Communications Audit

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Communications Audit
Pricewaterhouse Coopers
Kari Saunders

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I. Introduction
The formal company is PricewaterhouseCoopers, but the brand is referred to as
PwC as of 2010 for ease of business communication. The full name is still the official
name of the company for legal purposes. The company is a part of the “Big Four”
accounting giants alongside Deloitte, Ernst and Young and KPMG. Its top services fall
under the assurance, tax and advisory practices of the financial sector. The
umbrellas that the company has chosen to use to put its work in to sectors are
consulting, deals, audit and assurance, family business services, people and
organization, legal and tax.
Because PwC interacts with clients from a variety of industries, it has a breakdown
of internal departments that specialize in the broad range of industries that it has
stake in. The departments are: aerospace & defense, asset management, automotive,
banking & capital markets, capital projects and infrastructure, chemicals,
communications, energy, utilities & mining, engineering & construction,
entertainment & media, financial services, forest, paper & packaging,
government/public services, healthcare, hospitality & leisure, industrial
manufacturing, insurance, metals, pharmaceuticals & life sciences, retail &
consumer, technology and transportation & logistics.
The company is headquartered in London, and the corporate structure is a top-
down bureaucratic organization that is visible on an international level. PwC
operates in over 170 countries and employs nearly 200 thousand employees
worldwide. Currently, PwC is the fifth-largest private company operating in the U.S.
Taking its global presence and attempting to make a positive difference, the
company focuses on each firm making a difference in its own community through
the means that it sees fit. PwC attempts to convey a sense of family and unity for its
employees and firms that speaks to ethically sound practices and a communal spirit.
Though the company is a merit-based, competitive culture, most employees find the
work environment to be challenging and rewarding.
As the company recently lost its top spot amongst the “Big Four” for revenue, an
obvious goal is to regain the number one position over Deloitte within the next 3-5
years. In a more long-term view, the company is striving to become more
technologically savvy in regards to reaching its clients and stockholders on a more
personal level to become a more prevalent force in the global business world. The
firm is seeking to attain these goals by drawing top talent to its branches and
providing ample resources for current employees to advance themselves
professionally. A strong commitment to continued diversity efforts is also a strategy
in becoming more relevant and financially successful.
Nearly half of the $34 billion that PwC gained in revenue over its 2014 fiscal year is
due to its Assurance services that allow businesses and individuals to make sound
decisions that reduce financial risk through auditing and analytical professional

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opinion. The company’s commitment to staying trustworthy and a top competitor in
this sector of its business is crucial to its current and future success.
PwC is in an expansion phase as noted by its over 6 percent growth over the recent
fiscal year. That growth led to the $34 billion revenue as the company is taking a
stronger hold in diverse industries. Consulting saw the largest sector increase, and
the Middle Eastern and African growth was nearly 16 percent. The company’s global
know-how will be an asset to future growth as it plateaus in to the mature stage
once the growth is no longer dynamic.
II. History
The PwC story begins in the 19th century, but at two separate starting points. The
company as it stands today is the result of a merger in 1998 in which two firms,
Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand, chose to come together. Each firm got its
start in London where the company is still headquartered. Each of the companies
had acquired other smaller companies in the years leading up to the merge, but the
final name decided on for the new company was PricewaterhouseCoopers. For ease
of communication and a more approachable feel, the company chose to primarily be
known as PwC in 2010.
After the scandals regarding big business and untrustworthy ethics and practices
because of companies like Enron soon after the company merged, the company
chose to try and distance the consulting and auditing sections of its business to
appease regulation.
PwC saw value in increasing its consulting services and employee power as it
acquired several firms in this sector in the early 2000s. Understanding the
importance of data and analytics to its consulting success, this part of the business
has continued to grow and accounts for nearly half of the entire company’s annual
revenue each year.
Though the company as PwC is relatively young, it has seen its share of various
crises because of legal concerns with tax reporting and questionable practices with
a couple of clients. The company was fined $25 million in 2014 because of failure to
report business dealings with a Japanese company and was caught after suspicious
banking activity in New York state. An interesting case was brought against the
Price Waterhouse side of the company before the merge in which $32 million of
Willie Nelson’s assets were seized after Nelson claims that Price Waterhouse put his
investments in illegal tax shelters. In each crisis that the company has faced, the
company has settled its issues with minimal press intrusion. All companies that
work in the financial sector, especially ones as large as PwC, are bound to
experience some kind of financial legal crisis on a somewhat regular basis.

