VEP-Cap Gemini Ernst & Young 2003

8/9/2019 VEP-Cap Gemini Ernst & Young 2003

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BY THE STAFF OF VAULT

2002 Vault Inc.

EMPLOPROFILVAULT EMPLOYER PROFILE:

CAP GEMINIERNST & YOUNG


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Copyright 2002 by Vault Inc. All rights reserved.

All information in this book is subject to change without notice. Vault makes no claims as to

the accuracy and reliability of the information contained within and disclaims all warranties.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,

electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the express written permission of VaultInc.

Vault, the Vault logo, and the insider career networkTM are trademarks of Vault Inc.

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, contact Vault Inc.,

150 W22nd Street, New York, New York 10011, (212) 3664212.

Library of Congress CIP Data is available.

ISBN 158131195-8

Printed in the United States of America


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Cap Gemini Ernst & Young

INTRODUCTION 1

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Cap Gemini Ernst & Young at a Glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

THE SCOOP 3

History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

ORGANIZATION 11

Key Officers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Ownership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Competitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

VAULT NEWSWIRE 21

OUR SURVEY SAYS 25

GETTING HIRED 27

Overview of the Hiring Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Questions to Expect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Questions to Ask . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Table of Contents


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ON THE JOB 31

Job Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

A Day in the Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

FINAL ANALYSIS 35

RECOMMENDED READING 37


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Overview

Cap Gemini Ernst & Young is the result of the May 2000 purchase of Ernst

& Youngs consulting practice by Cap Gemini, a French IT consulting firm.

The purchase doubled Cap Geminis revenue and strengthened its North

American consulting efforts. The firms IT and management consulting

services in the United States now boast more than 55,000 people, and the firm

has a significant presence in more than 30 countries.

The consultancy services a plethora of industries: chemicals, consumer

products, retail and distribution, energy and utilities, financial services and

insurance, health care, high tech, life sciences, manufacturing,

telecommunications, media and network services, and transportation.CGE&Y primarily provides IT consulting services, and to accomplish its

high-tech objectives it maintains strategic alliances with such companies as

Cisco, IBM, Commerce One, Siebel, Oracle, SAP, J.D. Edwards, and

PeopleSoft.

Introduction



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THE STATS

Employer type: Public company

Stock listing: Paris Bourse (Symbol:

CAP.PA)

Employees: 56,500 (2001)

Revenues: $8.3 billion (2001)

PRACTICE AREAS

Telecom Media Networks

Consumer Products, Retail and

Distribution

Energy, Utilities and Chemicals

Financial ServicesHigh Technology and Automotive

UPPERS

Good profit sharing plan

Wide variety of projects

Diverse for a large firm

DOWNERS

Shakeup in culture

Constant travel

Recent layoffs

Strong we can do everything

spirit

Layoff City

Solid and dependable

What a culture clash

Old school

Big 5 refugee

Too large

Solid and dependable

THE BUZZWHAT EMPLOYEES AT OTHER FIRMS ARE SAYING

Cap Gemini Ernst & Young at a Glance

2002 Vault Inc.2C A R E E RL I B R A R Y


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History

Early days

The history of Cap Gemini Ernst & Young goes back a century, to Chicago in

the 1890s. At that time, many American businesses had no notion of regulated

accounting practice, and the government had yet to burden American

taxpayers with the income tax. English businesses based in the United States,

however, knew better, and sent for Scots to look after their investments. One

enterprising Scotsman, Arthur Young, set up an independent accounting firm

in Chicago in 1894. This firm became Arthur Young & Company in 1906.

Meanwhile, two brothers, Alwin and Theodore Ernst, Americans who hadbeen quick to pick up on the accounting concept, launched a tiny accounting

firm in Cleveland in 1903. Alwin had previously worked for the CEO of a

large industrial firm and believed that accounting could be used to help

corporate management make smarter, money-saving decisions. A

management consultant was in the making.

Arthur Young and Ernst & Ernst got a big break in 1913, when the passage of

the federal income tax suddenly created big business for tax departments.

Arthur Young, growing steadily, formed a national partnership in 1921,

uniting its five offices behind its new headquarters in New York City. Ernst

& Youngs expansion and promotion hit a snag in the early 1930s, when the

AICPA adopted a policy prohibiting members from advertising. For a time,

A.C. Ernst resigned from the association. Still, the financial chaos of the

1930s proved to be lucrative for both Arthur Young and Ernst & Ernst, as the

Great Depression spawned new financial reporting regulations that increased

the need for accounting and auditing services. To snare enough employees to

meet demand that decade, Arthur Young began to recruit college students and

to train them in its first staff school.

Both firm patriarchs went to their heavenly reward in 1948; Arthur Young at

84, and A.C. Ernst at the relatively tender age of 66. Arthur Young the

company made news in 1957 by appointing the first female partner in what

was then the Big 8, and Ernst & Ernst merged with British firm Whinney,

Murray & Co. to become Ernst & Whinney. Arthur Young and Ernst &

Whinney found each other in 1989, merging to become Ernst & Young.

Eleven years later, E&Y became the first of the Big Five to separate its

accounting and consulting businesses, selling its consulting arm to French

The Scoop





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The Scoop

consultancy Cap Gemini in May 2000; thus was born the now-familiar Cap

Gemini Ernst & Young.

CGE&Y around the world

No matter where you are on this planet, you probably arent far from a Cap

Gemini Ernst & Young office. The firm counts about 55,000 employees in 30

countries across the globe. CGE&Ys offices are organized into eight

geographical regions: North America, the United Kingdom and Ireland,

Nordic, Benelux, Germany and Central Europe, France, Southern Europe,

and Asia Pacific. In fiscal 2001, CGE&Y reported worldwide revenues in

excess of $8.3 billion.

