer: Have at least three reasons why you’re interested in working at EY-Parthenon. You could mention that you loved the people that you have met from the company so far. You can talk about EY-Parthenon’s massive global presence and expertise in nearly any industry or function. You can speak to how EY-Parthenon provides strategy and implementation, so you can see the impact of your work.

2. Why consulting?

How to answer: Again, have three reasons why you’re interested in consulting. You could mention the fast career growth opportunity, the opportunity to develop soft and hard skills, or the level of impact that you can make by working with large companies on their most challenging issues.

3. Walk me through your resume

How to answer: Provide a concise summary of your work experience, starting with the most recent. Focus on emphasizing your most impressive and unique accomplishments. At the end, tie your experiences to why you are interested in consulting and why you would be a great fit for EY-Parthenon.

4. What accomplishment are you most proud of? 

How to answer: Choose your most impressive, unique, or memorable accomplishment. Structure your answer by providing information on the situation, the task, the actions you took, and the results of your work. Explain why the accomplishment is so meaningful to you and what qualities that reveals about you as a person.

5. Tell me about something that is not on your resume

How to answer: This is a great opportunity to highlight an accomplishment that is not related to your professional work experience. Perhaps there is a non-profit that you volunteer at, a side project or business that you work on, or a hobby that you have won awards or recognition for. Select an accomplishment that is impressive and interesting.

6. Tell me about a time when you had to lead a team.

How to answer: If possible, choose a time when you directly managed a person or a team. For this question and the following similar questions, make sure that you structure your answer. Provide information on the situation, the task, the actions you took, and the results of your work. This is known as the STAR method and is the most common way of answering behavioral or fit interview questions. 

7. Describe a time when you faced conflict or disagreement.

How to answer: When answering this question, focus on emphasizing the steps you took to resolve the conflict or disagreement. Speak about the interpersonal skills you had to use in order to mediate the situation. Interviewers want to know that you can handle conflict in a constructive way.

8. Give an example of a time when you successfully persuaded someone.

How to answer: Choose a time when you were able to change someone’s mind who originally disagreed with you. Focus on emphasizing the steps that you took to persuade that person and what impact this had on the organization. Interviewers want to know that you are a great communicator and have strong people skills.

9. Tell me about a time when you failed.

How to answer: Choose a time when you failed to meet a deadline or did not meet expectations. You do not want to pick a failure that is too big or embarrassing. Focus on emphasizing what you learned from the experience and how you used that experience to deliver even better results in the next opportunity that you got. Interviewers want to see that you strive to learn from your past failures and are always working to get better.

10. Are there any questions that you have for me?

How to answer: This is a fantastic opportunity to get to know the interviewer on a more personal level. Ask them questions about their experience in consulting. Ask what their favorite case was or what they are looking to do next in their career. The more you can get the interviewer talking about themself, the more likely they will be to have a positive impression of you.

For more help, check out our complete guide on consulting behavioral interview questions .

Recommended EY-Parthenon Case Interview Resources

Here are the resources we recommend to learn the most robust, effective case interview strategies in the least time-consuming way:

• Comprehensive Case Interview Course (our #1 recommendation): The only resource you need. Whether you have no business background, rusty math skills, or are short on time, this step-by-step course will transform you into a top 1% caser that lands multiple consulting offers.
• Hacking the Case Interview Book   (available on Amazon): Perfect for beginners that are short on time. Transform yourself from a stressed-out case interview newbie to a confident intermediate in under a week. Some readers finish this book in a day and can already tackle tough cases.
• The Ultimate Case Interview Workbook (available on Amazon): Perfect for intermediates struggling with frameworks, case math, or generating business insights. No need to find a case partner – these drills, practice problems, and full-length cases can all be done by yourself.
• Case Interview Coaching : Personalized, one-on-one coaching with former consulting interviewers
• Behavioral & Fit Interview Course : Be prepared for 98% of behavioral and fit questions in just a few hours. We'll teach you exactly how to draft answers that will impress your interviewer
• Resume Review & Editing : Transform your resume into one that will get you multiple interviews

Land Multiple Consulting Offers

Complete, step-by-step case interview course. 30,000+ happy customers.

EY-Parthenon Case Interview Guide (process & prep)

Consulting interviews at EY and its strategy subsidiary Parthenon are tough. EY-Parthenon uses a combination of case interviews and behavioural interviews to evaluate candidates, with group case presentations also used sometimes.

This might sound overwhelming. But don't worry! We've helped thousands of applicants land consulting jobs, and this is our ultimate guide to EY-Parthenon interviews.

Learn all about the company, the interview process, EY case studies, which questions to expect and how to answer them. By following the information below, you'll be one step closer to getting an offer at EY. 

Here's an overview of what we'll cover:

• About EY-Parthenon
• Interview process
• Case interviews
• Interview questions
• Group presentations
• Preparation tips

Click here to practise 1-on-1 with consulting ex-interviewers

1. ey consulting is bigger than bcg and bain.

With   $13.5bn in consulting revenue   in 2022, EY's consulting business line is bigger than BCG and Bain, and on a par with McKinsey.

EY's broader consulting (or advisory) business can be divided into EY Advisory, and EY-Parthenon:

• Performance Improvement  works across industries to help clients create streamlined processes and powerful systems. For example, helping an international firm like Nike reduce costs through strategic changes to their supply chain.
• Performance Technology  applies technology solutions to drive business performance. For example, using social media to help a firm like Disney market their vacation resorts to customers who are already interested.
• Risk  focuses on identifying, evaluating, and addressing risks faced by client businesses. For example, helping a financial institution like Morgan Stanley develop a response plan to prepare for a data breach.
• EY-Parthenon focuses on strategy and management consulting. The type of work you'd do here is very similar to the work you'd find at McKinsey , BCG or Bain.

You can learn more about how EY compares to MBB firms in our MBB vs. Big 4 comparison article .

If you're interested in applying for a consulting role at EY then it's important to know what specific area you're interested in. 

This will help you be more focused in your application, and it will also show your level of preparedness to recruiters. It's not uncommon to be asked about specific areas of interest during interviews, and having a prepared answer using the company's own terms can really impress your interviewer.

For the rest of this post, we'll be focusing on the steps you'll need to take in order to land a job in EY-Parthenon. If you're applying for a role in EY Advisory, don't worry. There will likely be some differences, but 95% of the below guide is still relevant, and will provide an excellent overview of the consulting interview process.

2. EY-Parthenon interview process overview

The application process varies depending if you apply as an experienced hire or on a graduate or student recruitment program.

We'll start off by looking at experienced hires. Note that t hese steps outline the typical process, but the exact steps can vary based on location and role. Ask your HR contact if they can provide more details on the specific steps for your interview track.

2.1 Process for experienced hires

EY-Parthenon generally has 3 steps in their application process for experienced candidates:

• Resume and application screening
• First round interviews
• Second round interviews

Let's zoom in on each step.

2.1.1 Resume and application screening

First, recruiters will look at your resume/application and assess if your experience matches the open position. This is the most competitive step in the process—we’ve found that 90% of candidates don’t make it past this stage.

You can use  this free resume guide  and this  free cover letter guide  to help tailor your application to the position you’re targeting.

And if you’re looking for expert feedback, you can also get input from our  team of  ex-MBB recruiters , who will  cover what achievements to focus on (or ignore), how to fine tune your bullet points, and more.

2.1.2 First-round interviews

After the initial application, you'll move onto the interviews. In the first round, you can expect:

• Phone interview with someone in HR
• One or two case interviews (45mins-1hr)

HR phone interviews will fous on your resume and your motivations for becoming an EY-Parthenon consultant. Then first-round case study interviews are usually with EY-Parthenon managers or consultants, usually via via video call.

