In the latest step to further its determination to increase its service revenues, IBM has teamed with accountancy firm Coopers & Lybrand to form equally-owned Meritus Consulting Services Inc in Greenwich, Connecticut, which will provide management consulting services for leading consumer package goods and pharmaceutical and healthcare supplies companies. Meritus also will develop services in the areas of quality, design for competitive advantage and computer-integrated manufacturing for those two industries and for aerospace, defence and automotive companies. Meritus’ aim is to improve and enhance a company’s performance and competitiveness by identifying opportunities for continuous improvement. The big accountancy firms are increasingly diversifying into more glamourous areas, but the new agreement, and the fact that IBM says it is prepared to form joint ventures with any of the other accountancy firms – would that include its own auditor, Price Waterhouse & Co? – will raise growing fears of conflict of interest on the part of the accounting giants, and lead to pressure for divestment of non-accounting businesses.
