The Henderson legacy 

BCG was founded in 1963 by Bruce D. Henderson. Bruce left Harvard Business School 90 days before graduation to join the Westinghouse Corporation, where he worked 18 years. After being challenged by the CEO of The Boston Safe Deposit & Trust Company to form a consulting arm for the organization, Henderson responded by focusing their specialty on strategy.

He drove business expansion through a new approach to marketing a consulting firm: Perspectives, brief and highly provocative essays on strategy. BCG published these essays in a user-friendly brochure format. Soon Henderson and his colleagues were delivering competitive differentiation through ideas such as the growth share matrix and time-based competition. Many of the phrasings he used, like "stars" and "cash cows," to describe businesses with different prospects became fixtures in the hallways and the board rooms of big business and are now fixtures in business school curriculums.

Henderson pursued a growth strategy for independence and global reach. In 1966, BCG became the first Western strategy consulting firm in Japan, and by 1976, half of the firm's revenue was being generated outside the U.S. In 1974, Henderson made BCG an independent business and retained only 5% ownership, laying out a plan for employee stock ownership that saw the firm fully owned by BCGers in 1979. 

In 1998, BCG established the BCG Henderson Institute, a strategy think tank dedicated to exploring and developing valuable new insights from business, technology, and science by embracing the powerful technology of ideas. The Institute continues Henderson’s legacy by engaging leaders in provocative discussion and experimentation to expand the boundaries of business theory and practice and to translate innovative ideas from within and beyond business.

PTO: Because “always on” is never good 

It's no secret that life in a top-tier consulting firm can be demanding. To address the challenges of the job, BCG introduced the concept of PTO (Predictability, Teaming, and Open Communication) to every BCG office. PTO helps teams align on expectations before their projects start—and ensures they maintain them throughout—making work more productive and sustainable long-term through ongoing transparency and regular check ins. BCG’s flexibility and wellness programs, and robust time off benefits, further empower BCGers to balance their work and personal priorities. 

Living its values and purpose 

BCG’s purpose is to unlock the potential of those who advance the world. Both through its client work and through the transformation of its own operations, the firm addresses important societal and environmental sustainability challenges to help shape a brighter future for society, business, the planet, and its 8 billion people. In 2020 alone, BCG delivered ~900 social impact cases to 600 clients and ~400 climate and environment cases to ~300 clients. Within the social sector, it engages an ecosystem of partners who deliver tremendous impact at scale, including the World Food Programme, WWF, and Save the Children. BCG has committed to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions intensity in half by 2025.