Dennis M. Nally was elected Global Chairman of the PricewaterhouseCoopers network for a four-year term beginning on 1 July 2009. He joined PwC’s Network Leadership Team in 2008. From 2002-2009, he was Senior Partner of PwC US. He joined PwC in 1974 and became a partner in the US firm in 1985.


Dennis NallyThe past year has been tough for the world economy. Although we are now seeing the first signs of a rebound, the recovery has yet to fully take off and there are still potential troubles ahead, such as the threat of faltering growth and inflation. Until the recovery seems secure, the challenge of dealing with the effects of a lingering recession will continue to dominate every aspect of business and commerce.

Governments around the world played their part in restoring confidence by taking dramatic steps to stimulate growth. These stimulus programmes have started to show some positive results, aided by the closer coordination that has emerged among countries around the world in their responses to the downturn.

At the same time, national regulators have begun to implement schemes to prevent a recurrence of the financial meltdown. It is necessary, however, to take a careful and considered approach to such changes to the regulatory environment in order to strike the critical balance between control and free markets. The goal must be to develop regulation that minimises future problems without hampering entrepreneurial spirit. Businesses, by their nature, must take risks in order to succeed. Finding the right level of risk, and understanding what that risk really entails, is the key challenge for both entrepreneurs and investors.

There couldn’t be a more exciting time to lead a professional services network such as PwC, given the uncertainty ahead for the global economy and the challenges and opportunities it will present for us and our clients. I’m honoured by the confidence that the PwC network has shown in electing me as Global Chairman. In this role, I work closely with the other members of our Network Leadership Team (NLT): Bob Moritz, senior partner of the United States firm; Ian Powell, senior partner of the United Kingdom firm; Hans Wagener, senior partner of the Germany firm; and Silas Yang, senior partner of the China firm.

The responsibility of the NLT is to encourage and foster closer cooperation across our network, and to become more nimble, responsive and effective in everything we do. To protect and enhance our market-leading brand, we will work to embed throughout the PwC network a culture of quality and excellent service that makes clients eager to work with us. In pursuing these aims, we all owe a debt of gratitude to my predecessor, Samuel A. DiPiazza, Jr., for his years of visionary leadership and for carrying on the long tradition of entrepreneurial excellence at PwC.
Related links