industry management consulting predecessor booz & company founded 1914 headquarters new york city us 57 offices around the world key people les moeller global leader tony poulter global consulting leader 1 revenue 1.3 billion 2011 number of employees 3 000 2 website www.strategyand.pwc.com strategy & is a global strategy consulting firm originally established as booz allen hamilton in the united states in 1914 and is now part of pricewaterhousecoopers which acquired the former booz & co. on april 4 2014 . the firm is active in a broad range of sectors including energy healthcare financial services chemicals telecommunications automotive aerospace media technology and fast moving consumer goods fmcg . the company has 57 offices around the world . 70 of the world s largest 100 corporations and 400 of the largest 500 us corporations are strategy & clients and the firm has been involved in a number of important business episodes including the dawn of the contract system for hollywood movies the merger of the national and american football leagues and the rescue of the chrysler corporation from bankruptcy . 3 on october 30 2013 it was announced that pwc would buy and merge with booz & company owned by booz allen hamilton until 2008 including the company s name and its 300 partners subject to a december vote of the booz & company partners . 4 the deal closed on april 4 2014 and the firm was formally renamed to strategy & . 5 contents 1 history 2 offices 3 contributions 4 assignments 5 recruiting 6 notable companies founded by current and former employees 7 notable alumni 7.1 business 7.2 politics and public service 8 notes and references history edit 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 . 6 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 railroad . 7 by the end of the 1950s time magazine dubbed the firm the world s largest most prestigious management consulting firm . 8 in 1970 booz allen went public with an initial offering of 500 000 shares at 24 per share . trading continued through 1976 . 8 the company was spun off from booz allen hamilton in conjunction with a private equity takeover by the carlyle group in 2008 . 9 the firm represents the commercial portion of the consulting business as well as all consulting operations with government entitites outside the united states . booz allen hamilton was then focused exclusively on u.s. government consulting endeavors . however as booz allen hamilton s three year noncompete provision has expired it is now building out its commercial consulting practice focusing on technology integration and cybersecurity programs . 10 the company purchased katzenbach partners for an undisclosed sum in 2009 and has since launched the katzenbach center focused on the development and application of innovative ideas for organizational culture and change . 11 in 2012 axon advisory partners joined the company to launch booz digital a full service team of strategists designers and technologists who help companies turn ideas into transformational digital businesses . 12 in april 2013 booz & company acquired international consulting firm management engineers for its operations expertise and experience in industries such as manufacturing chemicals and industrials . through the acquisition management engineers added 17 partners and 145 staff to booz & company along with a market position in germany as well as china the uk and the us . 13 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 . 14 booz partner s voted in favor on december 23 2013 15 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 . 16 the name pronounced strategy and was widely criticized at the time 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 . 17 offices edit strategy & has more than 50 offices in 25 countries . 18 contributions edit 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 . 19 20 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 the economist . 19 strategy & also publishes several studies annually study of ceos governance and success 21 examining ceo successions and success among the world s top 2 500 public companies . global innovation 1000 22 a study of r & d investment at the 1 000 biggest spending public companies in the world . industry perspectives 23 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 24 and the book leading outside the lines 25 booz partner jon katzenbach uses various case studies to illustrate the exchange between the formal and the informal elements of organizations . assignments edit strategy & has had a hand in several notable private and public engagements throughout its years . the dawn of the contract system for hollywood movies the merger of the national and american football leagues the rescue of the chrysler corporation from bankruptcy and the creation of deutsche telekom from government agencies that had grown up on both sides of the iron curtain all involved booz assignments . citation needed recruiting edit in 2007 the firm had roughly 150 000 applicants and 1033 new jobs . 26 strategy & is the second largest recruiter at columbia business school 27 and the third largest recruiter at insead . 28 the firm operates on a modified version of the cravath system under which employees are promoted within a certain time frame or counseled out . 