2.1.3 Second-round interviews

Second-round interviews usually consist of:

• One or two case interviews (45-60 mins)
• A behavioural interview (45-60 mins)

Second-round case interviews are usually with senior members of the firm, such as directors, while the behavioural interview will most likely be with a partner. These interviews may be done in person at an EY office, or via video call.

As we said, the exact process varies across regions and roles, and some candidates have reported that each of their interviews had a mix of questions. So be prepared to be asked behavioural questions at the start of your case interviews.

In some cases, you may also need to do a written assignment or attend an assessment centre (see section 2.2.3 below).

Given the variation in the process, we strongly recommend that you ask your EY recruiter to confirm exactly what to expect.

We'll explain how to prepare for EY case interviews further down in section 3 and section 6 .

2.2 Process for graduates, "Career Starters", etc

If you're still studying or recently graduated, your journey through the EY-Parthenon interview process will consist of four stages:

• Resume or application screening
• Online assessment
• EY Experience Day
• Final interview

Let's dive into each of those stages.

2.2.1 Resume or application screening 

In most cases you'll apply via the EY careers website . The HR team will assess your application and get back to you.

A large percentage of candidates don't make it past this stage, so make sure your consulting resume is top notch and consider booking a session with one of our coaches to help you with your application.

2.2.2 Online assessment

For "Career Starter" and similar positions, you'll need to take an online test, where you'll need to answer different types of questions, including ranking various options, giving writing answers and also giving video answers.

Depending on your position, you may be given a numerical reasoning test, too.

Do practice tests on the EY website .

2.2.3 EY Experience Day (with case study interview)

If you score highly enough in the online assessment, you'll be invited to an EY Experience Day. This is sometimes referred to as a "Super Day" or "Assessment Centre", but is now usually done virtually via Microsoft Teams.

Here you can expect to be put in a group with around 5 other candidates and given a group case study problem to solve. You'll get around 40 minutes to discuss the problem with your peers, before presenting together.

After that, you can expect to be given a written task to complete on your own.

Below in section 4 we'll cover how to ace your group case presentation.

2.2.4 Final interview with a partner

If you get through the EYX (EY Experience Day) you'll face an interview with a EY partner.

This will consist of behavioural and motivation questions, as they'll be wanting to make sure you're the right fit for EY and are highly motivated for the role.

" The partner interview is the final stage in our process and is very much about getting to know you as a person. We want to know why you have applied to this specific office and specific service line & what your career motivations are. We also ask you questions to test your commercial awareness of our industry & that you know about the firm and our competitors. Finally due to the new virtual nature of our assessment days we will also be asking about your teamwork and collaboration during the final interview ." Clare H, Talent Attraction Advisor at EY.

Now that you have a good overview of the EY-Parthenon interview process, let's go deeper into the kind of questions to expect and how to approach them.

3. EY-Parthenon case interviews

Case interviews at EY-Parthenon are candidate-led. The style is similar to what you will experience in a   BCG or a   Bain case interview . This is different to firms like McKinsey or Capital One who use interviewer-led cases.

For a candidate-led case interview, there are 7 types of questions you need to prepare for:

• Framework development
• Framework exploration
• Quant question – Data provided
• Quant question – No data provided
• Creativity question
• Recommendation

EY-Parthenon case interviews often include a quant question where too much data is provided (a "data dump") and part of the challenge is for you to evaluate which information is useful and what isn't'. ( source: Reddit ).

You can read more about case interviews and how to prepare in our free case interview guide .

Candidates can also expect market sizing questions, such "estimate how many tacos are sold in Boston each year". To prepare, see our market sizing questions guide .

If you want to get a sense of what candidate-led case interviews are like, watch the video below. As we mentioned, case interviews at EY-Parthenon are typically candidate-led and therefore use the same format as BCG and Bain.

4. EY-Parthenon behavioural interview questions

At EY-Parthenon, there are two main categories of behavioural interview questions:

• Fit questions. These are generic questions such as “Why consulting?” or “Why EY?”.
• Personal Experience Interview (PEI) questions. These are questions such as “Tell me about a time when you led a team through a difficult situation.” Or “Tell me about a time where you had to manage a team conflict”

Here are the top 5 fit and PEI questions you should prepare for at EY-Parthenon or other top consulting firms .

Top 5 fit questions:

• Why consulting?
• Walk me through your resume
• Tell me about something not on your resume
• Tell me about your greatest accomplishment

Top 5 PEI questions. Tell me about a time when ...

• You led a team through a difficult situation
• You worked in a team and had to manage a conflict
• You had a disagreement with a colleague / boss
• You had to change someone's / a group's mind
• You overcame a really difficult challenge

Don't fall into the trap of under-preparing for these types of questions. While they may seem easier than the case interviews, they are extremely important to get right.

You’ll need to prepare several ”stories” or “examples” from your personal and professional experience to demonstrate that you have the traits that EY is looking for.

To learn more, check out our guide to consulting fit / PEI questions .

5. EY-Parthenon group case presentation

As mentioned in the overview above, EY-Parthenon frequently uses group case presentations in the interview process. Here is the key information you need to be aware of for this type of interview:

• Candidates get divided into groups of 3 to 5
• Each group is given information about a case (i.e. a client facing a problem)
• You are given ~45 mins to review and prepare a 15 minute group presentation
• An interviewer will watch during your prep time, but they won't intervene
• After your group presents, the interviewers will ask questions for 15-20 minutes

This interview format is fairly unique, but it is similar to a written case interview, so you may find our free guide on written case interviews helpful . When you perform group exercises, your interviewers will be focusing on your ability to work well with others. And there are a handful of things you should make sure you do (and don't do).

Here are the   top 4 things you should aim to do :

• Speak with a purpose. This applies to the preparation and presentation. A lot of candidates will want to speak their minds as they know participating is important. But, participation alone is not enough. The QUALITY of your input is crucial. Sometimes, it's better to let two or three people speak first, and then make a very thoughtful point based on how they started the discussion. Focus more on the quality of your input, and less on the quantity.
• Involve everyone. During preparation, keep an eye on who's participating in the conversation and who's not. If you identify a member of the group who's struggling to make themselves heard, you should not hesitate to help them by saying something like: "We haven't heard everyone's opinion on this yet. John, Rebecca what do you think?". This is a sign of leadership, and will also help you develop a more thoughtful and balanced presentation. 
• Summarise. Plan to summarise key points during both preparation and the presentation. This will position you as the person bringing everyone together and making sure all candidates are on the same page. Aim to do this at least once during your prep time. For example, summarise the assignments of each group-member, or recap the group's key points at the end of the 1-hour prep time. This is a skill used by partners in real-world conversations with clients. You can also do this when presenting, by clearly recapping your main points.
• Anticipate questions. During your preparation, you may notice some weaknesses in your analysis. It's good to carve out 5 minutes, to think through how you would answer challenges from the interviewers. It can also be helpful to ask yourself questions, like "if I was hearing this for the first time, what would I ask about?". The interviewers won't always ask the questions you most expect, but if they do, you'll be prepared with a thoughtful response.

