The Boston Consulting Group is one of the most widely known management consulting firms in the world. Though only midsized among its peer group of major global consultancies, the firm has a reputation for keen insight, having originated the concepts of the growth-share matrix (a shorthand graphic reference for optimal use of resources), the experience curve (a charting of the favorable relationship between expenses and production volume—that is, the more often a process is carried out, the less it costs) and time-based competition (an approach that recognizes speed as an essential component of success). More recent concepts have included deconstruction of value chains, the economics of information (richness versus reach), the change curve (depicting the human side of change management), and the cash curve (an approach to ensuring payback on innovation). As BCG puts it, “Our objective is not to simply apply best practice, but to invent it.”

The firm supports a number of broad functional practice areas, including corporate development, IT, marketing and sales, operations, organization and strategy, as well as more specialized niches, such as globalization, innovation, M&A, postmerger integration, intellectual property and turnaround/restructuring. Its consultants’ expertise falls in a wide range of industry categories, such as automotive, consumer, energy, financial institutions, health care, insurance, media, oil, private equity, retail, technology and telecommunications, and travel and tourism. The firm is also active in the social sector, advising on public education, world hunger and global health.

BCG was founded in 1963 by Bruce D. Henderson, a former bible salesman and Harvard B-school dropout. Henderson was challenged by the CEO of The Boston Safe Deposit & Trust Company to form a consulting arm for the organization. His first month’s billings amounted to $500, and by the end of the year, the lone Boston office had a staff of two. Henderson’s growth strategy was aggressive, recruiting heavily from top business schools and encouraging novel thinking. In 1966, the firm acquired TFM Adams, Ltd., a small consultancy in Tokyo. This initial expansion abroad—and just its second office—made BCG the first Western business advisor in Japan. An office was opened in London in 1970, broadening the firm’s access to Europe (it had opened a small office in Milan in the mid-1960s).

Since its founding in 1935, Morgan Stanley and its people have helped redefine the meaning of financial services. The firm has continually broken new ground in advising our clients on strategic transactions, in pioneering the global expansion of finance and capital markets, and in providing new opportunities for individual and institutional investors. Click below to see a timeline of Morgan Stanley’s growth, which parallels the history of modern finance.

The Group’s principal activities are carried out through four divisions: Institutional Securities: Underwrites and distributes securities, provides financial advisory services and full-service brokerage services, conducts trading activities in equity securities and invests in private equity activities and aircraft financing activities. Individual Investor Group: Provides comprehensive financial services to individual investors through financial advisors. Investment Management: Provides global asset management advice and services to investors through a variety of product lines and brand names. Credit Services: Offers Discover Platinum Card, the Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Card, Private Issue Card and other general purpose credit cards. It conducts business in New York, and has branches throughout the United States.The group provides brokerage services, investment and asset management services and consumer credit card products