Corporate HISTORY

You will find the Corporate History in table form at the end of the page.

Our success began with management accounting and control

The company was founded in October 1981 under the name IFUA: Institut für Unternehmensanalyse (Institute for Corporate Analysis). The founding fathers were the university professors Péter Horváth and Erich Zahn, together with the businessman Hans-Georg Winderlich. Activities focused on applying the latest findings from management accounting and controlling research in the corporate world. The first annual Stuttgart Controller Forum took place in 1987. The yearly event soon developed into one of the most important specialist congresses in the field of management control. After the death of Hans-Georg Winderlich and Erich Zahn’s retirement, the IFUA was renamed Horváth & Partner GmbH.

Growth and internationalization

The nineties led our organization to fresh fields as we grew to become an international consulting group with offices in Budapest (1990), Vienna (1994), Munich (1995), Düsseldorf (1998), Berlin (1999) and Zurich (2000). Our in-house training program “Controlling” was established in 1992 and has since blossomed into the extensive training portfolio offered by the Horváth Academy today. Together, Péter Horváth and his partners pioneered and spear-headed the development of new management accounting and controlling methods and the application of a wide range of management control instruments in companies. By means of Activity-Based Costing and the Target Costing method in the field of product development we made – and continue to make – an important contribution to the competitiveness of our domestic industry. In the mid-nineties we brought the Balanced Scorecard concept to Europe, laying the foundation for further growth in the field of strategy implementation. In 1998 we had more than 100 employees.

A new structure to scale new heights

The year 2000 heralded a new era as we paved the way to yet more sustained growth by restructuring the company: the Horváth AG – a holding company for the Horváth & Partners Group – was founded, with Péter Horváth taking on the role of Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Management of both the Group and the individual national subsidiaries now lay in the hands of the newly created Managing Board, the managing directors of the national subsidiaries and the regional management teams, comprising all the partners from the relevant regions. The years 2001 to 2003 saw the opening of our subsidiary in the USA (Boston) and foreign representations in Barcelona, Madrid and Prague. In the year 2002 the 200th employee was recruited. We doubled the size of our team in just four years.

Forging ahead with the Performance Architect concept

At the heart of our consulting work lies our own, comprehensive Performance Architect concept aimed at creating sustained improvement to the performance of organizations. This is achieved through the integrated design of strategy, processes, structures and management control systems. We accompany our clients throughout the entire optimization process from concept through to realization. In 2005 Horváth & Partners was awarded the TOP 100 seal of approval for outstanding innovation in small- and mid-sized companies and founded a further national subsidiary in Romania. In 2006 the company celebrated its 25th anniversary. In the same year Horváth & Partners joined the Highland Worldwide, an international network of independent consulting firms. This enables us to undertake projects in other important economic regions of the world, combining the highest levels of consulting expertise with precise knowledge of the local circumstances. In the years following this step the company received various awards as one of the best employers in Germany and Europe. In 2008 the 400th employee joined Horváth & Partners. In the same year we opened our office in Frankfurt/ Main, while Group turnover topped 100 million euros for the first time in FY 2008/2009. Due to the successful and ever closer cooperation in the Highland Worldwide Network, domestic activities in Spain and the USA were transferred to partners within the alliance in 2010.

Today, Horváth & Partners is one of the most renowned management consultants in Europe. Numerous international corporations number among our clients, together with an array of small and mid-sized companies from all sectors and public organizations. The Horváth & Partners Partnership Model, under which only active employees can become shareholders, ensures the long-term independence of our company. Our primary objective is to continue to grow profitably on the basis of our unique corporate culture and spirit of partnership.