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Regardless of the issues that have occurred with legal proceedings, PwC has been
awarded several top placements on distinguished business listings around the
world. Its focus on its employees saw it reach a spot on the 100 Best Places to Work,
and it has been recognized by diversity and women’s groups for its consideration of
all of its employees in the work place.
III. Industry Trends, Competitive Analysis and
Environmental Issues
Industry Trends
Because the consulting and accounting industry is involved with such a wide range
of other industries that require careful attention to industry-specific details, the
trends that PwC’s industry has are dependent on a more holistic look at business as
a whole. The consulting and accounting industry is becoming a more global one, and
the landscape it operates in is pretty all encompassing. Because of this, many of the
trends can be applied to business as a whole. This is exciting and gives PwC an
opportunity to interact with global issues on a large scale.
The PwC annual report overview addresses the top trends that the company
believes it interacts with.
Demographic and Social Change is an obvious force that the accounting world must
reckon with. The world and every country in it is experiencing shifts in its
population make up, and PwC recognizes that to be a strong competitor that it must
stay on top of responding to the changing needs of a variety of people and the places
they live and work.
Climate Change and Resource Scarcity is a trend that one would not always expect at
the forefront of a financial institution’s mind, however, PwC understands that it is
not a question but a reality that corporations must take initiative with to make a
sustainable difference. The world itself is becoming increasingly aware and active in
the way it interacts with businesses concerning issues of the environment. Choosing
to do business in a sustainable manner is no longer a good choice that could
potentially lead to a better social image. Instead, operating in such a way is
necessary to a company’s success in current society. PwC already has ample
environmentally-friendly protocol in place, but it is vital to the organization’s
success that it continue to find new and different ways to operate sustainably to stay
competitive in its industry.
Technological Breakthroughs are prevalent for every business trying to attain
success. Disruption due to technology and the high amount of digital consumption
are at all time highs, and that amount will only continue to grow exponentially in the
coming years. In an industry that is as cut and dry to the outside world as

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accounting is, PwC and its competitors are seeking opportunities to increase their
voices in the global conversation. Social media is one obvious way to do so, but these
giants in the accounting sphere must seek out their own technological
breakthroughs and advancements in the way that they conduct their business.
Harnessing technology to benefit the productivity and relationships in the
accounting industry could lead whichever firm figures out how to do so successfully
far ahead of the pack in the coming years.
Changes in Regulation Requirements are encountered by the accounting industry on
a regular basis due to the evolving manner in which business is conducted. These
changes can sometimes be rash and confusing for companies who have been doing
business for nearly 200 years. Keeping on top of the changes made by regulatory
bodies is a must for accounting firms as failure to fully comply to terms can lead to
corporate crisis and in turn, a decrease in revenue as clients could take their
business elsewhere.
Competitive Analysis
PwC is the globe’s second-largest provider of professional services in the world
according to the $34 billion revenue during its 2014 fiscal year. As a member of the
“Big Four” accounting firms, PwC is lumped in to a group with Deloitte, Ernst and
Young and KPMG. The competitors are all large, global companies who provide
nearly identical services to PwC, making it simple to compare the four firms.
Deloitte is the top competitor to PwC as it is larger in revenue and employee
numbers. As the largest of the Big Four, Deloitte has an employee base of over 200
thousand and made $34.2 billion during its 2014 fiscal year. Deloitte was founded in
the UK though now headquartered in New York City, and it offers services
comparable to PwC.
Ernst and Young is third out of the four for revenue during the 2014 fiscal year with
a total of $27.4 billion. It employs around 190 thousand workers and operates in
170 different countries. The range of professional services that EY provides is
comparable to PwC.
KPMG rounds out the Big Four with a 2014 fiscal year revenue of $26.5 billion and
around 162 thousand total employees. KPMG is headquartered in the Netherlands
and is the product of a merger like PwC that occurred in 1990. KPMG’s main
business services are audit, tax and advisory just like the other three companies in
the Big Four umbrella.

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Environmental Issues
As PricewaterhouseCoopers is not a company that does not deal explicitly with the
environment, its main environmental interactions come in the forms of clients that
impact the environment and company-based initiatives that work to reduce the
carbon footprint created by business as usual. This focuses both on the physical
office space as well as travel incurred due to business. Each office is required to
submit reports concerning environmentally-efficient initiatives and numeric data
regarding its environmental impact.
Because the company is concerned about the communities surrounding its offices,
employees could potentially positively impact the environment through volunteer
efforts that reduce waste or aim to clean and protect the local environments.
The environmental statement is located in the company’s section regarding
corporate responsibility alongside responsibility in business practices, diversity and
community engagement.
IV. Search Engine Optimization Analysis
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a set of techniques that aim to direct more
traffic to a website and allow the site to garner a larger number of hits as well as
more opportunity to interact with consumers. Searching for keywords that pertain
to a company on popular engines allow companies to gauge their online presence
and the sites someone searching for them would be likely to encounter. Companies
that are proactive to address their SEO results are likely to control their online
presences and to steer more eyes to their own content regarding their industries.
Certainly it is not a surprise that the first page of a web search is as far as most
internet users go to find information. PricewaterhouseCoopers’ results show that
the company has worked to ensure that its search results are controlled by the
company itself.