And the   top 4 things you should really avoid doing :

• Looking nervous. A group interview is a good time to use your poker face. Everyone is stressed, but you need to come across as confident. A good way to do this is to focus on basic body language: look at people in the eye, sit confidently, don't cross your arms, etc.
• Interrupting others. Consultants need to be client-friendly, and interrupting someone in a discussion is not client-friendly at all. You should listen carefully to what others are saying. Try to have a genuine interest in what they think. Before making your point, summarise their point to show that you understand what they mean.
• Spending too much time reading. It's important to understand the case materials, but if you're not careful it could consume your full preparation time. A great way to prepare efficiently, is to first scan through the provided materials (just a couple minutes), and to agree upon one or two initial hypotheses. This allows you to then search for specific data points, that confirm or disprove it, before you finalise your approach. 
• Dominating speaking time. Some candidates are so eager to participate that they end up completely dominating the rest of the group without realising it. Avoid doing this during the 1 hour prep time, and during the presentation itself. Recruiters will be paying close attention to both situations. A practical way of doing this, is to keep an eye on how much time you talk. If you are in a 5-person group you should aim to speak 20% (1/5th) of the time and really no more than 25%. 

Your performance in individual interviews and the group case presentation will play a big role in the firm's decision to give you an offer. If you'd like to learn more about how to prepare, check out our separate in-depth guide to group case interviews .

6. EY-Parthenon case interview preparation plan

Now that you know what to expect in EY-Parthenon interviews, let's discuss the steps you should take to prepare.

6.1 Learn the case interview essentials

The best starting point for your case interview prep is our case interview prep guide . It'll take you through all the different types of questions you may be asked in your case interview, show you how to draw from different frameworks to structure your answer, and give you example cases to practise with.

For further practice, EY Port Jackson Partners, a boutique consulting firm bought by EY in 2020, shares some nice EY case study interview examples on its website. Practise outlining your approach before clicking "show answer" to see their suggestions.

6.2 Become really confident at maths

You don't have to have a perfect GPA or GMAT score to succeed at case interview maths. However, during your EY-Parthenon interviews, you will be expected to quickly perform accurate mental maths.

In order to do this, it’s essential to know the formulas for common metrics, like return on investment or breakeven point. And it’s also helpful to know a few maths shortcuts to help you solve problems more quickly. To learn more about these topics, check out our free guide to case interview maths . 

In our experience, the most successful applicants start their interview preparation by practising maths skills, so make sure you prioritise this step.

6.3 Research the company

EY interviewers want to hire candidates who are deeply motivated to work for their firm. And while the firm no longer explicitly talks about wanting a team that is "smart, nice, driven", that was the mantra for many years and still is a fairly accurate summary of what it's looking for.

So make sure to read up on EY-Parthenon values and culture and present yourself accordingly.

Also, you'll want to make sure you're up to date in the latest developments in the area of the company you're applying to join. Here are some useful links to help you continue your research:

• EY case studies UK
• EY-Parthenon homepage
• EY news in the Financial Times

In addition, do some networking so that you can show you've made the effort to reach out to current staff.

6.4 Do mock interviews

How you solve each case is important, but your interviewers will also be evaluating how you COMMUNICATE your answers. It's important to speak in a structured way that makes it easy to clearly understand your points.

The best way to hone your communication skills is to practise interviewing out loud, and you can do that in three main ways:

• Interview yourself (out loud)
• Practise interviewing with friends or family
• Practise interviewing with ex-interviewers

To help you with this process, here is a  broad  list   of consulting interview questions  you can practise with.  Practising by yourself is a great way to get started, and can help you get more comfortable with the flow of a case interview. However, this type of practice won’t prepare you for realistic interview conditions.

After getting some practice on your own, you should find someone who can do a mock interview with you, like a friend or family member.

We’d also recommend that you practise 1-1 with ex-interviewers from EY-Parthenon . This is the best way to replicate the conditions of a real case interview, and to get feedback from someone who understands the process extremely well. Meet our MBB ex-interviewers who’d love to work with you.

The Ernst and Young Growth Study

Table of contents.

Ernst & Young Global Limited, also known as EY, is a global professional services organization that provides audit, tax, business risk, technology consulting, and advisory services to companies worldwide.

With headquarters in London, England, UK and operations spread across 150 countries, Ernst and Young is one of the Big Four accounting firms along with Deloitte, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).

In 2019, EY was recognized as the  seventh-largest  privately owned organization in the United States. The popularity and stature of the company can also be gauged from the fact that it has continuously been ranked on Fortune magazine's list of the  100 Best Companies to Work For  for the past 21 years - longer than any other accounting firm.

Its clients include some of the biggest names from the corporate world like Hewlett Packard, Lockheed Martin, Coca-Cola, Walmart, General Motors, Amazon, and Apple.

Here are some recent statistics highlighting EY's status in the professional services industry:

• Revenue:   40 Billion USD
• Presence in over   150 countries
• Employees:  312,250 (as of 2021)
• Growth (as of FY 2021):   7.3%
• Planned investment of   10 billion USD  over the next three years to support audit
• quality, transformation, technology, and people
• On the way to impact   1 billion lives  positively by 2030 through the EY Ripples corporate responsibility program

Let's now take a detailed look at its origins and its phenomenal rise as one of the leading international professional services firms. 

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How It All Began: Tracing The Roots of EY

Ernst and Young is the result of the merger of two main firms that took place over a period of a century and a half. These two firms were founded by A.C Ernst and Arthur Young.

The E in EY

In 1903, the firm  Ernst & Ernst  was founded in Cleveland, Ohio, by American businessman Alwin C. Ernst and his brother, Theodore Ernst.

Prior to starting this business, A.C Ernst worked for Cleveland Twist Drill, where he learned factory operations, systems, and management. He also had the experience of working for an Audit firm.

A prominent business figure in Cleveland,  A.C Ernst possessed exemplary leadership skills, and his dedication to delivering value to his clients helped Ernst and Ernst to become a prominent name in the accounting profession. 

With a vision and determination to succeed, he set out to strengthen the foundation of his new firm. His other brother, however, did not share his vision and left the firm in 1906 to pursue a different path. 

Operating Philosophy

The success of Ernst and Ernst had a lot to do with its founder's vision and ability to turn market conditions into opportunities for the company's growth.

A.C Ernst introduced the revolutionary idea that existing accounting information can be used to make business decisions about the future and direction of companies. This valuable concept became the company’s operating mechanism. Through this, Ernst helped corporations to operate efficiently, navigate competition and achieve success.

The firm was also quick to take advantage of the market conditions created by the passing of the "Income Tax Amendment" bill in 1913 in the United States. The bill resulted in a dramatic increase in the demand for tax services and accountants.

Furthermore, when the US joined World War I in 1917, Ernst and Ernst was asked to organize the accounting of the Army's Ordinance Department. As a result, the company's annual revenue crossed $1 million that year (Approximately $22.5 million today after adjusting for inflation).

Favorable circumstances created yet more opportunities for the firm. The company continued to grow, adding more partners, and within two years, it had offices in 16 US cities.

Continuing with his innovative approach, A.C Ernst also added a new 'Business Development' department in the company's structure that aided in the development of the first sales and marketing department in the accounting profession.

Arthur Young and Co.

Around the same time, another firm, Arthur Young and Co., was gaining ground in the accounting world. Founded by Scottish accountant Arthur Young in 1906 in Chicago, the company began to flourish and developed its reputation as a reliable auditing firm.

A graduate of Glasgow University, Young initially wanted to become a lawyer, but he was forced to give up on this dream due to hearing loss. Later, he became deeply interested in investment and banking, which led him and his brother Stanley Young to lay the foundation of Arthur Young and Co. in 1906.

Like A.C. Ernst, Young highly prioritized service quality and took a keen interest in the professional development of his staff. It is no surprise then that by 1921, his firm was operating through 6 offices, 150 employees, and eight partners who had signed the Article of Partnership. 

International Expansion

In 1923, these two firms began to expand their operations overseas through agreements with prominent British firms of that time - Young with Broads Paterson & Co and Ernst with Whinney, Smith & Whinney. They also pioneered new ideas, which helped them to grow rapidly and establish their presence in different countries.

