Accenture and Hackett partner to help cut universities' administrative costs

The global management consulting company Accenture and the operations improvement consultancy the Hackett Group have recently announced that they will continue to partner to help universities cut their administrative costs.

The two consulting companies have issued some examples of ongoing projects managed by the partnership. At Indiana University, where budget pressures created the need to improve administrative efficiency, the two companies have conducted a benchmarking assessment across the university's seven campuses. The analysis included the university's human resources, payroll, marketing and student services functions.

At the University of Massachusetts, Accenture and Hackett conducted a benchmarking assessment of the procurement and accounts payable functions and have made recommendations for cost savings including improvements to purchasing tools and advice on leveraging the collective purchasing power across its five campuses.

"Universities are under the same tough circumstances as most state and local governments, namely a widening gap between stagnant or slow-growing revenues alongside fast-growing expenditures needed to deliver core services," explained Dan London, North American managing director for Accenture’s health and public service operating group.

According to NASDAQ, Accenture plans to hire 64,000 more employees in fiscal year 2011.