Strategy&: Difference between revisions

'''Strategy&''' is the [[strategy consulting]] business unit of [[PricewaterhouseCoopers|PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)]], one of the [[Big Four accounting firms|Big Four]] professional service firms. Founded by [[Edwin G. Booz]] as ''Business Research Service'' in Chicago in 1914, the firm underwent numerous name changes before settling on [[Booz Allen Hamilton]] in 1943.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-12-25|title=Booz Allen Hamilton Profile|url=https://dcjobsource.com/boozallen.html|website=DC Job Source}}</ref> In 2008, it split from Booz Allen Hamilton as ''Booz & Company'', and in 2013 it was acquired by PwC, the largest consulting acquisition of the company's history.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2013-10-30|title=PwC acquires global strategy consuting firm Booz & Company|url=https://www.consultancy.org/news/77/pwc-acquires-global-strategy-consuting-firm-booz-company|website=Consultancy.org|language=en}}</ref> The contract required PwC to drop the Booz name, and the unit became known as ''Strategy&'' in 2014.<ref>{{cite news|author=Michael Rapoport|date=April 3, 2014|title=PricewaterhouseCoopers Renaming Booz & Co. as 'Strategy&'|publisher=Wall Street Journal|url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303987004579477642677243618}}</ref> At the time of acquisition, the company had more than 80 offices in 41 countries.▼

After graduating from [[Northwestern University]] in [[Evanston, Illinois]] in 1914, [[Edwin G. Booz]] developed the business theory that companies would be more successful if they could call on someone outside their own organizations for expert, impartial advice.<ref name="bah-hist">{{cite web|url=http://www.boozallen.com/about/history |title=Booz Allen History |publisher=Boozallen.com |access-date=2011-06-15}}</ref> This theory developed into a new profession — [[management consulting]] — and the firm that would bear his name. Booz established a small consulting firm in Chicago, and two years later, he and two partners formed the Business Research and Development Company, which conducted studies and performed investigational work for commercial and trade organizations. This service, which Booz labeled as the first of its kind in the Midwest, soon attracted such clients as [[Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company]], Chicago's [[Union Stockyards and Transit Company]], and the [[Canadian Pacific Railway|Canadian Pacific Railroad]]."<ref name="jrank">{{cite web|url=http://companies.jrank.org/pages/604/Booz-Allen-Hamilton-Inc.html |title=JRANK Booz Allen Hamilton History |publisher=Companies.jrank.org |access-date=2011-06-15}}</ref>▼

At the end of the 1950s, [[Time Magazine]] dubbed the firm "the world's largest, most prestigious management consulting firm."<ref>{{Cite news|last=Berselli|first=Beth|date=1997-11-10|title=SOLUTIONS, INCORPORATED|language=en-US|work=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1997/11/10/solutions-incorporated/eab2f3f9-fce2-4c8c-9227-7ab6bba2790d/|issn=0190-8286}}</ref>▼

In 1970, Booz Allen went public with an initial offering of 500,000 shares at $24 per share. Trading continued through 1976.<ref name="library.hbs.edu">{{cite web|title=Booz, Allen & Hamilton, Inc. - Lehman Brothers Collection|url=http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/lehman/chrono.html?company=booz_allen_hamilton_inc|access-date=2011-06-15|publisher=Library.hbs.edu}}</ref>▼

In 2008, Booz & Company was spun off from [[Booz Allen Hamilton]], in conjunction with a private equity takeover by The [[Carlyle Group]].<ref name="Carlyle to Swallow Booz Unit">{{cite web|url=http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/11394420/c_11393251?f=home_todayinfinance |title=Carlyle to Swallow Booz Unit |publisher=CFO.com |date=2008-05-16}}</ref> At the time, Booz & Company consisted of the commercial portion of Booz Allen Hamilton's consulting business, as well as all consulting operations with government entitites outside the United States. After the spin-off, Booz Allen Hamilton then focused exclusively on U.S. government consulting endeavors. In 2011, however, when the three-year noncompete provision expired, Booz Allen Hamilton began building out its commercial consulting practice, focusing on technology integration and cybersecurity programs.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2011/10/26/booz-allen-expanding-in-charlotte.html |title=Booz Allen expanding in Charlotte |publisher=bizjournals.com |date= 2011-10-26|first=Will |last=Boye}}</ref>▼