19 notable companies founded by current and former employees edit private equity harbourvest partners citation needed ripplewood holdings citation needed professional services oliver wyman citation needed other athenahealth citation needed microstrategy citation needed notable alumni edit business edit abigail johnson vice chairman fidelity investments citation needed akio toyoda president and ceo toyota citation needed alex oliver founding partner oliver wyman citation needed ari bousbib president united technologies citation needed arthur d. collins jr. ceo and chairman of the board medtronic inc. ; board of directors boeing ; senior advisor oak hill capital citation needed bill jackson senior vp and president sears holding corporation automotive citation needed bill wyman founding partner oliver wyman citation needed bob bakish president mtv international citation needed brian murray president and ceo harpercollins publishers citation needed bruce pasternack ceo special olympics citation needed charles l. teschner jr. executive vp of global strategy mcgraw hill companies citation needed daniel weiss president lafayette college citation needed david newkirk ceo of executive education university of virginia s darden school citation needed david steinberger president and ceo perseus books group citation needed deven sharma president standard & poor s citation needed eric spiegel president and ceo siemens corporation citation needed florent perrichon president and ceo cerruti citation needed gerry horkan senior vice president of corporate strategy yahoo citation needed ghassan hasbani ceo saudi telecom company citation needed gregory fleming president morgan stanley investment management ; senior research scholar yale law school ; former president and coo merrill lynch citation needed ivan menezes president north america and chairman asia pacific diageo citation needed jim rosenthal ceo kaplan professional citation needed joanna earl coo current tv citation needed joe simon evp & cio viacom citation needed jonathan s. bush president ceo and co founder of athenahealth citation needed jorge espinel executive vice president of strategy and corporate development news corporation citation needed josh silverman ceo skype citation needed jurgen buser group cfo thomas cook group citation needed keith fox president businessweek citation needed mark moran ceo and president metrohealth citation needed mart n redrado president central bank of argentina citation needed matt andersson founder indigo airlines citation needed michael s. gliedman svp chief information officer national basketball association citation needed michael wolf former coo and president mtv networks citation needed nancy mckinstry ceo chairman of the executive board wolters kluwer citation needed pascal cagni general manager europe apple citation needed paul idzik former coo barclays plc citation needed randy lake executive vp & general manager sony pictures imageworks citation needed raymond j. lane partner kleiner perkins caufield & byers ; former president and coo oracle corporation citation needed rhonda germany vp of strategy & business development honeywell inc. citation needed richard beyer chairman of the board and ceo freescale semiconductor citation needed richard gay executive vp strategy & operations mtv and vh1 networks citation needed rohit bhagat coo barclays global investors citation needed christopher bland chairman royal shakespeare company ; former chairman of british telecommunications ; former olympic fencer citation needed sanju bansal coo & vice chairman microstrategy citation needed steven heyer ceo harry & david ; director lazard ; former ceo starwood hotels ; former president and coo coca cola ; former president turner broadcasting citation needed tim collins founder and chief executive of ripplewood holdings citation needed todd larsen president dow jones & company citation needed tom hansson senior vp of strategy & corporate development sara lee corp. citation needed politics and public service edit wendy alexander labour party leader and member of the scottish parliament msp . citation needed karol joseph bo bobko retired united states air force officer and a former usaf and nasa astronaut . citation needed keith r. hall director national reconnaissance office 1997 2001 ; formerly executive director for intelligence community affairs citation needed steve isakowitz department of energy chief financial officer . former deputy associate administrator nasa 2002 2005 citation needed william benjamin bill lenoir ph.d. former nasa astronaut . citation needed george e. little media relations central intelligence agency 2007 citation needed john m. mcconnell director of national intelligence 2007 ; formerly director of the national security agency 1992 96 ; retired in 1996 as vice admiral united states navy citation needed zoran jolevski ambassador of the republic of macedonia in the us . citation needed thomas s. moorman jr. commander air force space command 1990 92 ; vice chief of staff u.s. air force 1994 1997 citation needed michael c. mullen assistant commissioner u.s. customs and border protection citation needed patrick gorman chief information officer cio and assistant deputy director national intelligence addni strategy plans and policy odni citation needed andrew turnbull member house of lords upper parliament united kingdom 2005 ; head of british civil service 2002 2005 citation needed melissa hathaway director national cyber security initiative citation needed general frederick frank woerner jr. retired united states army general and former commander of united states