In 2008, we took the bold step of bringing together our national practices across three territories — Europe, the Middle East, and India and Africa — into an operationally highly integrated area: EMEIA.
We created and implemented one of the largest business transformation programs the industry has seen to date.
In 2008, our operations in Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa were at a crossroads. Although it was still a hugely successful international business, performance across these regions was weaker than its rivals and — with a slower annual growth rate — the gap was widening.
Never an organization to shrink from a challenge, we decided to take decisive action.
Just three years later, the new Europe, Middle East, India and Africa area (EMEIA) have not only reduced the growth gap on its peers — it was growing more quickly, had expanded its market share of the biggest clients by over 10% and increased revenues from its largest accounts by 12.5%.
Embracing integration
The EMEIA area brings together 60,000 people, including 3,300 partners, in 87 countries. It has combined revenues of nearly US$12b.
This followed successful integrations of the Americas, Asia Pacific and Japan practices.
Ernst & Young EMEIA area
Understanding the reasons for change
Integration was a response to five key issues in the market:
- Clients are increasingly global — they no longer think in terms of individual countries.
- Clients expect the same high-quality and consistent service wherever firms operate.
- The influence of the rapid-growth markets on the global economy continues to be profound.
- Our people and potential recruits want to work for a truly global organization, with access to diverse opportunities, without boundaries.
- Regulators want convergence, consistency and higher quality, worldwide.
*Ernst & Young member practices are prohibited from evaluating and compensating audit partners based on their success in selling non-assurance to an audit client. All references to cross-selling relate to Ernst & Young's non-audit clients and do not apply to the Assurance service line.
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