In 1926, Arthur Young & Co. partner Warren Nissley came up with the idea of campus recruitment by establishing 'Institute's Bureau for Placements.' This was the first organized attempt at attracting young college graduates to the accounting profession. Ernst and Ernst also continued to grow throughout the 1920s and had 45 offices by early 1929.

Soon after, the world was hit by the Great Depression in the 1930s, which affected the business of many firms. A series of government regulations also limited the growth of these firms. However, Ernst and Ernst was able to expand its operations in Canada by adding a new office in Toronto during this difficult time

Major Changes

1n 1933, Arthur Young retired from the leadership of his firm at the age of 70, and it was taken over by a four-member management Committee headed by Jim Burton.

In 1937, Arthur Young and Co. took yet another significant step and opened its first staff school to train and develop its younger employees. Arthur Young highly prioritized the professional development of its workers, which was reflected in both of his actions - campus recruitment and the establishment of a training school for staff.

 In a few years, the company also expanded its business in Canada through a partnership with a famous Canadian accounting firm called Clarkson, Gordon & Co. of Toronto.

1n 1948, the founders of both firms, Arthur Young and A.C Ernst, died. Ernst remained the Managing Partner of his firm until his death which occurred due to a seizure. Hassel Tippit succeeded him as the new Managing Partner. However, both firms continued to grow and make significant progress. In 1949, Ernst and Ernst organized its Management Services Division which formalized Management Consulting as a service discipline and is a predecessor of current management consulting practices. By 1950, it had 65 partners and 52 offices.

Key Takeaway 1: Take Care Of Quality And The Business Will Take Care Of Itself

Delivering impeccable quality and value to clients has always been the prime focus of Ernst and Young.

Right from the start, the founders of both the individual companies prioritized the quality of services they were offering to clients because they realized that if they did so, business would automatically follow - as it so certainly did. In the words of A. C Ernst, who founded Ernst and Ernst, 

  "We can afford to lose time and money. But we cannot lose the confidence of those we serve."

Both firms hired the most talented people (e.g. campus recruitment) and then trained them rigorously to deliver premium service to their clients. It also carved out a reputation of credibility in the industry for both firms. It is no surprise then that established companies began to seek the services of these firms in order to streamline their businesses.

Hence, both these firms soon became part of the elite club in the professional services industry.

Expansion Through Partnerships And Agreements

In the 1950s and 60s, both firms experienced a period of rapid growth and expansion that was facilitated by a series of mergers and partnerships.

Strategic Partnerships

In 1952, Arthur Young and Co. expanded its presence in Detroit, New York, Kansas City, Toledo, and Wichita through mergers with Wildeman, Madden & Dolan and Lunsford, Barnes & Co. It also opened an office in Caracas, Venezuela.

On the other hand, Ernst and Ernst also entered Latin America by opening an office in Puerto Rico. It further established its business in Europe, the Middle East, North, and South Africa, and Australia by agreements with the famous British firm Whinney, Smith & Whinney.

Through such partnerships, it was also able to expand in Mexico, Cuba, Japan, and the Philippines. By 1960, Ernst and Ernst was riding high with 116 partners and 95 offices in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Dick Baker became the Managing Partner of Ernst and Ernst in 1964.

In 1964, Arthur Young & Co. entered into an association with 36 other firms, becoming a worldwide service organization of 131 offices, 475 partners, and 5000 employees. Ralph Kent became Arthur Young and Co's chief executive.

Technological Advances

Arthur Young and Co. also took advantage of the computer age by installing the RCA Spectra 70 electronic computer system, which made it easier to centrally store information and share it across its offices.

Ernst and Ernst also modernized its data processing and management by introducing Auditronic 16, a mainframe-driven management information retrieval tool. These steps not only improved the efficiency of their operations but also led to the introduction of new product lines in the future.

Ensuring Inclusiveness - Women in Senior Positions

In 1972, Mary Finan of Arthur Young and Co. became the first woman at either of the two firms to be promoted to the rank of partner. This was a significant step toward ensuring inclusivity within the organization.

On the other hand, Ernst and Ernst's professional staff also included 170 women by this time. In 1974, it also opened a training center in suburban Cleveland for the professional development of its ever-growing staff.

Mergers and Acquisitions

The journey of aggressive growth and expansion continued for both firms. In 1978, Ernst and Ernst combined practices with S.D Leidersdorf & Co., an accounting firm based in New York which was recognized as a ' Pioneering Firm'  in 1932 by Fortune magazine. This step strengthened Ernst and Ernst's presence in New York (and later on gave Ernst and Young its future chairman, Phil Laskawy).

In 1979, Ernst and Ernst took a significant step that not only accelerated its international expansion but also proved to be instrumental in the establishment of Ernst and Young in the future. It merged with London's Whinney, Murray, and Co. (formerly known as Whinney, Smith, and Whinney), which later became Ernst and Whinney. The company grew to have 10,000 employees in the US and 20,000 worldwide.

With its headquarters relocated to New York, the firm's business continued to prosper, with its management consulting division growing much more than tax and audit practice. Barbara Danz became its first woman partner. During this time, the accounting world was dominated by eight firms which were collectively termed the  Big Eight  by Fortune Magazine. Ernst and Whinney became a part of this elite club as one of its largest members.

Ernst and Young

In 1989, Ernst and Whinney, the third-largest accounting firm of the time, merged with Arthur Young and Co., the fifth-largest firm in the world at the time to become Ernst and Young. The newly created firm had 6100 partners and had world revenues of $4.3 billion in 1989 (Approximately $9.8 billion today after adjusting for inflation).

It had two chief executive officers - Ray Groves from Ernst & Whinney and William Gladstone from Arthur Young.

At the time of the merger, both companies had a comparative advantage over the other firm, which resulted in Ernst and Young becoming a professional services powerhouse in the world.

Arthur Young's clients mainly were investment banks and high-tech firms on the East and West Coasts, while Ernst & Whinney had more clients from the healthcare and manufacturing industry primarily based in the Midwest and South. Most of the Arthur Young & Co. clients were in Europe, while Ernst & Whinney had a more established presence in the Pacific Rim countries. Arthur Young's clients included American Express, Mobil, and Texas Instruments, while Ernst & Whinney serviced firms like BankAmerica, Time, Inc., and Eli Lilly.

Key Takeaway 2: Mergers And Acquisitions Help Enter New Markets

Mergers and acquisitions provide a gateway to exponential growth if merging firms offer strong comparative advantages to each other.

Having ventured into various territories through acquisitions and partnerships, Ernst & Whiney and Arthur Young & Co. realized the benefits of merging with other players in the industry.

It provided expertise in areas the other company had yet not dived into. Also, it gave access to resources and talent, and ease of entry into new markets and service lines.

The merger helped to fight off competition in the rapidly growing industry and strengthened its Management Consulting Division. It also gave the company access to several new untapped markets and diversified its client portfolio.

Most importantly, it ensured the rise of the firm as a force to be reckoned with as Ernst and Young joined the Big Four club. 

Diversification - Launching New Service Lines

After the merger, the firm took steps to improve the range of services offered to its clients. It moved into computer-aided software engineering, which enabled the firm to provide strategic planning services, Total Quality Management, and innovative management systems to its clients.

Advisory Services and Tax Divisions

In 1995, the firm added advisory services to its Audit practice. Furthermore, it divided tax into two services: Tax Consulting and Tax Compliance. It also diversified its service scope by merging with Kenneth Leventhal & Co., which was the leading advisory firm for real estate investment in the United States.

