McKinsey & Company

McKinsey & Company is a private American worldwide management consulting firm headquartered in New York City. It conducts qualitative and quantitative analysis in order to evaluate management decisions. Eighty percent of the world's largest corporations are counseled by the firm, which is considered the most prestigious management consultancy. McKinsey publishes the McKinsey Quarterly, funds the McKinsey Global Institute research organization, publishes reports on management topics, and has authored many influential books on management. Its practices of confidentiality, influence on business practices, and corporate culture have experienced a polarizing reception.

McKinsey was founded in 1926 by James McKinsey in order to apply accounting principles to management. Mr. McKinsey died in 1937, and the firm was restructured several times, with the modern-day McKinsey & Company emerging in 1939. Marvin Bower is credited with establishing McKinsey's culture and practices in the 1930s based on the principles he experienced as a lawyer. The firm developed an "up or out" policy, where consultants that are not promoted are asked to leave. McKinsey was the first management consultancy to hire recent college graduates, rather than experienced managers.