Making connections

During the Internet boom, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young placed its bets on

helping traditional businesses and dot companies establish an online

presence. Well, any observer of the economy over the last few years knows

how that business plan played out. CGE&Y even created a stand-alone

division dedicated to e-business in 2000 in an attempt to compensate for the

firms initial slow entry in the dot-com market. The move backfired,

however, when intra-organizational conflicts resulted. We made a mistake,

then-COO Paul Hermelin told theFinancial Postin May 2001. It triggered

some internal resentment and as the Internet hype was fading we had to

reorganize. Like most consulting firms, CGE&Y now targets moretraditional firms, like its current clients Bell Canada, engineering concern

ABB, Eli Lilly, Heineken and Standard & Poors.

Cap Gemini Ernst & Young has sought other, more promising markets as

well. In December 2000, CGE&Yand Cisco Systems formalized their March

2000 agreement by launching a new industry practice, Cap Gemini Ernst &

Young Telecom Media Networks. The practice works under Cap Gemini

Ernst & Youngs auspices, providing software and other strategic

telecommunications technology solutions to over 150 clients.

Pursuing partnerships

In November 2000, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young started a number of

partnerships and services extensions. It teamed up with Oracle and Fiat SpA

to form an Internet consulting company, eSPIN, with Fiats new Business

Solutions arm. In February 2001, the December 2000 partnership between

CGE&Y and Vodafone was officially named Terenci, a company that will



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The Scoop

offer mobile communications services to a variety of industries. Then, in

March 2001, CGE&Y and tagmanet launched tagmaConsultant, an online

consulting service.

The firms efforts continued through 2002. In September 2002, it joined

French pharmaceutical concern Pierre Fabre in creating a new company,

Pierre Fabre Informatique, of which Cap Gemini Ernst & Young owns 51

percent. The new firm implements Pierre Fabres IT systems. In July, the firm

teamed with Clarian Health Partners in a $100 million, multi-year deal to

implement the healthcare providers new clinical information system. And in

April it formed an alliance with customer-relationship-management specialist

SPL WorldGroup that will allow GGE&Y to include SPLs CRM systems into

its solutions portfolio.

CGE&Y also has expressed interest in acquiring smaller information

technology services companies. In May 2001 then-CEO Geoff Unwin

reported that the firm had been approached by a number of companies about

a possible acquisition, and that it was scouting potential targets. CGE&Y is

looking in particular for companies to fill niche markets in Germany and the

Asia Pacific region.

Talkin bout the government

CGE&Ys latest foray is into the increasingly lucrative world of consulting

for the U.S. government. Already dominated by Booz Allen Hamilton,

Accenture, American Management Systems and BearingPoint, the sector is

nevertheless growing at a rapid pace and is expected by many analysts to

draw in a number of other firms over the next decade. In September 2002,

CGE&Y achieved a listing on the General Service Administrations Schedule

70, one of a number of exclusive lists containing consulting firms allowed to

bid for government work. The firm is now shopping itself to a variety of

government agencies.

Cutting crew

CGE&Ys post-merger performance hasnt been particularly rosy, despite its

fervid pace of acquisitions and deal-making. The tanking high-tech economy

and the drop in demand for consulting services hit the company just as it was

getting its new self together. As a result, to save costs the company has cut

7,900 jobs over the last two years, and analysts expect it to cut another 3,000

by the end of 2002. U.S. employees who lost their jobs in December 2001

could perhaps take solace in being informed of the layoffs in person a month




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The Scoop

earlier; according to The Times of London, 750 staffers in the United

Kingdom learned they were being let go via voice mail.

A company representative told Kennedy Information in September that the

firms weakness stems from its highly decentralized business model. We

took on too much and had to isolate where costs and profits were coming

from. Some employees also blame the post-merger restructuring,

particularly the sales system: Before the merger, everyone had a selling

component to their job description. At the moment of the merger, the firm

announced that selling would be a specialized profession, with fewer people

doing sales. So of course that meant an immediate decline in sales efforts.

CGE&Y made the moves as part of a massive cost-cutting initiative designed

to save about $800 million. Layoffs were not the only money-saving measure

the firm undertook. For example, in a devastating blow to bread lovers

throughout the firm, the traditional free Tuesday morning croissants were

canceled in some European offices.

In the fall of 2001, the firm downgraded its annual revenue forecast from an

original figure of $9.6 billion to $7.5 billion. As a result, financial analysts

have been understandably skittish when it comes to assessing CGE&Y. The

[post-merger] integration challenge was massive, Goldman Sachs equity

research director Richard Leggett told The International Herald Tribune in

November 2001. But it took nine months to establish the structure of the

new organization. Those turned out to be a crucial nine months. As the

company emerged from that period, the bottom fell out of the market.

In late 2001, Unwin announced that he would step down from his post at the

end of the year and leave the firm altogether in April 2002. (Unwin, 59 years

old at the time of the announcement, said he had already planned to retire

when he turned 60 and asserted that the move was not a result of pressure

from the shareholders.) Taking his place was longtime CGE&Y executive

Paul Hermelin.

For his part, Hermelin remained rather tight-lipped about the firms future

during this period, asserting only that CGE&Y did not expect to make any

dramatic shifts in strategy until market conditions improved. This statement

did not keep others from predicting such a shakeup, however; in December

2001 rumors surfaced that IBM Global Services had offered to acquire

CGE&Y. The two companies have been the subject of merger rumors several

times in the past, but both continue to deny that any kind of a deal is in the

works.