Sales continued to rise in the early 1990s. The firm's risk management and actuarial services business rose 7.4 percent, from $9.5 million to $10.2 million from 1990 to 1991. Overall company revenues rose from $5 billion in 1990 to $5.4 billion in 1991 and $5.7 billion in 1992. 

The firm also consolidated its operations in the US and Canada in 1999, making them a single business unit. Similarly, the Central and South American business units were joined together to form Americas Practice.

In 1996, it formed an alliance with Tata Consulting, in India. In the same year, the firm ventured into the petroleum and petrochemical consulting business by purchasing Wright Kellen & Co. As a result, a new subsidiary with the Houston-based company was created, which was named Ernst & Young Wright Killen.

Expansion into Management Consulting

Ernst and Young also strengthened its other service areas like risk management consulting and information software products. The risk of lawsuits and legal responsibilities was limited in these areas compared to auditing.

The firm also benefited from increased demand for management consulting services in the market. For instance, major restructuring in the healthcare industry required the services of more consultants. Ernst and Young became increasingly involved with high-level projects like environmental risk management consulting and municipal insurance.

The result? Revenues from risk management consulting grew from $10.3 million in 1991 to $10.9 million in 1992.

The firm continued to perform well in its traditional service of auditing, and in 1992, the audits of mostly large publicly held multinational companies were carried out by Ernst and Young. It audited 3,231 companies with a total value audited of $10.228 trillion.

Key Takeaway 3: Diversify Product Lines to Grow and Beat Competition

Ernst and Young would never have been the force it is today if it had stuck to its traditional service of accounting and auditing.

It broadened the scope of its services in order to maintain its place in the market and expanded into other industries by forging alliances and launching new service lines.

It was all thanks to diversification into new service lines that company revenues from consulting on tax, personnel, management, property, and finance started to out-weigh revenues from auditing for Ernst & Young, which was a remarkable achievement. 

Restructure, Reform, and Rebrand

A clear vision and identity are essential for any business as they become a rallying point for all its employees no matter wherever they operate in the world. It connects them across borders, boundaries, and cultures through a common purpose and identity.

Rebuilding and rebranding the identity became EY’s strength. 

As Ernst & Young had expanded rapidly into consulting, the US regulators and investment industry members started to raise concerns about potential conflicts of interest. The conflict related to companies offering both auditing and consulting services to overlapping clients at the same time.

In response, Ernst and Young wasted no time and in May 2000, became the first of those firms which separated its consulting services through a sale to French IT services company Capgemini for $11 billion, which created the new company Capgemini Ernst & Young (later renamed back to Capgemini). 

In 2002, the firm’s reputation had also improved considerably due to other factors. For example, it was lauded for having a diverse and inclusive culture. This was mainly due to the fact that women represented over 40% of its staff in the US.

In 2002, Ernst & Young acquired many of the clients that were previously being served by the firm Arthur Andersen, one of the Big 5 firms, after it went out of business in connection with the Enron scandal. Arthur Andersen’s reputation was tarnished when it was accused of having irregularities in the auditing of Enron, an energy corporation based in Texas. Most of their operations went to other firms like KPMG, Deloitte, and Ernst & Young.

Quality Control

While it expanded into new markets and diversified service lines, the firm never quite shifted its focus from delivering top quality.

In 2003, EY appointed Sue Frieden as the firm’s first Vice-Chair of Quality & Risk Management. The Chair shouldered responsibility for every aspect of quality and risk management at Ernst and Young – people, services, procedures, and clients.

In 2006, Mitchel & Titus joined Ernst and Young Network as a member firm, becoming the only minority-controlled accounting firm in the US to align with a member of the Big Four.

Cost Saving Programs

EY was compelled to launch cost-saving schemes as the world went through an economic crisis in 2008.

In 2009, the firm encouraged its employees in China to take 40 days of low-pay leave between the summer of 2009 and of 2010. Employees who participated in this program received a prorated salary equal to 20% of a regular salary with added benefits of a full-time employee.

The initiative was applied to staff in other regions like Hong Kong, Macau, and mainland China. The total number of employees in these areas stood around 8500.

Meanwhile, growth through acquisitions continued. In 2010, Ernst & Young acquired Terco which was the Brazilian member firm of Grant Thornton.

Consultant to the Vatican City

Owing to the firm’s impeccable global reputation, the Pope hired the services of EY in 2013 to reform the finances of the Vatican City State, ensure transparency, and cut down waste.

The firm was asked to provide consulting services to its administration, including the museums, post office, and tax-free department store.

Further Expansion Through Mergers

The global expansion of EY unlocked greater success when it acquired all of its competitor KPMG’s operations in Denmark, including its 150 partners and 1500 employees across 21 offices in 2013. 

Before this acquisition, KPMG was ranked third in the Danish market while Ernst and Young was ranked fifth.

Ernst and Young’s streak of success continued the following year. Global strategy consulting firm, The Parthenon Group merged with EY to become EY-Parthenon in 2014.

The merger resulted in EY gaining 350 consultants in its Transaction Advisory Services which enabled the firm to provide in-house strategy consulting services to its clients. After this merger, EY expanded aggressively with its consultant base rising to 1400 in 2018.

Today, EY-Parthenon is ranked as one of the most selective strategy consultancies in the world. In terms of revenue, it is the world’s fifth-largest strategy consulting firm that boasts 6,500 professionals and 750 partners.

Restructuring and Rebranding

In the period from 2009-2010, the firm cemented its place as a global organization with the formation of the Europe, Middle East, India, and Africa Area (EMEIA) in 2009 and the Asia Pacific Area in 2010. 

Recognizing its position as a global brand with operations and staff spread across continents, the firm sought to redefine its vision and goals to achieve success. With its futuristic approach, Vision 2020 was introduced. Prominent goals for the firm included becoming a $50 billion distinctive professional services organization and becoming the best brand in the industry by the year 2020.

The firm also rebranded from Ernst and Young to EY, and introduced a new company tagline:

"Building a better working world"

Key Takeaway 4: Have Clear Well-Defined Goals To Achieve Success In Future

Having expanded exponentially over the years, the firm realized the importance of defining a clear purpose and communicating it to all its offices around the globe.

Ernst and Young’s  building a better working   world  provided a framework through which it measured value delivered to clients and stakeholders. The firm defines it as a lens through which it conducts audits, shapes strategy, enables innovation, and addresses issues faced by companies.

Having clearly defined goals enabled the firm to achieve other targets it had set for itself. For example, Ernst and Young was able to deliver on its commitment of becoming carbon neutral by the end of 2020 as a result of having formulated this specific goal a decade ago.

From An Accounting Business to a Digital Consulting Powerhouse

Despite capturing new markets and starting new service lines, the firm did not take its success for granted at any point in its decades-long journey. Going beyond its initial services of tax and audit, Ernst and Young marched ahead and stepped into the world of digital consulting.

Going Digital

Although the firm’s move into the digital space had occurred many years ago, it gained momentum in 2015.

EY expanded its services line by launching new services, including software development, robotic process automation (RPA), blockchain, cybersecurity, data analytics, consumer web design and app development.

In addition to these, after realizing that digital consulting was in line to become a market worth hundreds of billions of dollars, and that, too with exceptional growth prospects, EY also began offering digital consulting services to clients in industries ranging from oil and gas to manufacturing and aviation sectors.

In pursuit of this objective, EY started to build a global ecosystem of experts, consultants, and partners to capture a big share of digital consulting opportunities. The firm vigorously pursued its plans by making 26 acquisitions and signing 7 new partnership agreements in 2016.

Due to its dedicated training and recruitment efforts in this area, the firm now proudly employs 20,000 data and analytics practitioners and more than 2000 data scientists all around the world.

In 2016, EY was declared a global leader in the digital business transformation space which put the company in direct competition with companies such as Accenture and IBM.