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A Google search with the keyword “PricewaterhouseCoopers” provided the
following results:

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The Google search results show a majority of pages that are PwC sites. The news
results are positive and from major, respectable outlets. Seeing the Facebook and
Wikipedia sites on this page shows PwC has a strong online presence. More social
media outlets would be good for the company, but the amount of internal pages
present on the results page show that the company is directing traffic to its own
sites and controlled content.
A Bing search with the keyword “PricewaterhouseCoopers” provided the
following results:

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The Bing search results show a majority of pages that are PwC sites. These news
results are also positive and from major, respectable outlets. The company’s
Wikipedia site is higher in the results on this page. The Bing results show no social
media sites, but it does tailor the search to my location to show jobs in the Atlanta
area. More social media outlets would be good for the company, but the amount of
internal pages present on the results page show that the company is directing traffic
to its own sites and controlled content.
Alexa Analysis
These results are from an online resource that gives insights regarding the traffic on
the company’s site. Through Alexa, one can note where visitors to the site are
coming from, what they are looking at and how long they are looking at it. The
screenshots below give a glimpse in to how the company’s sites are interacting with
the internet public.

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This screenshot shows what visitors are looking at on the site. It’s obvious that the
main page has the largest percent of visitors, but it is of particular importance that
7.5 percent of the site’s traffic is devoted to users looking at jobs.
Only 22.7 percent of the site’s traffic come from a search engine, meaning a large
majority of site visits are occurring due to internet users going directly to the site.
The keywords to the right show that much of the traffic is coming from the
company’s name directly, but again, it is important to note that the third most
important search query involves people searching especially for careers at PwC.

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This analysis shows that nearly 40 percent of the users coming to the PwC site are
visiting Google before. A small, but notable 3 percent of users were on LinkedIn, and
the company’s LinkedIn was not on either of the initial search query’s first pages.
Perhaps the company should consider increasing the visibility of its LinkedIn page.
This analysis gives the demongraphics of the audience visiting the main site. Slightly
more women than men are visiting, but the other two graphs are more telling. There
is an astronomical amount of visitors with a graduate school education. The viewers
of the site are highly educated compared to the general population of the Web. Also
notable is the amount of viewers who are in work environments when interacting
with the web page. Both the education and browsing location metrics can offer
insights to page designers and the content to focus on the home page.

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This metric shows the thousands of sites that link directly to the PwC site. Seeing the
top pages that link in give a good idea of what people are looking for when they visit
the PwC site without necessarily knowing that they are interested in PwC as a
company or its services. The subjects of these pages can offer insight to what people
are looking for when they come in to contact with PwC without searching for the
company outright.
These sites show other pages that are similar based on site metrics to PwC’s main
site. This gives insights to competitors such as Ernst and Young and Deloitte and
how the competitors are performing on the Web. Additionally, seeing other PwC
pages shows that the other PwC sites are performing well in relation to the main
site. Additionally, the categories to the right side show that PwC is appearing in the
proper categories for its business and that it is a truly global company.

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V. Key Publics
Shareholders and Investors:
As a publically traded company, it is vital that PwC values and respects its
stockholders and their wishes. Though the company is primarily traded in the UK,
anyone from around the world can purchase a piece of the PwC stock. Currently the
stock price per share is $76.15 with prices retaining a high value and increasing
between 1.5 and 2 percent yearly. As PwC is a financial company, it makes
information readily accessible to its stockholders and invites them to participate in
conversation about business decisions. The information is presented in a visually
appealing and easy to digest format that is transparent and well rounded. PwC
understands that openness and integrity will allow investors to trust the company’s
business practices and its future endeavors with confidence.
Employees:
PwC is a global company operating 758 offices in 157 countries. Its staff totals
195,433 employees, a number well above many larger American cities. With an
employee base this large, it is absolutely imperative that PwC is sensitive to the
issues that its employees face and create a workplace and benefits program that is
attractive enough to retain staff and allow them to get their work done safely and
efficiently.
Customers:
PwC serves a client base as diverse as the many industries is operates within. From
top global companies to large, family-owned businesses to individuals, PwC serves a
wide variety of clients. This makes it necessary for the accounting giant to
understand a variety of types of clients and what each of them need to be satisfied
with a job. This naturally is a challenging issue for any company, but PwC’s expertise
and experience make it equipped to deal with such a variety of clients. The diversity
of industry departments allow clients to feel comfortable with the knowledge that
each sector has to deal with the particular sets of challenges that each individual
company and industry face. Because the financials business is marred with past
scandals and a hesitance to be trusted by clients and the public, PwC wants to be a
resource that every client can trust to act responsibly in the best interest of each
client. As of 2014, PwC had worked with 90 percent of the UK business paper,
Financial Times’, Global 500 Best Companies list and 100,000 other entrepreneurial
or private businesses across the globe.

