Cap Gemini Ernst & Young: Hiding the best search engine

Best practice is not being identified and shared within the organisation.

The Site

Cap Gemini Ernst & Young (CGEY) has grown through mergers into one of the world’s largest management and technology consultancies. Its global home page recognises that visitors may need some help in finding their way to the relevant part of the empire by featuring both ‘international sites’ and ‘search’ buttons.

However, what lies behind the button differs from country to country. The worldwide .com site search has three search fields but no explanation of how to use them nor a link to a ‘help’ feature. The UK and US sites have an exemplary page with five simple Plain English “search tips” explaining how to get the best out of the feature. In France the button leads to a site plan. Canadians get a French/English site option, each with its own variant. And so on….

The Takeaway

CGEY has what its site needs – a useful and user-friendly search facility to guide visitors to the appropriate part of the group labyrinth. Unfortunately, it is confined to the UK and US sites.

Clearly best practice is not being identified and shared within the organisation – or there exists a degree of internal autonomy that allows a ‘not invented here’ mentality to block its adoption (the Anglo-French schism in Canada suggests the latter is a strong element).

This is damaging to CGEY in two ways. First, it may be a symptom of a wider knowledge-sharing problem within the organisation which will put it at a competitive disadvantage (to say nothing of the extra cost and resources involved in re-inventing the wheel). Ironically, this could most affect the very local areas where autonomy is at its strongest. Second, clients and site visitors in areas denied the best search engine are going to be less satisfied than they could be.

First published on 18 September, 2003