Boston Consulting Group is an American management consulting firm founded in 1963. BCG is one of the three biggest employers in management consulting.
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. 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. 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.
Recruiting
BCG typically hires for an associate or a consultant position, recruiting from top undergraduate colleges and business schools. The firm also offers summer internships. Insiders estimate that BCG North American offices receive around 10,000 resumes every year for the associate position. Senior associates have the opportunity to work abroad through BCG's exchange program. Many associates are also sponsored by the firm to attend business school. 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.
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. Generally, the interview process consists of two rounds.
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.
BCG extended business units
BCG Digital Ventures
BCG Digital Ventures partners with companies to research, design, and launch new products and services. Ware2Go, Tracr and OpenSC are projects backed by BCGDV.
An article published by 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. According to the article, BCG was contracted by the Angolan state-owned petroleum companySonangol, 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.
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. 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.
