DID YOU KNOW?

Management consulting continued... Tim Berners-Lee, a British scientist at CERN, invented the World Wide Web (WWW) in 1989. After only being available to the government and universities, it was made publicly accessible in 1991. Only 5 years later it was part of mass culture and by the end of the decade half of Americans regularly used the Internet.

Driven by Information Technology Consulting and continued global expansion, the management consulting industry exploded. As growth sparked by the Digital Age seemed unstoppable, consulting firms had become very aggressive with hiring MBAs. In the mid-nineties nearly 35% of top MBA students entered the field at an average starting salary of $76,000. By the late 1990s those same students could command a starting base salary of $90,000 plus bonus, bringing their total package to approximately $120,000. 

Companies were spending more on management consulting services than on corporate research. Wall Street analysts predicted billings for firms to advance at twice the rate of corporate revenues over the next decade. The digital revolution was spreading to the masses as developing countries caught on to the cultural phenomenon.  

Tomorrow... dot-com bubble