Boston Consulting Group

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is an American management consulting firm founded in 1963.[4] BCG is one of the three biggest employers in management consulting, known as MBB or the Big Three.[5]

Boston Consulting Group
Private
IndustryManagement consulting
Founded1963 (1963)
FounderBruce Henderson
HeadquartersBoston, Massachusetts, United States
Number of locations
More than 90 offices[1]
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Rich Lesser (CEO)[2]
Revenue$8.5 billion (2019)[3]
Number of employees
21,000 worldwide[3]
Websitewww.bcg.com

History

The firm was founded by Bruce Henderson in 1963 as part of The Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Company. Henderson had previously been employed at Arthur D. Little.[6] In 1973, Bill Bain and others left BCG to form Bain & Company. In 1974, Henderson arranged an employee stock ownership plan so that the employees could make the company independent from The Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Company. The buyout of all shares was completed in 1979.[7]

As part of the federal government's auto bailout program, Boston Consulting Group was paid as much as $7 million to advise General Motors and Chrysler to help costs and overhaul operations.[8]

Recruiting

BCG typically hires for an associate or a consultant position, recruiting from top undergraduate colleges and business schools.[9] The firm also offers summer internships.[10][11]

Insiders estimate that BCG North American offices receive around 10,000 resumes every year for the associate position.[12]

Senior associates have the opportunity to work abroad through BCG's exchange program.[13][14] Many associates are also sponsored by the firm to attend business school.[15][16] As is typical for the top strategy consultancies, BCG practices an "up or out," or forced attrition, system, in which employees must leave the company if they fail to achieve a promotion within a fixed time frame.[17]

Interview process

BCG uses the case method to conduct interviews. This technique is designed to simulate the types of problems inherent in management consulting and to test the qualitative and quantitative skills deemed important for abstract thinking in a business setting.[18] Generally, the interview process consists of two rounds.[19]

BCG growth-share matrix

In the 1970s, BCG created and popularized the "growth–share matrix," a chart to help large corporations decide how to allocate cash among their business units. The corporation would categorize its business units as "Stars," "Cash Cows," "Question Marks," or "Dogs," and then allocate cash accordingly, moving money from Cash Cows toward Stars and Question Marks, which have higher market growth rates and hence greater upside potential.[20][21]

BCG extended business units

BCG Digital Ventures

BCG Digital Ventures partners with companies to research, design, and launch new products and services.[22] Ware2Go (a logistics platform developed with United Parcel Service), Tracr (a blockchain-based supply chain tracker developed with De Beers) and OpenSC (a supply chain tracker developed with the World Wide Fund for Nature) are projects backed by BCGDV.[23][24][25][26]

BCG GAMMA

BCG GAMMA applies data science, analytics, and artificial intelligence to identify competitive advantages.[27]

BCG Platinion

BCG Platinion covers the tech, architecture, implementation, and human-centered design side of digital transformations.[28][29]

BCG Omnia

BCG Omnia translates strategy expertise into software and data solutions.[30]

BrightHouse, a BCG Company

BrightHouse is a creative consultancy.[31]

Expand, a BCG Company

Expand offers research and syndicated benchmarking for financial institutions.[32]

INVERTO, a BCG Company

INVERTO is an international management consultancy and one of the specialists for strategic purchasing and supply chain management in Europe.[33]

Controversy

Angola

An article published by the The New York Times on January 19, 2020 identified the Boston Consulting Group as having facilitated Isabel dos Santos's exploitation of Angola's natural resources while the country suffers from poverty, illiteracy, and infant mortality.[34] According to the article, BCG was contracted by the Angolan state-owned petroleum company Sonangol, as well as the jewelry company De Grisogono, owned by her husband through shell companies in Luxembourg, Malta and the Netherlands; the firm was reportedly paid through offshore companies in tax havens such as Malta.[34]

Saudi Arabia

The New York Times also reported that Boston Consulting Group is one of the consulting firms, along with McKinsey and Booz Allen, helping Prince Mohammed bin Salman consolidate power in Saudi Arabia.[35] While a BCG spokesperson said the firm turns down projects involving military and intelligence strategy, BCG is involved in designing the economic blueprint for the country, a plan called Vision 2030.[35]