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Regulators:
As a publically traded company performing billions of dollars of business in the U.S.,
PwC is subject to federal regulation through a host of regulatory acts and bodies.
The purpose behind regulation is meaningful–to protect shareholders and promote
fair and ethical business practices. The regulation requires PwC to submit reports
disclosing its performance to bodies such as the Securities Exchange Commission
and the Internal Revenue Service. Keeping ethical business practices and full
financial disclosure at the forefront of the business is a necessary element of the
way that PwC operates.
VI. Key Messages
Shareholders and Investors:
Dennis Nally, the company’s global chairman, is quoted on the Web site multiple
times regarding the relationship he sees between PwC and its stockholders:
“Let’s face it, your company's shareholders are probably some of your most
important stakeholders – so it’s important that you communicate with them clearly
and unambiguously.”
“Shareholders may seek greater insight about issues of interest to them or just want
to ensure their concerns are heard, unfiltered, at the board level.”
In addition, statements like “Tell us what matters to you and find out more” are
found on various social media outlets and Web pages. The company demonstrated a
commitment to openness and understanding by creating a shareholder friendly
report that allows anyone to understand the business decisions and outcomes
Employees:
Dennis Nally also shared insights toward the company’s employee relations saying,
“PwC is all about making a real difference for our clients and our people.” This is
evident because company has garnered several high-profile distinctions for its work
environments including one of Fortune’s Top 100 Best Companies to Work For, a
Top 10 placement in Working Mother’s 100 Best Companies, a spot in the Top 50 of
DiversityInc’s Best Companies for Diversity and Best Places to Work for LGBT
Equality having a 100 percent corporate equality index, all placements earned in
2014.
These awards are not to be taken lightly as the company should pride itself not only
for making these lists but for ranking so highly on several of them. As women’s and
the LGBT community’s issues are at the forefront of social policy and change, PwC is
in a strong place to be an key player in the corporate stack-up across the board, not

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just in the financial sector. Several times on different Web pages, employees are
called a part of the PwC family, and the environment and honors prove that the term
is not loosely thrown around. The commitment that PwC has to all its employees
and their interests is what makes it such a fantastic place to work.
Customers:
A quote from the “About Us” section of PwC’s main Web site speaks directly to its
customers and the relationships that the company desires with consumers:
“Imagine the power of 180,000 people with a common purpose — building
relationships that create value for you and your business. This is PwC. Every day,
our people work with you to build the value you are looking for.
We'll start by getting to know you. You do the talking, we'll do the listening. Our
tailored solutions will help you meet the challenges and opportunities of doing
business in the US market, and beyond.”
There is a collaborative focus that ensures that clients are getting the attention that
they need while feeling like their finances are in capable and trustworthy hands.
The invitation to do business in a manner that works more like a communicative
two-way street rather than an authoritative strong-armed force allows clients to
have a say in what happens to their money, an important part of anyone’s business.
Regulators:
As noted in the company’s history portion, PwC is no stranger to scandal regarding
regulation issues in the past that have led to serious legal repercussions in the past.
Because of the nature of the industry and the past history, PwC knows that it’s vital
that the company operate in a way that is pleasing to and creates amicable relations
with its regulators. This requires more than simply fulfilling the obligations and
filing paperwork at the appropriate times. PwC demonstrates its commitment to
please its regulators by anticipating and addressing change made by ever-evolving
regulations and doing the same for its clients. The company is proud of the fact that
it was the first of the Big Four to create and implement its own regulatory practice.
PwC sends a message of confidence and experience by quoting “we combine our
deep team of senior ex-regulators (from the Federal Reserve, OCC, FDIC, SEC, CFTC,
FINRA and CFPB) and ex-industry executives with experienced risk and industry
consultants. Our market knowledge is unparalleled and is enhanced by our leading
position as advisor and auditor to the top global banks, asset managers and
insurers.” Furthering the commitment to respond to regulators, PwC has confidence
in a lesser-known C-suite position of Chief Compliance Officer, to ensure that the
company pleases the bodies that it is governed by. The company sees this position
only becoming more and more essential in the years to come as a conscience and
enabler to the company.

