Ernst & Young Ranks Fourth Worldwide Among Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises; Leading Professional Services Giant Recognized for World-Class Knowledge Creation and Sharing

Business Wire, Nov 12, 1998

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 12, 1998--Ernst & Young has been ranked fourth among the top 20 organizations worldwide in the recently announced 1998 Most Admired Knowledge Enterprises(sm) (MAKEsm) Award - the highest ranking of any professional services organization.

Conducted by Teleos, a London-based knowledge management research company, and sponsored by Business Intelligence and the Journal of Knowledge Management, the MAKE Award recognizes companies for world-class knowledge creation and sharing efforts. Other award recipients in the top five were Lucent Technologies, Intel, Monsanto and Xerox.

The companies were judged in eight separate knowledge categories. Ernst & Young ranked number one for effectiveness of knowledge sharing; number two for overall quality of its knowledge program; and number three for creating customer value and loyalty. In ranking by industry, Ernst & Young achieved the number one position for the consulting industry.

"This acknowledgement further demonstrates Ernst & Young's competitive edge as a professional services organization," said Ernst & Young Vice Chairman G. Hilton Dean. "We are deeply honored to be recognized as an effective knowledge sharing leader."

In identifying companies that are leasers in knowledge creation and sharing practices, senior executives at Fortune 500 companies, chief knowledge officers and leading knowledge management practitioners were asked to nominate MAKE companies against the following eight knowledge performance attributes:

-- overall quality of its knowledge program

-- top management support for knowledge management

-- contribution to innovation in all areas of its business

-- success in maximizing its intellectual assets

-- effectiveness of knowledge sharing practices

-- success in establishing a culture of continuous learning

-- effectiveness of knowledge initiatives in promoting customer value

and loyalty

-- contribution of knowledge initiatives to generating shareholder

value

Ernst & Young's innovative knowledge-sharing initiatives have been described by a leading industry analyst as up to four years ahead of those of its competitors. Aware that knowledge sharing is playing a critical role in the expansion and transformation of the global marketplace, Ernst & Young launched a worldwide knowledge-sharing initiative that has led to the implementation of a state-of-the-art wide-area computer network through which 82,000 people in the Ernst & Young global organization can share leading practices and intelligence.

This intranet allows Ernst & Young personnel around the world to access more than 1,200 internal knowledgebases and external sources supplying business knowledge and global news and information. At the heart of this knowledge management initiative was the creation of the Ernst & Young Center for Business Knowledge(R). With a network of subject-matter professionals at 14 strategic worldwide locations, the center's mission is to package knowledge for easy assimilation, develop proprietary insight into business situations, and vigorously monitor, safeguard and update Ernst & Young's knowledgebases on a global scale.

Also recognized was the Ernst & Young Center for Business Innovation(TM). This center is a research facility where nationally recognized thought leaders focus their strategic thinking on business process, information technology, change management issues, and knowledge management to develop practical solutions for use in the real world.

As a result of its advanced knowledge management processes, Ernst & Young is ever more responsive to client needs. This enhanced service capability is reflected in its record growth. Ernst & Young LLP led the "Big Six" in revenue growth for three consecutive years. In fiscal 1997, U.S. revenues were up 24 percent from the previous year.

Revenues for member firms of Ernst & Young International were $9.1 billion for fiscal 1997, a growth increase of more than 17 percent over the previous fiscal year.

Ernst & Young LLP (www.ey.com) provides assurance and advisory business services, tax services and consulting for domestic and global clients. The firm has 29,000 people in 87 U.S. cities. Ernst & Young LLP is a member firm of Ernst & Young International (www.eyi.com), a global organization whose member firms have 82,000 people in 132 countries.