On October 30, 2013, Booz & Company announced it would be sold to [[PricewaterhouseCoopers]] as part of a conditional merger, pending regulatory approval and the vote of Booz partners scheduled for December 2013.<ref>{{cite web | last = Marcinek | first = Laura and Greg Farrell | title = PwC Agrees to Purchase Booz to Expand Advisory Services | publisher = Bloomberg | url = https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-30/pricewaterhousecoopers-to-merge-with-booz.html | date = 30 October 2013 | access-date = 3 November 2013}}</ref> Booz partners voted in favor on December 23, 2013,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.strategyand.pwc.com/global/home/press/displays/pwc-agreement|title=Global Consulting Firm Booz & Company Approves Combination with PwC|date=23 December 2013|work=pwc.com}}</ref> and the deal was closed in early April, 2014. The acquisition, and subsequent change of name from Booz & Company to Strategy&, was announced on April 4, 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.strategyand.pwc.com/global/home/press/display/pwc-completes-booz-acquisition|title=PwC completes its acquisition of Booz & Company|date=3 April 2014|work=pwc.com|access-date=3 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140406115003/http://www.strategyand.pwc.com/global/home/press/display/pwc-completes-booz-acquisition|archive-date=6 April 2014|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The name, pronounced "Strategy and", is widely criticized, but was required by an agreement with former parent Booz Allen Hamilton that the Booz name or variants could never be used in conjunction with a new legal entity.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/corporate-intelligence/2014/04/03/introducing-strategy-no-thats-not-a-typo/|title=Introducing Strategy&: No, That’s Not a Typo|author=Tom Gara|work=WSJ}}</ref>[[File:Strategy& Office Render.jpg|thumb|The firm operates in over 150 countries around the globe.]]▼

==Research==▼

Over the years, Booz has been credited with developing some of the important concepts in business. The firm coined the terms and developed the concepts of [[supply chain]], [[supply chain management]], [[product life cycle]], the [[PERT Chart]] and organizational DNA.<ref name="washingtonpost.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/03/AR2008020302643.html|title=Should This Marriage Be Saved?|first=Zachary A.|last=Goldfarb|date=4 February 2008|via=www.washingtonpost.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bloomgroup.com/content/how-booz-co-develops-and-markets-consulting-concepts|title=Inside the Marketplace of Ideas|website=www.bloomgroup.com}}</ref>▼

The firm publishes the majority of its research in its quarterly management magazine [[Strategy+Business]], which in 2009 was one of just two business magazines to grow its circulation, along with ''The Economist''. Strategy& also publishes several studies annually:▼

* Global Innovation 1000 <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.strategyand.pwc.com/innovation1000|title=2017 Global Innovation 1000 - Most Innovative Companies - PwC's Strategy&|website=www.strategyand.pwc.com}}</ref> A study of R&D investment at the 1,000 biggest-spending public companies in the world.▼

* Industry Perspectives <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.strategyand.pwc.com/industry-perspectives|title=Industry Trends - PwC's Strategy&|website=www.strategyand.pwc.com}}</ref> Outlooks on major trends, challenges, and opportunities companies can expect to see in different sectors.▼

The firm also regularly publishes cross-industry research related to its four major platforms: Capabilities-Driven Strategy, Deals, Digital, and ''Fit for Growth''.▼

The Katzenbach Center at Strategy& has generated a research on the importance of fostering companies' [[informal organization]] to improve corporate performance. In a white paper entitled "Fast Track to Recovery"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.strategyand.pwc.com/media/uploads/Fast_Track_To_Recovery.pdf |title=Brochure |website=www.strategyand.pwc.com |format=PDF}}</ref> and the book Leading Outside the Lines,<ref>[https://archive.is/20120906164910/http://www.leadingoutsidethelines.com/]</ref> Booz Partner Jon Katzenbach uses various case studies to illustrate the exchange between the formal and the informal elements of organizations.▼