DID YOU KNOW?

Management consulting continued... In 1914 the first management consultancy company to service both industry and government clients was founded: Booz Allen Hamilton. Initially specializing in technical research, and later developing a niche in ‘management engineering,’ they laid their foundation using new approaches to management. A passionate belief in helping companies succeed by bringing them the “human touch,” Booz Allen Hamilton insistence that “people, not products” were the focus of their work remains today a keystone quality of the company.

By 1920 only a third of homes in the United States had electricity and only one in five had a flush toilet, yet the country’s business establishment was embarking on a course of radical, unprecedented expansion. This quick expansion brought with it a dilemma that has challenged business leaders ever since: how to grow your business while maintaining control. Moving from a single-product, owner-run enterprise into a complex, large-scale national enterprise is extremely challenging. In addition to the daily tasks associated with expansion such as facilities, marketing and distribution, business owners had to hire, train, and trust people to administer their business model. Those people were “managers” and in the first half of the century were in very short supply.

More tomorrow...