EY and Royal Caribbean

Since venturing into Digital Consulting, EY has enabled a plethora of clients belonging to diverse industries to re-strategize in the digital age. A great success story comes from the digital transformation of Royal Caribbean Cruises.

Royal Caribbean, a company highly dependent on the maintenance of physical spaces (cruise ships) for revenue was challenged with finding new avenues of growth and expansion in the new digital reality.

Its partnership with EY helped the company to rethink customer experience in a digital way to drive growth. An app was launched to allow customers to book cruise services, discover and plan their activities on board, ensuring a seamless digital experience. The initiative worked like magic for many of its young customers who could make the most of their limited vacation time through the digital onboard cruise experience. As a result, demand and customer satisfaction increased.

The data gathered through the app was used to better understand onboard guests’ behavior and preferences. It also highlighted areas of improvement. The new technological infrastructure digitized both customer experience and business operations.

Hence, without increasing physical capacity, EY created new digital income streams for the company – a truly remarkable achievement.

Helping A Professional Sports Franchise

EY’s excellence in digital innovation also helped a basketball franchise strengthen its relationship with fans, unlocking valuable growth opportunities.

EY developed a sophisticated Customer Relationship Management system (CRM) and integrated it with the basketball team’s mobile app through Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM and Adobe Experience Cloud. The new system provided useful customer insights ranging from match attendance to sales of merchandise and food and drink purchases.

Data collected through the app helped the client to improve fan experience by re-adjusting match prices to make sure that no seat remains unfulfilled. Fans enjoyed a hassle-free experience by just clicking on the app to utilize services like finding the shortest lines for concessions, bathrooms and even parking spots. Fans were provided with customized deals based on their past choices.

This digital revolution created by EY saw the franchise increase its ticket sales by 30% in just one season. Its mobile app merchandise and ticketing revenue rose by 50%.

Enabling An IT Company Become Future Ready

India’s leading IT company with revenues of more than $5 billion also sought a partnership with EY to digitally transform itself. 

EY introduced data and analytics in its business operations, sales delivery, and skills. It embedded automation and AI in its customer programs, setting the company on a new growth path. 

The result? A future-ready digital organization with improved financial performance and better profit margins.

EY’s Digital Transformation Strategy Through Partnerships

EY’s continuous brilliance in digital strategy and innovation is powered by smart collaboration with leading technological companies. In 2020, EY entered into an alliance with IBM to combine IBM’s technology consulting services with EY’s strategy and business consulting services. It helped EY professionals to leverage IBM’s hybrid cloud capabilities of Red Hat OpenShift, IBM Watson, IBM Blockchain and IBM's 5G and edge technologies to help clients transform businesses. 

By joining hands with IBM, a proven leader in hybrid cloud and AI, EY is developing joint offerings to help clients in their digital transformation.

EY also entered into an alliance with GE Digital, a $6 billion division of GE that focuses on digital software solutions for the industry to develop and provide industry-specific services based on GE’s Predix cloud-based operating system.

In partnership with GE, the firm developed new software, Manufacturing Energy Management Solution (MEMS), which records energy and water consumption in real-time across different locations to present a clear overall picture to manufacturers. Such digital solutions are helping clients to cut costs and prevent wastage during manufacturing using the power of emerging technologies.

Building a strong and diverse ecosystem of alliances by collaborating with leading technological providers is a key component of EY’s digital transformation strategy. It grants EY access to state-of-the-art digital tools and solutions which it combines with its excellent business consulting services to drive results for clients.

Investment in Digital Consulting

In support of its strategy, EY doubled down on investing in digital transformation consulting, empowering organizations worldwide by helping them transform digitally.

In 2015, it opened the global Security Operations Centre in Kerala in India, and invested $20 million to fight the growing threat of cybercrimes. In 2017, EY opened a Digital Security Operations Center in Oman in the EMEIA region as part of a $10 million investment. An executive support center was opened in Tucson, AZ, USA, in the same year.

In 2018, Ernst and Young inaugurated a $4.4 million professional services center in Louisville, KY, USA, and announced plans to open a technology hub in Nashville, USA.

Cut to today, the company is a global powerhouse when it comes to digital consulting and works with renowned companies and organizations around the world.

Navigating Growth During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In 2019, EY made headlines when it crossed the 40 billion U.S. dollar mark in global revenues, growing from $37.2 billion the previous year.

In the following year, despite the crisis created by the global COVID-19 pandemic, it had an impressive growth rate of 7.3 %.

In 2020, EY was the third-largest accounting firm globally in terms of revenue, after Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers. The firm also enjoyed a favorable ranking in terms of employment - ranked second with around 300,000 people employed across multiple territories.

Among its three geographical regions, Asia Pacific was the fastest-growing market. This changed in the year 2021 when the majority of its revenues came from the Americas.

Investments in Audit Quality, Technology, and People

As EY sought to readjust its position and business in a heavily data-driven world, it realized the importance of investing in emerging technologies.

In 2021, EY announced plans to invest huge sums (US$10b) between 2022 and 2024 to make improvements in audit quality, people, technology, and quality management systems to further win the trust of its clients. It aims to invest $2.5 billion in technology focusing on artificial intelligence, data systems, and disruptive technologies.

The grand investment plans include boosting its Client Technology Platform, which currently supports over a million EY clients and processes 250 million transactions every day across 200 countries.

Employing the latest technology solutions, EY has helped a number of life sciences companies to improve their efficiency and effectiveness in providing critical medicines.

It has digitized Pfizer’s supply chain and enabled Johnson & Johnson to deliver accelerated medical approval using the power of Artificial Intelligence. It has helped improve AstraZeneca’s operational efficiency through intelligent automation. The firm has also advised TNB, Malaysia’s national energy provider, to digitize its customer experience platforms.

Promoting Environmental Sustainability

Fully cognizant of its global status, the firm showed commitment to the environment by developing sustainability programs for its clients in 2021. It is helping organizations in their decarbonization efforts and exploring business opportunities from sustainable solutions. Recently, EY worked with NBN, Australia’s broadband network, to develop its sustainability strategy.

Working towards creating a green future, EY itself achieved carbon negative status in 2021, which it considers an important milestone in the company’s history.

Staying true to its mission of building a better working world, EY has set the ambitious goal of positively impacting 1 billion lives globally by 2030 through the EY Ripples corporate responsibility program. The plan includes working with impact entrepreneurs on dedicated projects that support and strengthen communities.

With grand investment and expansion plans already underway, EY also has its eyes fixed on its NextWave Strategy which is built around the idea of creating and measuring long-term value for all its stakeholders -clients, people and society.

Key Takeaway 5: Take Risks to Create Opportunities to Stay Ahead

For a company dominating the areas of accounting and management consulting, digital consulting, and software solutions certainly seemed to be unchartered territory.

Yet EY took the risk of exploring the world of digital consulting and made up for the lack of experience by hiring external experts and forging partnerships. It not only resolutely moved ahead but set ambitious goals for this service division – capturing a big pie of this multi-billion dollar opportunity.

This strategy of taking risks and creating opportunities paid its dividends. According to industry analysts, EY is now regarded as one of the most competent firms facilitating clients in the beneficial use of digital strategy in improving customer experience.

Chapter 6: Growth By Numbers and Key Takeaways

Undoubtedly, EY is one of the largest consultancy firms in the world, and the journey to get here is nothing short of exemplary. Simultaneously, not only maintaining its position amongst the best but continuously improving its operations and embracing the digital future, EY is a firm that sets its eyes on long-term, sustainable growth.