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VII. Communication Strategies
Company Website:
Of the Big Four companies, PricewaterhouseCoopers has the best website in terms
of design. Others are cluttered or uninteresting, but the front page of PwC uses large
graphics in a meaningful and appealing manner. Infographics and articles that link
to meaningful content are circulated across the home screen, and the links to the
company’s LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Google Plus and Pinterest are easily
located under the scrolling graphics. Tweets are updated in real time in a space
below the social media platform links.
Several menus stretch across the navigation bar at the top of the screen including
global business issues, services, industries, research and insights, about us, careers
and PwC open university. Each of the menus has an expansive list of resources when
scrolled over, and navigating the site is easy and straightforward. Users are also able
to navigate between different countries’ sites by changing the location at the top
right of the screen. The different countries’ sites are consistent with the design of
the U.S. site, but the menus are tailored to the needs of each country.
There is a global press hub that is dedicated entirely to every press release the
organization produces organized by the publishing date. There are no feeds of social
media, just a couple of links to five Twitter accounts and one Facebook outlet.
Contacts are provided to get more specific information, and a minimalist section
that provides quotes from management is available to get a sense of the company’s
viewpoints.
Annual Report
The annual report is difficult to find just by browsing through the menus of the site,
and the easiest way to locate it was to perform a Web search of
“PricewaterhouseCoopers annual report.” Because the company is traded in the UK,
the currency is provided in British pounds. The company’s global presence is
evident across the report itself as well as the different summaries one can view
regarding different portions of the report. Easy to follow graphics keep the
information digestible and interesting to work with. The company is successful in its
efforts to be accessible and attractive.
The annual report is prefaced with a quote from Dennis Nally, Chairman of PwC
International, “Stayingveryfocusedonwhatwedoreallywell,servingourclients, and
developingourtalentedpeopleiswhatI’dlike toseeusachieveinFY2015.”This reflects the
company’s focus to humanize and personalize the work that it does from the points
of view of the workers and the clients.

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Several tabs to the left of the page allow users to view different facets of the
company’s report as well as interact with multimedia featuring top-level executives
concerning the company’s performance and the global trends of the industry. The
60-second overview is truly a beautiful page to interact with, and it gives the
company a personality that users are excited to explore.
Social Media
LinkedIn:
The company boasts more than 850 thousand followers on LinkedIn and 170
thousand employees using the site. The content produced on LinkedIn seems to be
the most relevant for the most people across the company’s social media sites, and
an average of 70 or so people like the posts. Out of over three-quarters of a million
possible interactions each time content is posted, though, that is an appalling
number. When comments are made on the content, PwC is not anywhere to be
found. These missed opportunities for interaction are detrimental to the possibility
of strengthening loyalty and relationships.

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Facebook:
The Facebook page has nearly 250 thousand likes, but like many of the other outlets,
the amount of interaction with the likers is minimal. Most content averages only 20-
30 likes and perhaps one share. The shares are what allow the content to be pushed
out to those who may not already like the page and see the updates, so the shares
are crucial to the successes of the company’s Facebook presence. Many Facebook
posts are nearly identical to the Twitter account except hashtags are deleted and the
descriptions are lengthened past the 140 character count.
YouTube:
The company has several videos that average around 300 thousand views. There are
a range of channels that are specific to different countries as well as different
focuses like careers specifically. Though there are fewer than 4,000 subscribers, the
content is being viewed by a much broader audience, suggesting that the content is
shareable and one of the strongest ways for the company to interact with the public.
The popular trend of storytelling is strong in the YouTube content, perhaps
attributing to much of this medium’s success. Videos are not uploaded with the
frequency of most of the other social media channels. The company posts only a
couple per month.

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Google Plus:
The Google Plus page is well-organized and the most visually-appealing of all of the
social media. The follower audience is nearly 160,000 strong, but the content is not
being shared by more than a couple of followers. Though not many of the posts have
interaction, the ones that do have comments are not responded to by the company
account, allowing for several missed opportunities for the company to interact with
its online audience.

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Pinterest:
The Pinterest page is broken in to boards that correspond to the different industries
that PwC interacts with as well as its services and goodwill projects. Professional
development tips and inspiration are also elements of a few boards. The warm color
scheme is consistent across the boards and the company’s Web site. The boards
have 850 followers. There could be more, but Pinterest is difficult territory for
different industries to maneuver. PwC is aiming to create shareable, memorable
graphics for its followers to repin, but it faces considerable handicap in that many
Pinterest users are not going to repin infographics about a company if they do not
directly impact the pinner.
Twitter:
Twitter is a prime platform for PwC to interact with current and potential clients
and disseminate information to its followers. The main U.S. account has more than
86 thousand followers and tweets a couple of times per hour during the business
day. The use of meaningful hashtags and mix of graphics used by the account should
make it simple for Twitter users to find PwC when searching for content regarding
the finance industry and professional development opportunities, but most tweets
have only a couple of retweets and favorites.

