Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has reached global revenues of $8.5 billion in 2019. The figure represents growth of 14% from 2018’s $7.5 billion in revenues.
The stellar growth last year marked the sixth consecutive year of double-digit growth for the global management consulting firm, founded in 1963 by Bruce Henderson in Boston.
The company has seen its sales grow from $2.75 billion in 2009 to $8.5 billion in 2019, while its employee base has tripled from 6,900 to 21,000 employees. BCG has more than 90 offices in over 50 countries, and advises many of the world’s top companies as well as numerous governments.
BCG and rivals McKinsey & Company and Bain & Company together form the “Big Three” of strategy consulting – commanding the steepest fees and serving the highest-profile clientele.
“More than ever before, clients turn to BCG for new solutions to the challenges of our times, from addressing the urgent climate crisis to delivering company value for all stakeholders to navigating adverse environments, such as the current situation in responding to COVID-19. Our five-decade-plus focus on building and sustaining competitive advantage only increases in importance in today’s rapidly changing world,” Rich Lesser, CEO, said.
The company saw strong growth across regions, industries, and functional practice areas in 2019. BCG, along with the rest of the sector, has seen strong demand for transformation services to “future proof” organizations. As such, the firm has been bolstering its capabilities in digitization and AI, as well as its ability to support large change efforts that accelerate performance.
“Our success is rooted in the strength and diversity of our workforce as well as our constant commitment to innovation and value creation,” Lesser said. “Over the past decade, we’ve combined our expertise in large-scale transformation with digital capabilities in advanced analytics and AI to deliver the cutting-edge solutions our clients need now and in the future.”
According to BCG, firms will need to evolve in a number of areas to remain successful in the 2020s. For one, they’ll have to master a new logic of competition that entails learning faster than their rivals, adapting to constant change, and collaborating in business ecosystems. Companies will also have to embrace technology and find the right combination of artificial and human intelligence.
The most successful companies will also embrace diversity and creating social value, according to the consulting firm.