ABSTRACT
Steve Samek, managing partner of Arthur Andersen’s U.S. audit practice, never spoke a truer sentence in his life. An auditor’s only real product is his or her credibility. When an auditor’s written opinion is no longer deemed trustworthy, no client will pay a nickel for the auditor’s signature. Samek epitomized the “new” Andersen. Unlike Leonard Spacek’s Derby-
clad technicians, Samek was an aggressive salesman and an extroverted showman. Samek rose to prominence within Andersen through his work on the Boston Chicken account. In one of his annual performance reviews, Samek was praised for turning Boston Chicken’s $50,000 audit into a $3 million full-service engagement. After being named head of Andersen’s U.S. operations in 1998, Samek
spent much of the next four years touring the country urging audit partners to sell more services. A violinist sometimes accompanied Samek as he exhorted audit partners to think of themselves as maestros directing a diverse “orchestra” of auditors, tax specialists, and consultants. Client service was stressed more than ever before. Samek even penned an 80-page manual that included advice on how to empathize with clients. Samek implemented a “2” performance appraisal system that encour-
aged audit partners to generate at least twice as much nonaudit revenue as audit revenue. A partner whose clients paid $3 million in annual audit fees, for example, was evaluated based on how close his clients came to purchasing $6 million of tax and consulting services. Young partners knew the only route to advancement within the firm was through selling more services. Even veteran partners had to generate new revenues or risk being forced into early retirement.