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The Scoop

But while Hermelin would not talk about the possibility of a merger, he did

say early in 2002 that CGE&Y was through making major cost-cutting

measures. Unfortunately, that was not to be. Despite the CEOs earlier

statements, in June of that year the firm announced a change in structure

aimed at improving profits in its core consulting, IT services and outsourcingbusiness lines.

LEAP! of faith

In an attempt to make the most of a bad economy, in June 2002 CGE&Y

launched its LEAP! initiative, aimed at adapting the company to industrys

changing IT needs. The program, which stands for Leadership, Expansion,

Alignment, and Portfolio & Productivity Management (the exclamation point

is just to get you excited), includes shifting and/or laying off up to 3,000

people and an streamlined focus on selling the firms consulting, IT andoutsourcing solutions.

Recognition

Experiencing firsthand the sting of pink slips and declining revenues, Cap

Gemini Ernst & Young has undertaken a branding effort intended to unite the

firm and its clients against our common foe: The Economy. The guerrilla

campaign, officially called Defy the Economy, markets the firms methods

of transforming companies into adaptive enterprises that can combat

market volatility. As of mid-2002, CGE&Y had already launched it in Europeand had begun to target the U.S.

In need of a new acronym, the firm also created OTACE (On Time Above

Client Expectations), a new tool through which clients can make known what

they hope to accomplish prior to the start of an engagement and evaluate the

firms performance on an ongoing basis.

Accolades abound

Cap Gemini Ernst & Young holds a treasure trove of industry awards; mostrecently, in July 2002, it won the Billing World Excellence Award for

Integration Project of the Year, given to its Telecom Media Networks practice

for its international infrastructure growth solutions. April 2002 saw the

National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) give CGE&Ys

Multimedia Campus Presentation its 2002 Award of Excellence in the

category of Educational Programming by an Employer.




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The Scoop

In 2001 the firm also brought home the Best Management Practice Award

from the Management Consultancies Association (MCA), where it was

recognized for its work with Open Interactive, the worlds leading interactive

television series. MCA also offered high commendation in the Strategy &

Business Transformation category for work in the military shipbuildingindustry. In February 2001, CGE&Y received the Greatest Business

Impact Lotus Beacon Award for the internal knowledge management

system, Knowledge OnLine, it created for the Fluor Corporation. On the

other end of the awarding dynamic, Cap Gemini Ernst & Young sponsored

the E-nitiative award at Londons Growing Business Awards ceremony in

December 2000.

CGE&Y also hopes to continue what had in previous years become an annual

tradition for the then-independent Ernst & Young: being named to both

Fortunes 100 Best Companies to Work For list and Working Mothers 100Best Companies for Working Mothers list. The lists take into account

recruiting, development and earning, work environment, rewards and

recognition, health and well-being, time/work/life, and financial security.

E&Y regularly earned praise for family-friendly work arrangements, its

mentoring and networking opportunities for women, and for founding an

Office for Retention.

A university of our own

Cap Gemini Ernst & Young University, situated outside of Paris, facilitatesthe sharing of best practices as well as basic skills. The Discovery program

is designed to help recent graduate new hires to learn about Cap Gemini Ernst

& Young and the methods it employs in studies and with clients.

Developing our International Leaders is a nine-month program that takes

an intensive look at a variety of industries and capabilities. The 11-year-old

University was awarded the Corporate University Xchange European

Excellence Award in October 2000. Knowledge Galaxy fits into the daily

life of a Cap Gemini Ernst & Young consultant as the knowledge-sharing

intranet.



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The Scoop

Compensation

Pay

Undergraduate hires: $40,000-$43,000

Advanced degree and experienced hires: $50,000-$60,000

MBA hires: $70,000-$95,000, depending on experience

Bonuses: Cap Gemini reviews and ranks consultants on a 1-5 scale, with 5

the highest. This scale is then used to apportion bonuses. The firm did not

offered bonuses in any significant number in 2001; mid-year it announced it

would not give any, but after much criticism it agreed to offer bonuses to all

those employees who scored a 5 in their reviews, providing they worked in a

profitable sector.

Perks

15-25 days of paid vacation, depending on rank and tenure

Generous leave of absence policy

401(k) plan (match 50 cents to a dollar, to qualifying employees)

Flexible spending account

Pension plan (again, to qualifying employees)

Reimbursement for late-night cabs, meals, etc.

Flexible work arrangements

Medical, dental and vision plans

Insurance plans

Long- and short-term disability

Adoption assistance

Service recognition awards




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Key Officers

Chairman: Serge Kampf

As a young French entrepreneur, Serge Kampf watched his country reemerge

from World War II and the colonial wars as a modern, industrial powerhouse,

and he saw early on the need that French firms would have for IT services.

In 1967 he founded Cap Gemini (originally called Sogenti), an IT consulting

firm that operated for years out of a two-room office in Grenoble. But using

an aggressive growth strategy and a knack for predicting the globalizing

trends of the 1970s and 1980s, Kampf steadily grew his firm into the

consulting behemoth that it is today.

North American CEO: Mark Hauser

CEO and COO: Paul Hermelin

Group Vice President, Cap Gemini Telecom & Media: Alexandre Haeffner

Director: Chris van Breugel

Director: Clive Williams

Ownership

Cap Gemini Ernst & Young is a public company. French investment group

Compagnie Generale dIndustrie et de Participations (CGIP) owns 5.7

percent of the firms stock, while Kampf owns another 6 percent.

Business Units

Telecom Media Networks

The newest division, TMN served as CGE&Ys flagship unit during the dot-

com heyday. Today it is still strong, though understandably not as much as a

few years ago. TMNs 6,500 employees aim to service clients with end-to-

end solutions in media and high-tech sectors, including marketing strategy,

CRM and applications management.

