Strategy Consulting has been around longer than sliced bread. The machine that slices bread was invented in Iowa in 1927 and began operation a year later. (By the way, bet you didn't know that same machine was banned briefly in 1943 as a wartime conservation measure. Neither did I.)
McKinsey & Company began a year earlier in 1926 in Chicago when James O. McKinsey founded a firm to provide finance and budgeting services to companies and soon discovered that clients wanted more. Namely, they wanted help solving big business problems. Thus, strategy consulting was born.
In the early years, the discipline was aided by the strategic work needed to navigate the new Glass-Steagall Banking Act in the 1930s. (What goes around, comes around, I guess.) Management consulting, of course, began 40 years earlier with the launch of Arthur D. Little, which focused mainly on technical research—19th century style.
Booz Allen Hamilton was founded in 1914 with a focus, even then, on the government sector. But it was McKinsey, and Marvin Bower, who took the new firm and new discipline to new heights in the 1930s.
Fast forward a few decades and Strategy Consulting really gets humming with the arrival of The Boston Consulting Group in 1963 and Bain & Company a decade later. So, why all the retrospection? Because this month's cover story takes Strategy Consulting and puts it under the microscope. The evolution of the discipline is fascinating in and of itself, but take it apart and view it through a more futuristic lens and it becomes even more interesting.
What is Strategy Consulting today? While I can't boil down an 10-page feature into one paragraph; it's clear that simply defining a business strategy isn't enough. And even coming up with the actionable execution on strategy won't cut the mustard (or should I bread?) any longer.
And speaking of bread: That slicing machine led to more universally-sized slices, which meant it was easier to eat, which led to the increased consumption of bread, which led to more sales of jams, jellies and spreads.
A business result any strategy consultant would be proud of.
Joseph Kornik
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
jkornik@consultingmag.com
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.