Describe six information problems (two at each level) that would help justify the client firm's expense of PwC HR-related professional services. Include explicit treatment of the challenge of addressing the information requirement/answering the question sustainably.

Case Description The company PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) traces its origins back to 1849 and offers auditing, accounting, and assurance services. The firm provides services up and down the organizational hierarchy from strategic consulting for financial valuation reporting to tactical human resources performance assessments, to operational forensics. The firm also provides professional services across a range of value areas such as business intelligence, logistics benchmarking, and information security. PwC also has expertise across sectors such as automotive, hospitality and leisure, entertainment and media, technology, financial services, real estate, transportation and logistics, and retail. changes transform their business? All CEOS Africa CEOs Asia Pacinc CEOS Throughout its existence, PwC has focused significant attention on demonstrating their thought leadership in multiple domains. PwC produces numerous market trend To what extent are CEOs currently the clobal trends they believe will to analysis reports for their clients and at times allows public access to the same. For instance, in PwC's 17th Annual Global CEO survey (2014) the firm incorporated a heavy focus on human resource (HR) challenges. In that survey they found that although 93% of CEOs reported that their firms have serious talent management challenges to face "in the near future" a surprising 61% indicated that they have not taken strategic first steps to address those challenges. The same report found that only 34% of CEOs felt that their HR capabilities were well-prepared for those challenges. And the issue was not reserved to one particular country or region (as can be seen in the right). CEE CEOS Latin America CEOs Middle East CEO North America CEOS Western Europe CEOS 20N ON 200 40% GOS BOX 100N No need to change Recognise need to change Developing strategy to change Concrece plans to implement change programmes change programme underway or completed One Client's challenge One PwC client, a leading global financial services firm with approximately 20 million customers and more than 10,000 employees worldwide, found that its human capital management (HCM) system could not keep pace with the complex needs of its rapidly growing global business. Compensation was a particular concern for the firm, whose performance-based culture distributes compensation based on an employee's contribution to firm success. The existing proprietary HCM system was not designed to measure these results on a global basis, nor could it support a multicurrency employee compensation approach. The client firm knew that updating the existing compensation tool would require costly and time consuming coding changes and ultimately prove inadequate anyway. The firm's leadership felt they had two choices: either take precious time to build a new solution from scratch, or purchase a new, and likely expensive, HCM system that would meet its needs for the next 10 years. PwC's Advisory solution When the financial services firm engaged PwC to help it plan and implement a solution, a third option was presented that would enable them to maximize the investment in the existing core HCM system while quickly gaining state-of-the-art functionality. Working closely with Oracle's HCM professionals, PwC developed a project plan to implement particular HCM modules using a "coexistence" approach. Coexistence enabled the firm to add Oracle's Fusion HCM Compensation and Talent Management modules to its existing core HCM system using standardized application integration interfaces. PwC helped design a roadmap, resolve project issues inherent in an early adopter program, and redesign and improve the appropriate HR business processes. Throughout the implementation, PwC worked with the firm's PwC case (continued) managers to facilitate training and deliver a seamless transfer of knowledge to business users. The financial services firm was among the first to implement this particular HCM system coexistence approach, and PwC provided documentation on business requirements, configurations, business process gap analysis, as well as baseline test scripts and scenarios. PwC co-authored (with the firm's business transformation experts) the major process change justifications. Initially, PwC, Oracle, and the client firm deployed pilot Compensation Management and Talent Management modules to a targeted employee population that included multiple business units and international employees. Once lessons learned were identified and disseminated, the new integrated HCM modules were implemented for the remainder of the firm's employees across the globe. Impact on client's business The client firm has realized the following benefits: Up to a 70 percent reduction in time spent on compensation review process. The process now takes only three to six weeks, down from 10 weeks previously. . . . Ability to more efficiently meet global compensation requirements and ability to streamline performance ratings and compensation processes. Empowered managers to make the right compensation decisions based on key information from embedded dashboards and analytics. Increased system integration, automation, and workflow to yield process efficiencies and reduce manual processes. 83 percent of pilot participants agreed to advocate for the tool. Entering fourth successful cycle of compensation since implementation. . . Based on the success of the pilot program for compensation, the firm engaged PwC to implement additional performance management and goal management modules. Previously, the firm used a 42-point numeric rating scale for its performance reviews. As the scale was so large, employees lacked visibility into what their rating meant relative to their peers, and how their rating scores overtime affected their personal career. PwC worked with the firm to streamline this process and incorporate a five-point scale with qualitative indicators to let them know if they were meeting or exceeding expectations. The new goal management system allowed the employees to digitally maintain and update their goals throughout the year, cultivating a culture of proactive personal development and self-growth. The client firm is planning to move all of its HR processes to the cloud by implementing the rest of the Oracle's HCM suite of applications. While the success of efforts like the above were pleasing to PwC leadership, trends toward more freelance, contract-based talent acquisition, more flexible work arrangements, and increasing workforce diversity would present new challenges and opportunities for clients in the future. What HCM systems could be designed and implemented to help clients - and their talented professionals thrive and adapt - in the future