Organization





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Organization

Consumer Products, Retail and Distribution

This unit focuses on providing in-depth research into consumer trends and

market outlooks for a wide range of sectors.

Energy, Utilities and Chemical

Employing almost 6,000 people, this division focuses on every aspect of the

EU&C sector, primarily through a range of industry specific practices such as

Trading and Risk Management and Communications Hubs.

Financial Services

CGE&Ys financial consulting unit claims 35 of the worlds 50 largest

financial institutions among its clients. Like other divisions, Financial

Services provides clients with an array of services designed to provide end-to-end consulting: strategic consulting, implementation, CRM and cost

efficiency analysis.

High Technology and Automotive

While this unit has borne a large part of the companys financial woes over

the last two years, it has also been instrumental in bringing in clients eager to

streamline their own operations to reduce costs. HT&As Adaptive

Manufacturing Enterprise blueprint, a collection of cost-efficiency solutions,

has helped a number of manufacturing clients weather the downturn. The unit

also provides best-practice analysis, B2B and CRM solutions and

collaborative product development services. The divisions hard work has

paid off: In 2001 CGE&Y won the Institute of Transport Managements

Automotive Consultancy Company of the Year award.

Locations

US offices:

Atlanta

10 Glenlake Parkway; Suite 1000

Atlanta, Georgia 30328

Phone: (404) 541-7101

Fax: (404) 541-8407



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Organization

600 Peachtree Street NE

Suite 3600

Atlanta, Georgia 30308

Phone: (404) 817-4222

Fax: (404) 817-4225

Baltimore

One North Charles; 10th Floor

Baltimore, Maryland 21201

Phone: (410) 783-3800

Fax: (410) 783-3801

Birmingham

AmSouth/Harbert Plaza

1901 Sixth Avenue North; 17th Floor

Birmingham, Alabama 35203

Phone: (205) 458-7666

Fax: (205) 226-7468

Boston Area

275 Grove Street 2-300

Newton, Massachusetts 02466

Phone: (617) 928-7600

Fax: (617) 928-7622

600 Memorial Drive; Suite 200

Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

Phone: (617) 494-4900

Fax: (617) 577-7801

One Cambridge Center

Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142

Phone: (617) 494-5600

Fax: (617) 494-4501

433 Main Street

Hudson, Massachusetts 01749Phone: (978) 562-0330

Fax: (978) 562-3230




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Organization

Charlotte

101 North Tryon Street

One Independence Center; #1000

Charlotte, North Carolina 28246

Phone: (704) 331-1900Fax: (704) 331-2071

Chicago

Sears Tower

233 South Wacker Drive; 14th Floor

Chicago, Illinois 60606

Phone: (312) 879-4923

Fax: (312) 879-6130

111 North Canal; 15th Floor

Chicago, Illinois 60606

Phone: (312) 928-1400

Fax: (312) 928-1695

10255 W. Higgins Road; 3rd Floor

Rosemont, Illinois 60018

Phone: (312) 879-2500

Fax: (312) 879-5671

Cincinnati

River Center II

100 East River Center Blvd; Suite 500

Covington, Kentucky 41011

Phone: (859) 655-1500

Fax: (859) 655-1501

Cleveland

1200 Skylight Office Tower

1660 West Second Street

Cleveland, Ohio 44113

Phone: (216) 583-3300

Fax: (216) 583-8319

Columbus

One Crosswoods Center

100 East Campus View Blvd; Suite 250

Columbus, Ohio 43235

Phone: (614) 438-2675



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Organization

Dallas

7701 Las Colinas Ridge

One Panorama Center; Suite 600

Irving, Texas 75063

Phone: (214) 665-5000Fax: (214) 665-5555

Denver

9781 S. Meridian Blvd. #220

Englewood, Colorado 80112

Phone: (720) 568-4200

Fax: (720) 568-4201

Detroit

500 Woodward; Suite 1620

Detroit, Michigan 48226

Phone: (313) 628-7540

Fax: (313) 628-7107

Honolulu

1180 Pauahi Tower

1001 Bishop Street

Honolulu, Hawaii 96813

Phone: (808) 535-6820

Fax: (808) 535-6999

Houston

1401 McKinney Street; Suite 900

Houston, Texas 77010

Phone: (281) 220-5000

Fax: (281) 220-5001

Indianapolis

10 West Market St, Ste 1300

Indianapolis, Indiana 46204

Phone: (317) 977-1300

Fax: (317) 977-1301

Kansas City

11300 Tomahawk Creek Parkway, Suite 340

Leawood, Kansas 66211

Phone: (913) 319-8000

Fax: (913) 319-8001




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Organization

Timberlands Office Park

4000 W. 114th St., Suite 100

Leawood, Kansas 66211

Phone: (913) 253-2100

Los Angeles Area

725 South Figueroa Street; Suite 300

Los Angeles, California 90017

Phone: (213) 240-7000

Fax: (213) 977-4279

18101 Von Karman Avenue; Suite 400

Irvine, California 92612

Phone: (949) 567-8700

Fax: (949) 567-8703

18111 Von Karman Avenue; Suite 700

Irvine, California 92612

Phone: (949) 440-3500

Fax: (949) 440-4599

31255 Cedar Valley Drive; Suite 319

Westlake Village, California 91362

Phone: (818) 735-8300

Fax: (818) 991-4606

Louisville400 West Market Street; Suite 2020

Louisville, Kentucky 40202

Phone: (502) 585-6444

Fax: (502) 585-1068

Miami

200 South Biscayne Boulevard; Suite 2770

Miami, Florida 33131-5313

Phone: (305) 415-1515

Fax: (305) 415-1330

Minneapolis

220 South Sixth Street; Suite 1200

South Tower

Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402

Phone: (612) 492-2700

Fax: (612) 492-2701



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Organization

North New Jersey

100 Walnut Avenue

Clark, New Jersey 07066

Phone: (732) 382-5400

Fax: (732) 382-5575

3 Paragon Way

Freehold, New Jersey 07728

Phone: (732) 358-8900

Fax: (732) 358-8803

1280 Wall Street West

Lyndhurst, New Jersey 07071

Phone: (201) 872-4100

