Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American global
management consulting
Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultant ...
firm founded in 1963 and headquartered in
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, Massachusetts. It is one of the "
Big Three" (or MBB, the world's three largest management consulting firms by revenue) along with
McKinsey & Company and
Bain & Company. Since 2021, BCG has been led by the German executive Christoph Schweizer.
History
The firm was founded in 1963 as part of The Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Company.
Bruce Henderson had been recruited from
Arthur D. Little to establish the consulting arm operating as a subsidiary under the name Management and Consulting Division of the Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Company. Initially the division only advised clients of the bank, with billings for the first month at just US$500. Henderson hired his second consultant, Arthur P. Contas, in December 1963.
In 1966, BCG opened its second office in Tokyo, Japan.
In 1967, Henderson met
Bill Bain and offered him a role at the firm. Bain agreed and joined in 1967 at a starting salary of $17,000 per year.
In the early 1970s, Bain was considered internally to be Henderson's eventual successor. However, in 1973 Bain resigned from BCG to start his own strategy consulting firm,
Bain & Company, hiring away six of BCG's employees.
In 1974, Henderson arranged an
employee stock ownership
Employee stock ownership, or employee share ownership, is where a company's employees own shares in that company (or in the parent company of a group of companies). US employees typically acquire shares through a share option plan. In the UK, Em ...
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.
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.
In the 1980s, BCG introduced the concept of time-based competition that reconsidered the role of time management in providing market advantages. The concept was the subject of an essay in the
Harvard Business Review
''Harvard Business Review'' (''HBR'') is a general management magazine published by Harvard Business Publishing, a not-for-profit, independent corporation that is an affiliate of Harvard Business School. ''HBR'' is published six times a year ...
.
In May 2021, the firm elected Christoph Schweizer as CEO, replacing
Rich Lesser who would step down and serve as the firm's Global Chair.
In 2022, Boston Consulting Group released its "2022 Annual Sustainability Report" highlighting numerous initiatives focused on societal and planetary impact. Since 2015, the progress in numbers is 30% less greenhouse gas emissions, 20% less water usage, 15% less waste generation, and 10% less energy consumption.
180px, The BCG growth-share matrixBCG typically hires for an associate or a consultant position, recruiting from
top undergraduate colleges, advanced degree programs and
business school
A business school is a higher education institution or professional school that teaches courses leading to degrees in business administration or management. A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, s ...
s.
Business Units
BCG X
In December 2022, BCG consolidated many of its alternative business units under a single entity, branded as BCG X. This included several business units focused on providing digital and technology-related consulting services for clients:
*BCG Gamma specializes in data science projects, including advanced analytics, machine learning and AI, alongside BCG's traditional consulting services.
*BCG Digital Ventures partners with companies to invent, launch, and scale new products and services. 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.
*BCG Platinion specializes in technology and digital transformation consulting services.
BCG Brighthouse
BCG Brighthouse is a consultancy focused on business purpose consulting.
BCG Henderson Institute
The Henderson Institute is Boston Consulting Group's think tank named after
Bruce Henderson, the founder of BCG. The institute's primary focus is on conducting research into strategic and managerial issues that impact businesses and the global economy.
Centre for Public Impact
The Centre for Public Impact is a
not-for-profit
A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a Legal Entity, legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives.
While not-for-profit organizations and Nonprofit organ ...
organization within BCG that is focused on improving the impact and effectiveness of government and
public sector
The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, pu ...
organizations. This group works with governments, nonprofit organizations, and other public sector entities to help them achieve their goals and deliver better outcomes for citizens.
Controversy
Angola
An article published by ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' on January 19, 2020, identified the Boston Consulting Group as having worked with
Isabel dos Santos, who exploited 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 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.
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
Crown Prince
A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent.
''Crown prince ...
Mohammed bin Salman consolidate power in
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
.
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.
In June 2021, BCG was hired to examine the feasibility for the country to host the
2030 FIFA World Cup. The bid was assessed to be a great deal, as
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
's policy of continental rotation blocked all the
Asian Football Confederation
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation ( ...
(AFC) nations from hosting the World Cup until 2034, after
Qatar
Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
was set to become the first Middle Eastern nation to host the tournament in 2022. Saudi Arabia would eventually receive hosting rights for the
2034 FIFA World Cup instead.
In 2024, BCG consulting heads were summoned to appear before congress to disclose financial details between them and Saudi Arabia and warned staff that they could face jail time if they reveal information.
Sweden
Boston Consulting Group has received criticism for its involvement in the construction of the
New Karolinska Solna University Hospital after an investigation by ''
Dagens Nyheter
(, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record
A newspaper of record is a major nationa ...
''. Specifically, the potential conflict of interest where a former BCG employee and then hospital executive approved numerous expenses without proper receipts and the high cost paid for external consultants including BCG. In the
investigative journalism book ''Konsulterna - Kampen om Karolinska'' (roughly ''The Consultants - The Struggle for the Karolinska University Hospital''), the authors and ''Dagens Nyheter'' journalists Anna Gustavsson and Lisa Röstlund argue that the
value-based health care model as recommended by BCG had not been properly investigated and have resulted in an exponential growth in administration and lack of responsibility for patients.
United States
In 2022, BCG filed a lawsuit against
GameStop as the latter allegedly denied payment of fee worth $30 million for a project. GameStop argued that it saw it is in the best interest of its stakeholders to deny payment as BCG brought little improvement to the EBITDA of the company, which the consultancy allegedly promised to improve. BCG counter argued that the company has delivered more than it promised in statement of proposal and that the quoted variable fee was based on the "projected," not realized, improvement in EBITDA, as per the contract. On July 30, 2024 the suit was concluded in a joint dismissal.
In 2025, BCG helped design and run the business operations of the
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which in turn has been linked to US-based private security firms, and is being investigated over the identity of its donors.
In June 2025, BCG terminated its contract with the GHF. It had said that the work was done "pro bono" but
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
reported that BCG submitted invoices of over $1 million per month. BCG then fired two senior partners, calling the work they oversaw for GHF "unauthorized".
Notable current and former employees
See also
*
DICE framework
*
B Capital
References
{{Consulting
Consulting firms established in 1963
1963 establishments in Massachusetts
International management consulting firms
Privately held companies based in Massachusetts
Macroeconomics consulting firms
Management consulting firms of the United States
Companies based in Boston
History of Boston
Information technology consulting firms of the United States