Strategy at Grant Thornton Canada

Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, Dec 2004 by Hutchinson, Ian, Vibert, Conor

IH & CV: How would you describe your leadership style?

AM: I would describe myself as open and collaborative, but I would suggest that I am firmly in control of the vision. I would suggest my strengths lie in establishing a vision, and communicating that message and vision constantly and consistently throughout the organization. I would suggest that someone in my role needs to be able to see the firm as it exists today and see the firm as it might exist in five or 10 years' time and then connect these two visions as well as develop the strategies and initiatives necessary to accomplish just that. Where my weakness lies is in the details of executing specific strategies. I see myself as the guardian of the vision and work towards accomplishing that. What I try to do is establish a framework for the management team and all our partners. My role is to ensure that the initiatives and strategies are within the framework and all employees are working to achieve the vision that we've established.

Note

1 Today, Grant Thornton International is one of the world's leading organizations of independently owned and managed accounting and consulting firms providing assurance, tax and specialist advice to independent businesses and their owners. Member firms operate in 111 countries in around 600 offices worldwide.

lan Hutchinson

Conor Vibert

Acadia University

This interview was conducted on October 14, 2004, as part of the Acadia Distinguished Business Speaker Series.

Ian Hutchinson is an Associate Professor of Accounting and Conor Vibert is an Associate Professor of Business Strategy in the Fred C. Manning School of Business at Acadia University, Wolfville, NS, Canada B4P 2R6. E-mail: ian.hutchinson@acadiau.ca, conor.vibert@acadiau.ca