Fax: (201) 872-2506

New York City

5 Times Square (U.S. Headquarters)

New York, New York 10036

Phone: (917) 934-8000

Fax: (917) 934-8001

55 Broad Street


Phone: (917) 320-3201

Fax: (917) 320-3217

750 Seventh Avenue


Phone: (212) 314-8200

Fax: (212) 314-8202

Philadelphia

Two Commerce Square

2001 Market Street; 41st Floor

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103

Phone: (215) 448-3815Fax: (215) 448-4069




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Organization

Phoenix

One Renaissance Square

2 North Central Avenue; Suite 2600

Phoenix, Arizona 85004

Phone: (602) 452-5900Fax: (602) 452-8007

Pittsburgh

USX Tower

400 Grant Street; 47th floor

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219

Phone: (412) 227-1100

Fax: (412) 227-1101

St. Louis

The Plaza in Clayton

190 Carondelet Plaza; Suite 1200

Clayton, Missouri 63105

Phone: (314) 290-8000

Fax: (314) 290-8001

San Francisco/Bay Area

555 California Street; Suite 1800

San Francisco, California 94104

Phone: (415) 951-3200

Fax: (415) 951-3296

20425 Stevens Creek Boulevard

Cupertino, California 95014- 2261

Phone: (408) 861-1800

Fax: (408) 861-1801

200 North Sepulveda Boulevard; Suite 1000

El Segundo, California 90245

Phone: (310) 727-8400

Fax: (310) 727-8848

Seattle

10500 NE 8th Street; Suite 1400

Bellevue, Washington 98004

Phone: (425) 818-3300

Fax: (425) 818-3301



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Organization

Tampa

100 North Tampa Street; Suite 2350

Tampa, Florida 33602-5197

Phone: (813) 225-4747

Fax: (813) 225-4847

Washington, D.C.

8000 Towers Crescent Drive; Suite 800

Vienna, Virginia 22182

Phone: (571) 382-6000

Fax: (571) 382-6001




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September 2002: Go go government work

Cap Gemini Ernst & Young became the latest entrant in the burgeoninggovernment consulting field, joining such stalwarts as Booz Allen Hamilton

and American Management Systems on the General Services

Administrations Schedule 70, a list of firms allowed to bid for government

consulting contracts.

September 2002: A new joint venture

Cap Gemini announced a joint venture with the French pharmaceutical firm

Pierre Fabre. The new firm Pierre Fabre Informatique will implement IT

systems for the drug company. Cap Gemini owns 51 percent, while PierreFabre owns 49 percent.

July 2002: A change in leadership

Mark Hauser was appointed CEO of Cap Geminis North American

operations, succeeding Terry Ozan, who moved on to head the firms

worldwide service innovation and strategy efforts.

July 2002: And the winner is

Cap Geminis Telecom Media Networks division won the 2002 Billing World

Excellence Award for Integration Project of the Year, thanks in large part to

its efforts to revamp Nextel Communications large-scale business systems.

June 2002: LEAP!

As part of an effort to rein in costs, CGE&Y cut 2,500 employees; the cuts

came on top of 5,400 axed during 2001. The majority of the cuts, part of its

LEAP! initiative, took place in continental Europe and the United States. The

firm also announced a change in structure aimed at improving profits in itscore consulting, IT services and outsourcing business lines.

April 2002: SPL in the house

CGE&Y announced a strategic alliance with SPL WorldGroup, a major

provider of management solutions for the energy industry, to utilize the

latters CorDaptix CRM package to its utilities and energy solutions portfolio.

Vault Newswire





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Vault Newswire

February 2002: Youve got a deal

Cap Gemini Ernst & Young Canada and Hydro One Networks Inc., one of

North Americas largest provider of telecom and energy services, signed a $1

billion (Canadian) deal under which a CGE&Y subsidiary will manage

selected business services, including customer service and accounting, for the

utilities giant.

December 2001: Unwin steps aside

Having successfully directed the Cap Gemini and Ernst & Young merger,

longtime CEO Geoff Unwin announced at a board of directors meeting that

he would step down from his post. Succeeding him was Paul Hermelin, who

had already held a variety of positions within the company, including serving

on the board of directors.

December 2001: Big Blue rumored to be

interested in acquiring CGE&Y

Less than two years after the merger of Cap Gemini and Ernst & Young,

rumors have surfaced that the combined company may undergo another

major merger. CGE&Y stock has risen sharply on speculation that IBM

Global Services had offered to acquire it. The two companies have been the

subject of merger rumors several times in the past, and both denied that any

kind of a deal is in the works.

December 2001: Roll out

CGE&Ys cost-cutting efforts literally have caused some employees in

Europe to go hungry. In a devastating blow to fancy bread lovers throughout

the firm, the traditional free Tuesday morning croissants were canceled.

However, employees report that the policy, which comes during a period of

widespread layoffs, probably has reduced costs enough to save at least one

job.

December 2001: CGE&Y to create time and

materials company

Responding to a slow market for information technology services, Cap

Gemini Ernst & Young announced that it will create a new company focused

on low-end services. The so-called time and materials unit will employ

5,000 people and will provide clients with short-term hardware and software



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Vault Newswire

solutions. Such services are unlike CGE&Ys usual offerings, which tend to

be longer and more lucrative.