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IIX. Corporate Culture
The work environment at PricewaterhouseCoopers is certainly a serious,
professional setting. Employees are primarily engaging in work that is tedious and
requires their meticulous attention. Though the conditions are structured and
highly organized, the company puts as much thought and structure in to its culture
and programming for its employees.
The company is organized in a bureaucratic fashion with a top-level C suite and
several other leaders in a secondary tier. The structure is organized and considering
the work that takes place, the expectations and descriptions for daily tasks are clear
and well-defined. Globally, there is an International Chairman, Dennis Nally, and
below him are four chairmen representing different geographical regions. There is
an 89 percent approval rating for the current U.S. Chairmain, Robert Moritz, and 77
percent of employees would recommend friends to apply for the company,
according to Glassdoor.
There is a clear commitment to diversity as women fill several of the top-level
positions. One of these women is in charge of ensuring that PwC is a diverse
environment and that minorities and women fill leadership roles and gain more
opportunities for achievement in their workplace through her role as Chief Diversity
Officer. Several pages on the PwC site express the commitment to keep PwC a
diverse environment because the company understands that diversity is vital to its
success and further sustainability. A Catalyst Award in 2007 shows that the

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company has been noticed for its excellence in successfully implementing diversity
initiatives in comparison to businesses across a spectrum of industries.
Apart from the holistic workplace goals to improve the diversity and provide
opportunities for groups of employees at PwC, there is an array for opportunities for
individual employees to take part. In-house professional development through
mentorships and seminars are available in every office, and all employees are
welcome to participate in personal development opportunities by volunteering in
the communities in which they work and through seeking outside opportunities for
growth during generous vacation days. Employees are encouraged to use their
skillsets to aid their communities through teaching financial literacy programs to a
range of age groups. Over $5.1 was given to PwC communities over the 2013 fiscal
year, and from 2012 to 2013, the amount of volunteer hours given by PwC
employees increased 90 percent.
Support for individual employees for their lives apart from their work is impressive
as working parents are given opportunity for flexibility to ensure that they are able
to spend a suitable amount of time with their children and families. Additionally,
compensation and vacation time for both mothers and fathers during the time a
child is born or adopted in to the family is an expectation for all employees. For
those parents who choose to adopt, additional compensation to cover some
adoption expenses is available.
Even after an employee chooses to venture away from PwC, the alumni network
allows them to retain their contacts at the firm and gain additional contacts should
they move to a different area that has a PwC office.
Overall the corporate structure seems appropriate for the business, and the culture
that the company provides its employees is a meaningful one that lends itself to
personal and professional growth.
IX. Suggestions for Future Directions
The company’s publics are somewhat static, but the manner in which it chooses to
disseminate its key messages is anything but. As it is becoming simpler for
businesses to target their messaging to very specific groups of people, PwC must
explore new ways to reach their same publics. Emerging technologies and more
personalized communication will be helpful to the company if it chooses to use
them. If PwC wishes to continue expanding across global markets, it must be able to
allow its voice to break through the disruptive noise that all of its publics face each
day.
Concerning the company Web site and social media, the most glaring issue in
regards to this audit is the confusion in finding the annual report. Though one of the
tabs in the report’s section of the site is entitled “committed to transparency,” the

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actual report is a bit cloudy. It is difficult to find, and the company should make it
easier for users to find and read the meat of the report, which is its numbers. The
nice design and creativity in the presentation of the big picture information is
helpful, but there should be a fair balance between the eye-catching infographics
and the blocks of information. Many of the important details for the particular fiscal
year are lost in translation. To its credit, the company’s use of multimedia in the
annual report section add to its approachability and its ability to connect with users.
The company’s Twitter account needs to tweet out content that is more shareable if
it wants to garner more attention and followers. There is a lot of industry jargon in
the tweets that make it difficult for most people to feel comfortable to interact with
the company. Creating content that appeals to a wider audience would be helpful for
the company. Additionally, the header that is used on both the Facebook and Twitter
cover photos have information that is covered by the profile pictures, making it
difficult to read and a bit unprofessional. Across the board, the company’s social
media does not do a good job of connecting with its audiences. More often than not
the content just pushes out information relative to what the company is finding
important and using industry-specific jargon that elevates the content to a place that
is difficult for most social media users to interact with.
There could be a lot of confusion with the social media for PwC because there are so
many channels that a user could interact with that are not all producing and sharing
the same content. It would make a lot of sense for PwC to cut down its accounts and
focus more on producing a steady stream of content that is relevant to its followers.
Maybe scaling back to streamline the accounts to separations based on country or
language would be more productive to the company in the long run. It would also be
helpful if the company concentrated far more on interaction with its online
audiences rather than simply tweeting out what it’s up to and hoping that two or
three followers find it interesting enough to retweet. The biggest pro to the
company’s social media choices is its decision to stay away from Instagram. Because
Instagram is such a visual medium that requires true photographs to gain the most
popularity, the platform is not the most conducive to a financial company, especially
when the company is not performing at a high level on other forms of social media.
Regarding the culture at PwC, the firm has clearly made an effort to increase its
presence in the local communities. Nurturing the relationships between employees
and community outlets will prove to benefit the company in the future as more
emphasis is being placed on the goodwill of a company. There seems to be good
support for employees and their personal lives, and the apparent commitment to
diversity will be an asset to the image and the output of PwC. The company should
continue to put a focus on both of these facets of its culture.