Growth By Numbers

Here’s a look at EY’s stunning rise in the past three years:

Strategic Takeaways

From EY’s growth journey, there are many lessons to be learned; particularly with how the company continues to navigate intense competition in the industry and how it adapts to changing needs of its client’s industries.

Here are some of the key takeaways we reviewed:

Quality Service Brings in Business

Even before EY was formed, Ernst and Young separately were two firms that prioritized service quality and value-added to customers above all. To ensure this, they developed new recruitment strategies and invested significantly in training programs. As a result, customers relied on the two companies to deliver services much superior to their competitors.

The same principles have been the guiding light for EY ever since and the company’s credibility continues to bring in new business for it.

Diversify & Explore New Opportunities – Always!

Although EY was a well-established firm in the accounting and audit sectors, it did not sit back and rely on the success of these fields to lead it towards growth. Instead, it ventured into taxation, management, and digital consultancy when it felt there was an opportunity. 

EY took bold steps when it came to not only exploring new opportunities but also pouncing on them. As a result, the company continues to scale up and is now the go-to choice of organizations, both in the public and private sector, worldwide.

Set Goals & Strategize Accordingly

A business that envisions growth in the long run always sets itself measurable and impactful goals. EY’s  building a better working   world  vision has been the company’s overarching vision, and the company has developed several goals under it in recent years, for instance, investing in digital services of going for zero carbon emissions.

This has allowed the company to grow at a steady pace while keeping it aligned with the needs of the future.

Pursue Excellence Come What May

EY stands out and remains the go-to choice in the professional services industry primarily because both the public and private organizations worldwide know that they can count on EY and that the company will leave no stone unturned in delivering desired results every time.

Over the years, the company has built an impeccable reputation simply by pursuing excellence in everything it does. This, in turn, has set up EY for success.

EY Consulting Slide Breakdown

By Paul Moss

Ey’s slide does a pretty good job of clearly communicating its key messages by relying on the pyramid principle and slide layering, but it just barely falls short with its use of a stacked column chart instead of a line chart..

Although it doesn’t quite command the same attention in consulting circles as some of its peers, EY’s  consulting  presence around the world is actually  very  large and quite well respected. Like most other consulting firms, EY (short for Ernst and Young) produces a sizable amount of industry research in the form of white papers, conference presentations, and case studies, which they have so generously posted publicly  to help get new clients  so that we can review them. 

In this post I’ll be reviewing a slide from an EY presentation called, “How fit is your allocation strategy?” ( source ), which looks at capital allocation strategies in the life sciences industry.  I’ll provide a complete breakdown of the good and the bad,  and I’ll try to highlight principles that might apply to any slide building situation. 

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I’ll start as always with the title of the slide , which says, “Revenue growth: big pharma underperforms relative to biotech, specialty pharma peers”.  It’s simple, it’s clear, and it gets right to the point.  Plus it summarizes the main takeaway from the slide. And with the title in my mind, I can now look through the rest of the details and they’ll be much easier to interpret and understand.

“How fit is your allocation strategy?” EY Consulting, October 2015

It’s a good idea to think of your slide in layers,  with the highest layer being the most general, and the lower layers being the most specific and detailed. The idea behind this comes from the  Pyramid Principle , and you can see it represented well in this slide. The title is the top layer and provides the highest level of information, then the bullet points provide a second level of detail, and of course the chart will provide the most granular level of data and detail.

The second layer with the bullet points is a little bit unique; usually you see these more as subtitles instead of bullets. Nevertheless it serves its purpose and provides another layer of detail to the slide.

The main focus of this slide is just a single chart, so there’s really no need to overcomplicate things. Remember that  the whole point of building a slide is to help your audience understand what you’re trying to tell them quickly and easily.  It’s not to include a bunch of fancy words and graphics to make yourself look smart. The bullets do a great job of summarizing the key takeaways from the chart, which for me as a member of the audience, makes the message simple and clear.

For big pharma growth is going to pick up again in 2016, which you can see with the yellow part of these columns, specialty pharma and generics will also grow via M&A, but biotech is going to struggle because it’s hard to maintain organic growth.

As I read through the bullets it’s easy for me to connect them to the visuals on the chart. But if I had to look at the chart without these bullet points to guide me, or even worse, without a descriptive slide title, I’d be left to interpret the details of the chart myself. In other words,  when you let the audience interpret a slide without providing them with enough direction, they may very well reach the wrong conclusions. 

In this case for example, without the guidance of the subtitles I might look at the chart and focus on the overall growth of the market (not the main takeaway), without considering the YoY growth of each of the categories (one of the main takeaways). But because they’ve organized the slide in layers, provided clear takeaways, and connected those takeaways with the chart, I know exactly what to look for and how I should be interpreting the chart details. 

And this is also a great takeaway for anytime you’re reading a slide yourself.  The best way to understand a slide is usually to start at the very top with the title so you can get the highest level idea first,  then work your way through the different layers of the slide one by one. It’s easy to be distracted by whatever sticks out the most, in this case a chart, but sometimes that leads to a situation where you find yourself just staring at the slide, not really understanding what it means or what the takeaway is.

Despite their effective use of layering however, the slide is not without its flaws. In particular, their choice of chart is less than ideal. Often overlooked, chart selection is actually a very important part of the slide making process. A correctly chosen chart will enable the audience to understand your key takeaways in a way that is clear and natural. A poorly chosen chart however, leads to confusion and clutter.  

In this case they chose a stacked column chart. Each layer of the column represents a different category, and those stack on top of each other to show the total size of the market.  Anytime you use a stacked column chart like this, the emphasis tends to get placed on the total height of each column  (with the column breakdown there for context). In this case the height shows the total sales for each of these four categories combined – so in 2013 it’s around $650 billion, and it slowly rises over the next few years – or is expected to rise anyway.

But what’s interesting is that  the message of the slide doesn’t really focus on the total size of the market, it focuses on the growth between each of the categories.  The yellow part shows pretty clear that big pharma is a much bigger market than the other three categories, but that’s not what they’re trying to show. They’re trying to show that big pharma is growing, specialty pharma and generics are growing, and biotech is struggling to maintain its growth.

Notice how they didn’t put any numbers on the top of the columns to show the total amount of sales for all categories combined. And also take a look at their use of numbers on the columns – these aren’t absolute numbers that show the size of each category, they’re percentages that show the growth from the previous year.

So really they’re using a chart that is good for emphasizing the total of a set of categories, and how that total breaks down, but they’ve adapted it to put the focus on the percentage change of each of these categories from year to year, which is not ideal. It would be like using a minivan to try and tow a boat – it can probably work, but it’s not what the minivan is made for. Minivans are made to tow tiny humans (on the inside, with seatbelts).

Now in fairness, this particular chart is really difficult to get right, because you want to emphasize the percentage change of each category from year to year, but showing how big each category is provides some important context. Big pharma is clearly a very large chunk of this market, so it’s hard to ignore that completely. So there’s not a perfect way to solve this dilemma, but one chart I would recommend trying here is a line chart that shows both positive and negative values.

Now when I look at the chart I can see which of these is seeing more growth, and which is seeing less. Look at Big pharma for example… it starts down at -1%, but then you see it climb with a big expected jump in 2016.  And looking at the first subtitle, this is exactly the message they’re trying to emphasize.  But then not only that, you can also see that it has consistently lower growth compared to the other categories, which is also what they’re trying to emphasize in the title.

You can still find these messages in the original chart, but you can’t quickly grasp them just based on the visuals. You have to actually look at these percentages, which is slow and inefficient for your audience. Again, think of the minivan towing a boat. It works, but it’s not great.