November 2001: Get the message

Maurice Abell, CEO of Cap Gemini Ernst & Youngs operations in the United

Kingdom and Ireland, took an unusual tack to tell employees about the firms

upcoming round of layoffs: he left them a voice-mail message. The UK

offices will see a reduction of 750 jobs as a result of what Abells message

described as current market conditions. The firm made 250 other job cuts

in May. Additionally, executives in the region falling into the top 10 percent

of the firms salary range will see their pay cut by 100,000 or more.

May 2001: CGIP orders a small stake

In a move aimed at simplifying its corporate structure, French holding

company CGIP announced that it plans to reduce significantly its stake in Cap

Gemini Ernst & Young. CGIP currently owns 15.2 million shares, 8 million

of which it would sell. The move would reduce CGIPs piece of the CGE&Y

pie to 5.7 percent.

February 2001: Another dance partner?

Rumors are flying in the business community about another potential

takeover target for Cap Gemini Ernst & Young. This time the would-bepartner is Sema Group PLC, according to French news daily Le Figaro.

CGE&Y is just one of a number of possible suitors, however; Schlumberger

and Logica PLC have also been mentioned.

February 2001: Ernst & Young announces

strategic marketing alliance with CrossLogix

Ernst & Youngs alliance with CrossLogix will accelerate distribution of

CrossLogixs web-based, enterprise systems to corporate and financial

customers.




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Vault Newswire

February 2001: Ernst & Youngs Hospitality

Services Group initiates Energy Advisory

Services

The Energy Advisory Services help their clients identify and implement

energy conservation measures and make informed energy purchasingdecisions.



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Hard times

Insiders tell us that life at the firm has been unstable over the last year. Whileinsiders describe the merger as almost a non-issue for former E&Y

consultants, it came just as the economy soured, making it difficult for

CGE&Y to consolidate its new identity. As a result, some firm employees

have a hard time seeing the bright side of the weakened market. Morale is

pretty bad, comments one consultant. Adds another, Unfortunately the

merger could not [have] come at a worse time. Combine our leaderships lack

of ability to execute the post-merger integration with the recession of 2001,

and what you have is not pretty, laments one insider. Given the layoffs and

the poor economy, there was not much attention put toward culture, adds

another.

As is the case for many of its competitors, new hiring at CGE&Y has slowed

down significantly, and raises were on hold for most of 2001 and 2002. And

training, which had brought thousands of employees to Cap Gemini

University in France every year, has been downgraded: Training is a shadow

of its former self. Most of the firm-sponsored training is outsourced. Theyre

no longer training hordes of people like they used to do. As a result of all

these factors, CGE&Y has yet to develop a coherent sense of self: Theres

been a real dilution of culture, especially with the decline in training

opportunities and in combination with the layoffs, notes one respondent.

Recently the firm has made an effort to improve its culture, including Super

Fridays for operating groups that involve all members participating in a cross-

country meeting over phone and/or video conferencing. There is a push

from all levels to rebuild a strong culture, notes on consultant. I hope it will

be successful, but it will depend on the economy improving. Nevertheless,

the constant worry about the job situation has been extremely frustrating.

All or nothing

CGE&Y is a no-nonsense firm, which may explain why it has been able to do

as well as it has, despite the economic downturn and the uncertainties

associated with the merger. The firm is a believer in being integrated into

the clients everyday work environment, we hear, which can mean extremely

long hours and little time on the beach. On projects, Ill leave around 7 to 9

p.m. generally, says a source. On crunch days about 30 percent of a

typical project Ill leave from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Our Survey Says





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Our Survey Says

Some respondents estimate that they spend as much as 90 percent of their

time on the road. Explains one source, I have been fortunate to find local

projects, [but that] is rare. My colleagues who do travel go by the 3/4/5

policy where they fly into the client city Monday mornings and can fly home

Thursday nights. Fridays they typically work from home. None of thisshould be surprising, of course. One source warns, Consulting in general is

no place to have a family. The hours are long, and you never know what the

future will hold. And another consultant tells us that the 3/4/5 policy, while

still officially in place, has gone the way of free Starbucks and foosball tables

in every office: The 3/4/5 day is somewhat of a myth from the days of the

mid-1990s when there was a crunch for employees and life/work balance was

happening.

Well-paid and diverse

In return, consultants at CGE&Y can expect a solid compensation package,

as well as the standard benefits: accidental death/dismemberment insurance,

an on-site gym in some offices, laptops and tuition reimbursement. They are

also recognized for career milestones, receiving loyalty gifts for certain

numbers of years of service at the firm. In addition, According to one

consultant, All staff, in the U.S. at least, receive profit sharing equal to 5

percent of their annual pay, deposited into their 401(k) each January. This is

on top of the 401(k) matching we get. (Needless to say, though the profit-

sharing structure is still in place, depressed earnings over the last few years

have meant that employees saw little or no share of the wealth.)

And despite the conservative nature inherent in being a large consultancy,

CGE&Y is a diverse firm. Four of my five projects have had women as my

manager, one insider says. There also seem to be a reasonable percentage

of vice presidents who are women. And for a consulting firm, CGE&Y is

ethnically diverse as well: If you look at MBA schools as a benchmark, I

would say CGEY is average to above average.

In-house recognition

To back up its belief in publicly recognizing its employees for their efforts,

Cap Gemini Ernst & Young includes among its more unique programs theConsultant of the Quarter award. Each division within the company selects

an employee to be its Consultant of the Quarter. Those selected are then

nominated to attend the Overachievers Club celebration a four-day, all-

expenses-paid trip to an exotic location for the employee and a guest.