24
X. Bibliography
Introduction:
http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/site-information/site-map.jhtml
http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/global-business-services/index.jhtml
http://www.wsj.com/articles/pricewaterhousecoopers-revenue-grows-6-1-
1412654462
History:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PricewaterhouseCoopers#History
Industry Trends:
http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/global-annual-review/annualreviewintro.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/22/business/regulators-struggle-with-
conflicts-in-credit-ratings-and-audits.html?ref=topics&_r=0
Competitive Analysis:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PricewaterhouseCoopers
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deloitte
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_%26_Young
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KPMG
Environmental Issues:
http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/corporate-responsibility/environment/pwc-network-
environmental-statement.jhtml
SEO Site Searches:
https://www.google.com/#q=pricewaterhousecoopers
http://www.bing.com/search?q=pricewaterhousecoopers&go=Submit&qs=n&form
=QBLH&pq=pricewater&sc=9-10&sp=-
1&sk=&ghc=2&cvid=e6d256b032234266bb1bb90a2aff1e71
Alexa Analyses:
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/pwc.com
Key Publics:
http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/pwc

25
http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/about-pwc/facts-and-figures.jhtml
http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/global-annual-review/clients.jhtml
Key Messages:
http://www.pwc.com/en_US/us/corporate-governance/publications/assets/pwc-
regulations-fair-disclosure-directors-communicate.pdf
http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/audit-services/corporate-reporting/investor-
views/shareholder-friendly-report.jhtml
http://www.pwc.com/us/en/corporate-governance/shareholder-
engagement.jhtml
http://www.pwc.com/us/en/financial-services/regulatory-services/index.jhtml
http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/governance-risk-compliance-consulting-
services/resilience/publications/compliance-in-2025/index.jhtml
Communication Strategies:
http://www.pwc.com/us/en/
http://www2.deloitte.com/us/en.html
http://www.ey.com/
http://www.kpmg.com/US/en/Pages/default.aspx
http://press.pwc.com/
http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/global-annual-review/annualreviewintro.html
https://twitter.com/PwC_LLP
https://plus.google.com/100980668534684158363/posts
https://www.youtube.com/user/pwcUS
https://www.facebook.com/pwcfanpage?fref=ts
https://www.linkedin.com/company/pwc

26
Company Culture:
http://www.pwc.com/us/en/about-us/pwc-corporate-culture.jhtml
http://www.glassdoor.com/Overview/Working-at-PwC-EI_IE8450.11,14.htm
http://www.pwc.com/us/en/about-us/leadership/index.jhtml
http://www.pwc.com/us/en/about-us/index.jhtml
http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/leadership/leadership-team.jhtml

27
Final Project Part II:
PR-Corporate Communications Budget
Introduction
The following budget is to be a proposal for an event to take place as a supplement
to the quarterly shareholders meeting in December. The event will give high school
seniors from 10 different PwC communities the opportunity to present their ideas
for an innovative business tool that will allow PwC to better communicate targeted
messaging and content to its stockholders, clients and employees for the chance to
win one of three full-tuition scholarships to the business college of each of the
winners’ choosing. The name of the event will be “School Us for a Scholarship.”
“School Us for a Scholarship” Overview
Seven of the finalists will be chosen by Nora Wu, Chairwoman of People from
applications and proposals sent in by students through their local PwC offices, and
the remaining three slots will be filled by a social media competition where
applicants will create a 2-3 minute video outlining their plan. The top three videos
in terms of likes on Facebook will earn bids to present at the meeting.
After the general meeting with the shareholders to take place on December 12,
2015, the shareholders will be invited to a reception where the 10 students will
present their 5-minute pitches to the top-level executives and shareholders. Light
hors d'oeuvres will be served, and the shareholders present will be able to
participate in a Twitter poll where the crowd favorite will automatically be given
one of the scholarships.
Throughout the event, the PwC Twitter will live-tweet the event and the Facebook
will release bios and interviews with the 10 finalists for the competition for the two
weeks preceding the competition. After the event, a YouTube video will be produced
Kari Saunders
ADPR 5910
April 23, 2015

