Accenture PLC is a consulting agency firm with operations worldwide. The company has its headquarters stationed in Dublin, Ireland. The company has the largest sales revenues worldwide in consultancy services and is listed amongst the Global Outsourcing 100 garnering a five-star rating for its services (IAOP 2016). The company has performed exemplary well in the 100 outsourcing score parameters that include growth, references provided by customers, awards and certifications, innovative programs and corporate social responsibility. The company has received a lot of plaudits in the recent past from its clients in the areas above due to the high-quality services delivered.
Accenture’s success can be attributed to having a competitive advantage over other companies in the same domain as a result of several factors. One of its largest competitive advantage strategies is the application of its globalization strategy (Loiselle 2016). The scale and scope through which the company operates is at an international level and requires well definitive steps to guarantee success. Operations that are carried out globally require the use of partners to enable the proper functioning of the company. Outsourcing of services for instances takes a high number of consultants to conduct specified projects. The range of services that are offered are very resourceful and provide a basis of competitiveness as the company employs various strategies that have proved to be efficient, and this includes McKinsey-type strategy consulting as well as back to end outsourcing.
This approach has proven to be effective in providing solutions to individuals and businesses through a solution matrix that uses its scale and scope of operations to give efficient solutions. The ability of the firm to develop frameworks that can transform business problems into solutions through to the implementation stages is critical in business. The company can provide expertise advice in business and industry processes and technology.
The competitive advantage strategy is sustainable as the company employs new strategies in the course of business. The use of an effective matrix of operation through the world by utilizing the vast scope and scale of services. The criteria used by companies to build sustainable competitive advantages are inclusive of valuable resources that may not be easily assimilated by other businesses. The resources utilized by the corporation in the dissemination of duties is unique to its system as the application of services in a global domain requires the use of an expansive network that the company has created to carry out its functions through an extended period.
Accenture has employed an array of experts to help achieve its objectives. The employees are experts in their field and give a detailed analysis and provide critical information through consulting in the different countries in which they operate. The ability of a firm to bring together such a workforce is a rarity, and this makes the competitive advantage of the company unique (Coyne 1986). The uniqueness of this manner of consultative services provided enables the company to provide rare resources especially in specialized fields such as emerging technologies where new modes of technology are invented.
The resources provided by Accenture PLC are imperfectly imitable thus duplication of resources by most companies is difficult due to the costs and level of optimized resources that may be required. Imperfectly imitable resources are necessary for competitive advantages (Coyne 1986). Provisions of such services may not be easy to imitate as the company has grown in proportions from one country to the other. A globalized consulting service company requires the injection of substantial capital to help raise clientele sales and provide the necessary facilities to what is expected in the market. Accenture competitive advantages are exclusive and have contributed to placing the company in the top echelons of outsourcing firms.
References.
Coyne, K. P. (1986). Sustainable competitive advantage—What it is, what it isn't. Business horizons, 29(1), 54-61.
IAOP: 2016 Global Outsourcing 100. (2016). Iaop.org. Retrieved 3 July 2016, from https://www.iaop.org/Content/19/165/4454.
Loiselle (2016). About Accenture. Retrieved 3 July 2016, from http://sdric.sdsu.edu/docs/03-0815am-Loiselle_Accenture.pdf