Company sources tell us that recognition is sincere and real-time employees

are also given spot recognition with cash awards or with personalized awards

that meet the employees special interests.



31/42

Overview of the Hiring Process

While Cap Gemini Ernst & Young has regularly recruited on U.S. campuses

in the past, it has decided not to do so during the 2002-2003 season. Instead,

applicants should begin by visiting the firms careers web site. There they

can complete an online application or find the address of an office in which

theyd like to work, to which they can apply directly (see page 11 for a

complete list of U.S. offices). Applications for experienced consultants are

also accepted online. The process, we hear, is extremely uniform and

bureaucratic, so dont plan on using personal connections to get hired: It

wont help much if you know someone. If you know someone, you might get

an interview where before you were on the fence, but thats it.

The interview process is fairly standard across offices: After a resume screen,

candidates are brought in for a day of four interviews. Each interviewer,

typically a senior person from that office, is responsible for covering a

particular aspect of the applicants background, interests and skills. After the

team has met and discussed the candidate, there is typically a fifth, review

interview. The interviews, we hear, vary greatly from person to person and

office to office, largely because the firm offers little guidance on how to

conduct them. There isnt a lot of training of interviewers on what to ask,

says one consultant who has conducted several interviews. When I was at

IBM we had very specific training, but at CGE&Y its much more

subjective.

Unlike many other consulting firms, Cap Gemini does not utilize cases,

preferring to rely on fit-oriented questions. That said, the firm sets pretty

high standards for who fits: As one Cap Gemini consultant, who has sat on

both sides of the interview desk says, The firm wants people with the

consulting flair, so look professional and talk well.

Insiders share that the interviews are rather laid-back; they wont try to stress

you out to see how you handle the pressure. One says that the interview was

more friendly and collegial than I expected not confrontational. Most

candidates are contacted within 48 business hours of their second interview

for potential offers. Geographic sell days are also held in most locations,

affording candidates an opportunity to become familiar with local personnel

and their specific office assignment.

The firm has identified several dimensions: technical/professional

knowledge, ability to learn, analysis and judgment, client serving orientation,

Getting Hired





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Getting Hired

knowledge of industry, flexibility, adaptability, travel, quality, commitment to

excellence, leadership, integrity and executive presence. This means

questions like Tell me about a situation where you used your skills to

demonstrate [one of these factors]. What was your role? What did you do?

What happened? What did you learn from this experience?

Cap Gemini Ernst & Young also does extensive hiring of experienced

candidates; qualified candidates must be not only technically savvy, but also

have strong business acumen. The interview process itself is very hands-on

and usually consists of three interviews. Candidates can expect to have a

technical interview (depending on their area of focus) and also to meet with

some of their peers, allowing them to experience the real look and feel of the

company from a cultural standpoint as well as from an opportunity

standpoint. As insiders point out, Technical skills can be taught, but a

persons ability to interact with people, well, cannot.

But experienced hires should take note: While Cap Gemini actively recruits

them, it also holds them to a higher fit bar for fear that they will bolt once

they enter the consulting lifestyle. The firm has reservations about absorbing

people from industry, says one consultant, and the retention rate for

industry hires is relatively low because of the difference in lifestyles. Also,

firm executives feel that the late 1990s saw both Cap Gemini and Ernst &

Young take on too many upper-level employees, and thus the firm is in the

process of cutting back: CGE&Y got overstocked in partners, notes one

source. Now the firm is raising the leverage ratio [partner per junior staff]

and the revenue per partner.

Questions to Expect

1. I see from your resume that you worked on developing a database

during your summer job. Tell me a bit about that. How exactly did you

use your skills there?

Interviewers want to see your skills in action, and to start the process of the

full skills match. Also, note that Cap Gemini Ernst & Young interviewers

wont necessarily be looking to see that youve done high-profile work for

fancy companies. They simply want to see that you have the right skills and

youve used them.



33/42


Getting Hired

2. So what are some of the activities have you been involved in at school?

Keep in mind here the words of one of our contacts: Were looking for

diversity, not just in terms of ethnicity and gender and things like that, but

also in terms of interesting backgrounds. We really want people with different

ways of solving problems.

3. What are some of your favorite classes?

You might want to structure your answer to show off some of your talents.

Questions to Ask

1. Generally speaking, how many projects will I be working on in this

practice?

Insiders report varied work requirements depending on the department.

2. What kinds of international opportunities does Cap Gemini Ernst &

Young offer?

The firm is increasing its international presence, so assignments in overseas

locations should abound for globally minded young consultants.

3. What is a typical day in the life for a consultant at this office.

Its important to get a feel for how things are run at the office to which youll

hopefully be attached. Even though a lot of your workweek will be spentaway, your schedule will still be largely determined by your office.

4. What is the current workload like at this office?

Again, things differ among offices, and you want to make sure youll be

entering one with enough work to keep you busy and employed. Find out

whether the firm is assembling capacity or work if the office is focused on

the former, it could be a while before theres enough for everyone to do.

5. What is the current salary range for this position?

As one consultant who has conducted interviews tells Vault, At the end of

the second interview, a candidate might want to enquire about pay ranges.

Otherwise they could find themselves with an offer and no chance to

negotiate.




34/42




35/42




Job Description

Consultant

Broadly speaking Cap Gemini Ernst & Young consultants work in either

Strategic Consulting or Business Consulting. (These are two of the firms six

designated professions; Technology, Operate, Business Development, and

Enabling Professions are the others.) Many consultants arrive at CGE&Y

with prior industry experience. To be considered for senior positions,

prospective consultants generally are expected to have worked at least three

years at another consulting firm or in a field related to that which they will

specialize. Software and other technical expertise, as well as familiarity withindustry trends, may also be necessary credentials. Working within a team

environment, CGE&Y consultants are responsible for doing analyses,

conducting research, and preparing proposals and presentations for clients.