28
to show the highlights and winners of the competition along with exit interviews
from the winners and chairman to be released online the following day.
Personnel Salary and Benefits
Personnel Salaries
All of the PR personnel for this event will be working out of the New York office.
The PR manager has been in PR for over five years and has a master’s degree in the
field. Her salary is $93,188. The three month portion of her salary she spends
working on the event will be $23,297.
Each of the PR specialists has a bachelor’s degree and have only been in the PR field
for less than three years. Their salaries are $46,399 each. The three month portion
of their salaries is $11,599.75 each for a total of $23,199.50.
The PR intern works at a stipend rate of $500 per month. During the 3-month time
period, the intern’s stipends will total $1,500.
Benefits
PR employees will be given an expense account of $250 per month in addition to
their salaries. This totals to $3,000 for the three-month period.
Supplies and Expenses
Marketing and Advertising Costs
One 30-second spot airing on MTV during the month of November to appeal to more
students applying will be $25,000.
For print promotion, 1,000 posters at 18” by 24” will be sent to selected high
schools in October. The cost of flyers is $619 with a $10 shipping rate, and postage
to mail the posters to the schools (bulk rate for mailing tube is $0.50 each and an
average mailing cost of $5 per poster) is $5,500. The total for print promotion is
$6,129.
Facebook ads to reach nearly 40,000 targeted people are only $100. Doing two ads
per month for October and November will cost $400 total.
Promoted tweets at a cost of $2 per engagement run through the months of October
and November at a rate of 20 days and a hopeful 50 engagements per tweet will cost
$2,000.

29
Event Supplies and Materials
The event space is the Lancaster Ballroom and Parlour Room extensions at The
Savoy, overlooking the River Thames at a price of $5,000 for the evening.
The appetizers will be priced at $50 per person, and the room will be prepared for
275 attendees for a total of $13,750.
Rental of the dual projector system, stage and sound equipment along with the
registered technician for two hours’ time will be $3,000.
Decorations will be simple centerpieces arranged by the hotel florist and lighting
that the ballroom is pre-equipped with for a total of $1,000.
The three tuition scholarships will be given at a value of $6,500 per semester, an
average of in-state colleges for a total of 8 semesters and a total value of $52
thousand each.
Employee and Student Travel Expenses
Each flight round-trip will cost around $1,387 based on a Delta search. Flying the PR
staff and 10 students for a total of 14 flights will cost $19,418.
Tube fare from the airport to hotel is $7 per person, per way, for a total of $196.
Global voice connection for one hour for each member of the PR team is $53.40 per
person, $213.60 for the group.
Four suites to accommodate the PR team and participants are 1,242 British pounds
per night, which total to $14,939.44 for the group’s duration of a two-night stay.

31
Budget Reduction
Should the budget need to be reduced, there are several options where expenditures
could be cut. For a 20 percent decrease in a $298,143 budget, costs should be cut by
$59,628.60.
Marketing and Advertisement:
To begin, the campaign for marketing and awareness could rely more heavily on
social media and self-promotion. Television advertising could be cut completely to
save $25,000.
Event Supplies and Materials
Adjusting the scholarships given to the three winners at the event to a flat rate of
$45,000 each would save $21,000 and still provide a heft scholarship opportunity
for high-achieving students.
Employee and Student Travel Expenses:
To save drastically on hotel costs, the students and staff could be housed at a nearby
less expensive hotel, the Premier Inn London Waterloo, for $144 per night. Five
rooms for two nights at that rate is a hotel cost of just $1,440, saving $17,978.
All of these reductions would lead to a cut in budget of $63,978, well over the 20
percent asked by management.

32
Bibliography
http://www1.salary.com/Public-Relations-Manager-Salary.html
http://www1.salary.com/Public-Relations-Specialist-I-Salary.html
http://www.cheaptvspots.com/airtimesecrets.html
http://www.blockbusterprint.com/Posters.html
http://socialmouths.com/blog/2013/05/14/facebook-ads-vs-promoted-posts/
http://www.pennapowers.com/how-much-do-ads-on-twitter-cost/
http://www.fairmont.com/savoy-london/meetings-weddings/meetings/function-
rooms/
http://trends.collegeboard.org/college-pricing/figures-tables/tuition-fees-sector-
state-time
https://www.google.com/flights/#search;f=ATL;t=LHR;d=2015-12-12;r=2015-12-
14;sel=ATLPHL0DL2236-PHLLHR0DL194,LHRPHL0DL195-PHLATL0DL2236;a=DL
http://www.rome2rio.com/s/London-Heathrow/Savoy-Hotel
http://www.verizonwireless.com/landingpages/global-roaming/?tab=plans
http://www.fairmont.com/reservations/select-room/
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-
instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=british%20pounds%20to%20us%20dollars
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g186338-d3907033-Reviews-
Premier_Inn_London_Waterloo-London_England.html

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