Most people recognize that Arthur Andersen was a great Firm. For the authors, it was perhaps the greatest. Its fulminating, unexpected and shameful collapse, with the Enron case and ensuing disappearance from the market, leaving a cloud of local professional firms, has left in the collective memory a totally negative image, erasing any earlier merits as if they never existed.
Written by two former Arthur Andersen partners, The Legacy of Arthur Andersen recovers those merits, the authentic "Andersen Culture", that did many well-done things for many years, in many countries, with many satisfied clients. Vindicates to bring back certain values and practices of the entrepreneurial model that made of Arthur Andersen an admired and successful Firm, and to leave it as legacy to future generations.
After an introductory chapter, that goes briefly through the Arthur Andersen history, the book is organized in three main parts: I. The Seven Columns or Basic Principles of the Andersen Model, II. Turning Principles into Practice and III. The Decomposition of the Model.
- Credits
- Dedication
- Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Background
- 1. The Arthur Andersen Story
- 2. The Spectacular Development in the Second Half of the XX Century
- 3. The Andersen Model
- 4. The Three Stages in the Development of the Culture and the Model
- 5. The Importance of Where and When
- Part I: The Seven Columns or Basic Principles of the Andersen Model
- 6. The Seven Columns of the Andersen Model
- 7. Unity
- 8. Integrity
- 9. Cooperation
- 10. Ambition
- 11. Talent
- 12. Service
- 13. Results
- 14. A Systemic Model
- Part II: Turning Principles into Practice
- 15. Translating the principles into value proposals
- 16. The Value Proposal to the Partners
- 17. The Value Proposal to the Employees
- 18. The Value Proposal to the Clients
- 19. The Value Proposal to Society
- 20. Not Saying It, but Doing It
- Part III: The Decomposition of the Model
- 21. The Wear of the Principles
- 22. The Wear of the Value Proposals
- 23. The End: Enron and Andersen’s Collapse
- 24. A Model Threatened by the Anti-Model
- Farewell
- The Authors