The job usually involves frequent travel to the client site and other locations.

As they gain more experience, consultants will oversee the work of junior

staffers and act as liaison between the project team and the higher-ups in the

firm. After working their way up the ranks, they also work on identifying

new business opportunities and potential clients.

A Day in the Life

Consultant

8:25 a.m.: Arrive at the client site. At the office, officially the hours are 8:30

to 5:30, but you cannot expect to be on a regular schedule while working on

a project.

8:30 a.m.: Catch up on voice mail, e-mail and The Wall Street Journal, and

plan out the day as best you can. (I spend much of my time in meetings withthe client, and a lot of time just crafting the project itself.)

9:00 a.m.: Meet with your team to begin planning a pitch for tomorrow. You

have some good ideas about how to expand the clients e-commerce

capabilities, and this is your best chance to flesh them out before going public

with them. (We are constantly building spreadsheets to crunch numbers

On the Job


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On the Job

weve gathered, and building PowerPoint slides to show the client the results

of our analyses.)

9:45 a.m.: Start crafting your part of the pitch in between fielding numerous

e-mails and phone calls from frantic employees from the client company.

(One of the great things about my job is that I get a decent amount of

interaction with director-level client employees.) However, some days thats

more of a plus than others.

11:45 a.m.: A senior CGE&Yer with whom youve developed an informal

mentor-mentee relationship calls to check on how youre doing and how the

project is coming along. I spend a lot of time guiding [young consultants]

career development, says one senior manager proudly.

1:00 p.m.: Order in lunch from the local deli and schmooze with your team

members. (Lunch is catch as catch can. We try to get together for lunch, butoften Ill go along with the client.)

1:50 p.m.: Work on putting the finishing touches on tomorrows pitch. (You

make pitches to the client early in the project. Later, you tend to have more

informal meetings.)

3:30 p.m.: During another team meeting you call a co-worker at the office

who has some experience that might be pertinent to your project. (I do most

of my work in person or in meetings, and not via the phone. The exceptions

would be calling the client for clarification on a requirement, for example, or

to conference someone else into a meeting where we need their input.)

6:00: Take a straw poll to see where people want to go to dinner tonight.

There are social events like dinners about one night a week when Im at the

office, but I go out more often when Im at the clients.)

7:15: Head out to dinner. The project is coming along well so far, so you feel

OK about leaving. Of course on crunch days about 30 percent of a typical

project Ill leave from 10 p.m to 2 a.m. While enjoying a plateful of sushi,

discuss tomorrow nights social activities. (Though most project members

can go home Thursday evenings, a good number choose to stay at the client

city Thursday nights and then we all go out dancing and partying. Then they

get up early Friday and fly homeThe after-work social life is a great ending

to a long day. This pace, however, wears one out and by the weekend I dont

even want to go out with my friends. I just want to sleep!)


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On the Job

Engagement manager

7:00 a.m.: I arrive at the client site and read through e-mails from Europe. I

work in a global group, and so Im always firefighting problems that have

already emerged in offices overseas. Seven seems a little early, but at the

clients you have to arrive before their own managers, which can be pretty

early, especially when the firm has a lot of work in Europe.

8:30 a.m.: Done with the e-mails, I run status checks on current projects until

lunch.

12:30 p.m.: Typically we go to lunch as a project team, especially if part of

the client team is from out of town as well its important to build good

rapport with your coworkers. However, the days of extensive, 3-martini

lunches are over; were much more cost-conscious now.

2:00 p.m..: Back from lunch, I dig into my long to do list that resulted frommy e-mails and status checks from that morning.

3:30 p.m.: Status meetings and more status meetings. Especially when a

deadline is approaching, our team meets often to work out kinks and make

sure were all on the same page. These meetings sometimes take up the rest

of the day; other times I return to my desk and work until dinner. I like to

work late so that I can leave the client site by Thursday night.

7:00 p.m.: Like lunch, dinner is often taken with the client team. At the very

least the CGE&Y side gets together for dinner or drinks the best clients of

the hotel bar are consultants.


38/42

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(Thought so.)

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39/42




Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, like its fellow IT consulting firms, will likely

continue to face hard times until the economy and, in turn, the demand for

their services, picks up. The firm is well-positioned, notes one CGE&Yer.

But it entered technology implementation management back when no one

was doing it, and now its a commodity. So the question is whether they can

keep their advantage. The firm has had to make serious cuts in personnel and

services to save costs at a time when it should be consolidating its post-

merger identity, and as a result of this shift in priorities, morale at the firm is

significantly depressed. Nevertheless, few people blame their misfortunes

wholly on CGE&Y, and observers both inside and out of the firm expect

business to pick up significantly within the next two years.

Final Analysis


40/42




41/42




Check out Focus E-zine, Cap Gemini Ernst & Youngs online magazine,

which gives you a good idea about the companys approach to business and

strategy. Its located at http://community.cgey.com/focus/index.jsp. In

addition, we recommend the following articles:

Cap Gemini to Cut 3,000 Jobs as IT Spending Slides, The Independent,

October 13, 2002.

Big Fish Meets Big Pond: Cap Gemini Ernst & Young Jumps into Federal

Market, Washington Technology, August 28, 2002.

Unwin Quits as Chief Executive of Cap Gemini, Financial Times,

December 12, 2001.

Cap Gemini Saves Dough on Pastries, Dow Jones International News,

December 11, 2001. Cost-cutting comes at the expense of tasty breakfast

treats.

Recommended Reading


42/42

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VEP-Cap Gemini Ernst & Young 2003