Panel discussion on "The impact of mergers of accounting firms on the auditing profession";

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Panel Discussion on
"The Impact of Mergers of Accounting Firms on the Auditing Profession"
Editor's Note: The panel consisted of the following members:
Stephen J. Aldersley, Ernst & Young, Canada David W. Hunerberg, Deloitte & Touche Jonathon E. Killmer, Coopers & Lybrand Julia A. Lelik, Peat Marwick Thorne, Canada Roger R. Nelson, Ernst & Young James K. Loebbecke, University of Utah
The practitioner's comments were based on their personal experience and philosophy along with the firm's experience and philosophy. The academic member of the panel, Professor James Loebbecke, con-cluded the discussion with his views on the subject. The comments are given below in the order they were presented.
Stephen J. Aldersley
Ernst & Young, Canada
I would like to begin my comments with a short parable outlining some of the factors that led to the accounting firm mergers. Many of these were mentioned yesterday by Ed Kangas in his luncheon address.
The Parable of the Geese
(Or, What to do when your goose is cooked!)
Once upon a time there were eight large flocks of colored geese. We'll refer to each flock by its color: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, White and Black. Geese from these flocks ate Kentucky Blue Grass, which was con-sidered a delicacy amongst the geese species.
At the same time there lived a wide variety of hunters who grew grain to eat. Because they all believed that goose droppings were beneficial to their crops, the hunters always planted patches of Kentucky Blue near their crops so the geese would fly by. Occasionally, when there was a crop failure, there would be a local food shortage and the hunters would shoot the geese they had attracted with their Kentucky Blue.
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