So basically,  having this kind of chart allows you to focus on the actual growth from year to year,  without drawing too much attention to the size of the total market, or the relative size of each category. If that sort of information is still important you can put it in a table below, just to give context, but the chart itself remains focused on the growth from one year to the next – which is what they’re trying to communicate with this slide.

In summary, the slide does a pretty good job of clearly communicating its key messages by relying on the Pyramid Principle and slide layering, but it just barely falls short with its use of a stacked column chart instead of a line chart.

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When Mayank Pandey moved from rural India to a more urban setting in Australia as a child, his parents were determined to hold onto the deeply held values that had grounded their lives. Perhaps most pervasive, he recalls, was the importance of maintaining a balance with nature.

“The fact that my parents were so dedicated to recycling, composting, and other green practices had a huge impact on me growing up,” he says. “That same mindset took root in me and has only grown with time.”

Today, as a Senior Technology Consultant at EY Oceania in Melbourne, Pandey is part of a development team that helps EY clients solve their business problems — an activity he considers both challenging and intrinsically rewarding. When he heard about a different kind of a challenge, a hackathon sponsored by EY and IBM focused on addressing global sustainability issues, something clicked. “As a developer, I envisioned links between the technology I know and a cause that I care about,” Pandey explains. “I saw it as a great opportunity to make a difference, and to learn something from the experience.”

In a matter of weeks — and working on their own time — Pandey and his four developer teammates from around the world built a cloud-based solution that uses AI to show consumers the carbon impact of the products they use in their everyday lives. The solution, which they call No More Ripe Bananas, was one of 24 submissions from over 1,200 EY employees that took up the challenge, and was selected as a finalist.

Global Sustainability

Generated sustainability app submissions from 1200 EY developers from around the world

Trained Professionals

Participants voluntarily completed 23,000 hours of product-specific training over 4 weeks

The backdrop of the hackathon challenge is EY’s strong alliance with IBM, which is both highly collaborative in nature and intensely focused on sustainability and other ESG-oriented initiatives. Within EY, the driving force behind the hackathon is a globally distributed developer support team known as the IBM TechHub@EY. As part of their longstanding alliance, IBM and EY created the IBM TechHub@EY to make it easier for EY developers around the world to access IBM’s open hybrid cloud platform, AI offerings and other transformative technologies. Tools and skills enablement are central to its mission.

To Brad Artigue, the IBM TechHub@EY Global Leader, the Call for Code Global Sustainability Challenge — the hackathon’s official name — proved particularly effective at addressing a perennial challenge for all companies: giving employees the chance to build their skill sets. “One of the best ways to motivate people to experiment with new technologies is to present opportunities they wouldn’t normally have, around issues they care deeply about,” Artigue explains. “We see the Call for Code as a big success because it unleashed their problem-solving instincts, while providing them with powerful tools and training to collaboratively build solutions, and the IBM Hybrid Cloud platform to make them available anywhere in the world.”

Ultimately, the fact that EY participants voluntarily completed 23,000 hours of product-specific training over four weeks — again, all on their own time — stands as a testament to the power of sustainability as a motivating factor. But there’s also another, harder-to-measure dimension of the project where the outcome exceeded expectations: call it global team building.

By design, EY gave participants the freedom to seek out and form their own teams from its global network of developers. On a practical level, this approach served to promote a culture of global collaboration among employees. But it also tapped into the powerful notion that solving “borderless” problems — like climate change and environmental sustainability — requires innovation and teamwork that transcend borders.

Take the case of Anthony Wong, an EY data analytics consultant in Auckland, New Zealand, who saw the challenge as a hands-on opportunity to learn more about sustainability issues. Eating lunch with coworkers in the company cafeteria, Wong was struck by not only the food that was discarded, but also the plastic plates and cups that overflowed their bins. “It troubled me that I didn’t really know where it was all going, and the idea that our food consumption habits were contributing to a global problem,” he says. “And that’s exactly why I joined this challenge.”

His project team — hailing from New Zealand, Australia and the Philippines — found they had a lot in common, like a shared reliance on takeout food during the pandemic and a general revulsion at its unnecessary packaging. More importantly, though, they shared a common determination to design their solution with a laser focus on the end user experience. “We didn’t want to fall into the trap of developing something ‘gee wiz’ that wasn’t as impactful as it could be,” Wong explains.

That, says Wong, was where the diversity of the team members’ backgrounds proved valuable. “All members of the team brought in their own local experiences and situations to define what the solution did and how information was presented,” he explains. “The fact that we were able to incorporate so many different perspectives made it a better solution.” Known as Sussit, their team’s solution was declared the hackathon’s winner.

Sussit uses crowd-sourced data and cloud-based AI models to rate eateries on the overall sustainability of their practices, ranging from where they source their food to the use of compostable packaging. By helping consumers figure out — or “suss” — how well various eatery options align with their personal sustainability priorities, the Sussit app empowers consumers to put their values into action.

As post-project discussions revealed, the same instinct — acting on a personal interest in environmental, social and governance (ESG) causes — was also a major motivating factor for the hackathon’s participants. But certainly not the only one. At the core of most developers’ identities is an urge to create and experiment. To that end, one of the core functions of the IBM TechHub@EY is to provide developers with a platform to access a broad range of IBM tools and technologies, including those they wouldn’t ordinarily encounter in the course of their “day job.”

To further support this immersion in new technologies, IBM TechHub@EY also provided participants with access to technical assistance and workshop-based training when they needed it. It was through this combination of technology, tools and training that EY sought to create a fertile ground for innovation.

Few solutions exemplified this spirit in action like Project Net Zero, another hackathon finalist. Developed by a pair of EY innovation engineers from southern India, the solution is designed to provide a kind of X-ray view into a company’s carbon-reducing efforts, with a scorecard to match. What sets the solution apart is the comprehensive and sophisticated approach it takes to both validate and incentivize each company’s sustainability activities.

Companies seeking to establish their green credentials begin by submitting empirical information — the evidence — into the app. Once ingested, Project Net Zero uses machine learning (ML) models to both verify the information and, in the process, assign what it calls a carbon reduction index (CRI) value. On the basis of that calculation, the app then issues crypto tokens called ZeroCarb Coins that are recorded on an IBM blockchain ledger. According to Nandu Krishna, one of the app’s developers, this two-track approach “helps companies identify where they need to invest to improve their sustainability practices, while also providing a way to generate ‘green’ capital to support these investments.”

EY’s decision to run a sustainability-themed hackathon is entirely consistent with the broader societal values espoused in its corporate motto: “Building a better working world.” But it goes further. Underlying the company’s ESG vision is the deeply held conviction that while sustainability may be a matter of responsibility, it’s also a huge source of opportunity — for EY and for its customers.

One strong indicator of this commitment was EY’s 2020 decision to create the role of Global Vice Chair of Sustainability — a first amongst the Big Four. In that role, Steve Varley helps EY clients create business value from sustainability, while also leading the company’s overall environmental sustainability strategy. To Varley, the hackathon challenge represents the kind of collaborative innovation that’s critical to unlocking the value of sustainability. “The key impetus for sustainability is business value, whether it’s improving energy efficiency, rethinking supply chains or reinventing business models,” says Varley. “We see the success of the Call for Code Challenge as a great example of how global teams are best equipped to solve global challenges like sustainability.”

Based in London, EY (link resides outside of ibm.com) operates one of the largest professional services networks in the world. One of the Big Four accounting firms, EY provides assurance, tax, consulting and advisory services to its clients. With global revenues of USD 40 billion, the company had 312,250 employees as of year-end 2021.

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Securing your organization gives you the confidence to lead transformational change, innovate at speed and build a better working world for your stakeholders. The task has never been more complex, but a proactive, strategic approach to cybersecurity can create value and unlock benefits never possible before. 

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