Notable current and former employees

References
  1. ""Boston Consulting Group Hits $6.3 Billion in Sales"". March 8, 2018.
  2. ""Rich Lesser"".
  3. ""Boston Consulting Group Revenues Reach $8.5 Billion"". March 12, 2020.
  4. "BCG History - The History of Boston Consulting Group". bcg.com. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  5. "MBA graduates' love affair with consultancy endures".
  6. "Bruce Henderson, 77, Consultant And Writer on Business Strategy". nytimes.com. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  7. Gant, Tina (December 2003). International Directory of Company Histories. St. James Press. ISBN 978-1-55862-503-7. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  8. https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/11/business/11bizbriefs-USHIRESBOSTO_BRF.html
  9. "Interview Insider: How to Get Hired at the Boston Consulting Group". cosmopolitan.com. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  10. "Through the Revolving Doors: My Experience as a BCG Summer Associate". linkedin.com. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  11. "Internships". bcg.com. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  12. https://mconsultingprep.com/bcg-case-interview/
  13. "Four Things You Gain When You Leave Your Comfort Zone". linkedin.com. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  14. "Lotte Is an Imaginative Visionary". bcg.com. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  15. "BCG Fellows MBA Scholarship Program". bcg.com. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  16. "BCG Company Guide". transparentcareer.com. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  17. Perlow, Leslie (2012). Sleeping With Your Smartphone: How to Break the 24/7 Habit and Change the Way You Work. p. 228. ISBN 9781422144046.
  18. "Consultant Interview Preparation and Practice Cases". bcg.com. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  19. "What's Different Between a First Round and Final Round Interview at Bain, BCG or McKinsey". casecoach.com. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  20. "How to use the BCG Matrix model". smartinsights.com. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  21. "What Is a BCG Matrix?". businessnewsdaily.com. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  22. "BCG DV".
  23. Chhabra, Esha (January 31, 2019). "The WWF backs blockchain to unpick messy food supply chains". Wired.com. Wired. Retrieved January 17, 2020. Funded by BCG Digital Ventures, an investment and incubation arm of Boston Consulting Group, OpenSC is designed as a self-sustaining “profit-for-purpose” venture.
  24. Redmayne, James (January 23, 2019). "From bait to plate: Blockchain platform tracks food's journey". Reuters.com. Reuters. Retrieved January 17, 2020. OpenSC evolved from a WWF-led project that used blockchain to track tuna caught in the Pacific Ocean. BCG Digital Ventures was brought in to help build the platform.
  25. Kilian, Annie (May 24, 2018). "Signet joins De Beers' Tracr blockchain platform pilot". miningweekly.com. Mining Weekly. Retrieved January 17, 2020. It is being developed by De Beers, with support from BCG Digital Ventures, and is expected to launch later this year.
  26. Brennan, Morgan (August 28, 2018). "UPS launches Ware2Go, a platform aimed at helping small- and mid-sized businesses expand". cnbc.com. CNBC. Retrieved January 17, 2020. Ware2Go will be based in Atlanta and is partially owned by BCG Digital Ventures.
  27. "BCG Gamma".
  28. "BCG Platinion".
  29. [thecambridgeconsultant.com/where-next-for-consulting/ "What Is The Future of Consulting?"] Check |url= value (help).
  30. "Accelerating Insights with Data and Software Solutions". Boston Consulting Group. Retrieved April 2, 2020.
  31. "BCG - BrightHouse". Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  32. "Expand Research - About Us". Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  33. "INVERTO, a BCG Company".
  34. Forsythe, Michael; Gurney, Kyra; Alecci, Scilla; Hallman, Ben (January 19, 2020). "How U.S. Firms Helped Africa's Richest Woman Exploit Her Country's Wealth". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  35. Forsythe, Michael; Mazzetti, Mark; Hubbard, Ben; Bogdanich, Walt (November 4, 2018). "Consulting Firms Keep Lucrative Saudi Alliance, Shaping Crown Prince's Vision". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
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