Ken Robinson is a senior executive in Accenture's South African Resources operating group, specialising in finance and performance management and strategic development.
He describes his core responsibility as using Accenture's best skills and methodologies to deliver projects beyond clients' expectations, and assisting his colleagues to do the same.
For the past 12 years Robinson has worked largely at Eskom, which provides more than 60 percent of Africa's electricity. These years of electricity industry experience have given him a thorough understanding of electricity generation, transmission and distribution.
He has been involved in many of the major strategic challenges of the industry, notably the possible future scenarios in industry structure involving Eskom, municipalities and independent power producers. He also played a key role in the transformational change in processes, human performance and technology caused by implementation of SAP financial, materials and fixed assets management, and a new interfaced billing system for Eskom's three million customers.
Robinson says the next few years will be critical for South African electricity. He believes our national capacity will be severely extended in Eskom's R100 billion capital expansion to support government targets for economic growth. Service delivery through electricity distribution will be transformed through the restructuring of Eskom and 187 municipal electricity distributors, with extensive ramifications for customers, employees, and public sector finance. Robinson believes that Accenture can play a vital role in providing skills to assist the change.
Robinson was born in London in 1948 and, after finishing his schooling in England, studied theoretical chemistry at the University of Sussex and then qualified as a chartered accountant (South Africa) through the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He has worked for Accenture (and its predecessors) in Johannesburg for more than 35 years and says he enjoys the independence whilst being part of a global enterprise with high ethics, and the regular opportunity to use his language skills in Spanish, French and German. Prior to his projects with Eskom, Robinson managed financial process, information systems and strategic change projects across many industries including financial services, retail and mining. He also acted as Accenture's own financial manager for a period and gained true line manager insight into the financial issues of his clients.
Robinson says he chose a career in management and technology consulting "to make a difference." Within Accenture he has driven initiatives to improve financial management in the business, and for the past five years he has organised the Accenture Analyst Network, a knowledge sharing project to enhance consulting skills. He has represented Accenture on the Council of the Institute of Management Consultants of Southern Africa, of which he is a former President. Robinson has been deeply involved in the design of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Black Economic Empowerment Charter and a similar charter for management consultants. He also led the successful project to transfer 30 percent of Accenture South Africa to black ownership for the benefit of Accenture's black employees through an employee trust, thus aligning its ownership structure with government policy.
Robinson is a keen sportsman—he fondly recalls the hole he won against Seve Ballesteros with an eagle on a par five while working at a Spanish golf club during a brief sabbatical from Accenture. He is a former South African national champion in orienteering and has represented South Africa in this sport which involves trail running and map navigation. He also enjoys cycling, running and tennis and is a regular participant in the Cape Argus Cycle Tour in Cape Town with 18 tours to his credit.
Robinson's interest in international environmental issues have taken him on study visits to more than 130 countries, and as an avid birdwatcher he has been blessed to see more than 50 percent of the world's bird species on his travels. He keeps focused when driving between the office and home by listening to the world's great symphonies. His favourite for long trips is Bruckner's 5th Symphony.
Robinson's objectives for the next 10 years include helping government roll out its policy for electricity as a key enabler of the South African economy and to improve the quality of life of its citizens. He also wants to help grow Accenture and its people into South Africa's premier change agent with five-fold growth in its employee numbers. If he can, he will find the time to visit another 130 countries before they disappear or new ones are invented.