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Dec 19, 2017

The Life and Career of Edwin G. Booz and James L. Allen – Booz Allen Hamilton

MBA Booz Allen Hamilton

Booz Allen Hamilton is one of the world’s largest and most recognizable management consulting firms. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia in the Washington DC metro, the firm boasts 24,225 employees working in more than 80 offices around the globe.

The firm has gone through several name changes in its 100 years of existence, including: Edwin G. Booz, Business Engineering Service; Edwin G. Booz Surveys; Edwin G. Booz and Fry Surveys; Booz, Fry, Allen & Hamilton; Booz, Allen & Hamilton; and finally Booz Allen Hamilton. Today, we’ll focus on two of those names, and the men behind them: Edwin G. Booz and James L. