Andersen Consulting: Accenture the Positive
OCT. 26 ? Andersen Consulting hired consultants to create a new name for the company, but it was one of their own who finally came up with the winning idea.
By Nick Wakeman, Senior Editor
OCT. 26 ? Andersen Consulting hired consultants to create a new name for the company, but it was one of their own who finally came up with the winning idea.
On Jan. 1, the company will begin doing business as Accenture, a coined word that was suggested by an Andersen consultant in Oslo, Norway. Kim Petersen submitted the name as part of a companywide contest called BrandStorming.
The name is a combination of Accent and Future, creating what company officials hope is a word that connotes a company that is putting an accent on the future.
"Accenture expresses what we have become as an organization as well as what we hope to be, a network of businesses that transcends the boundaries of traditional consulting and brings innovations that dramatically improve the way the world works and lives," said Joe Forehand, Andersen's managing partner and chief executive.
The name change was required as part of the agreement allowing Andersen Consulting to split from Arthur Andersen of Chicago.
Andersen also is evaluating whether the company should do a partial public offering of stock. With a partial offering the company puts less than half of its stock on the public market.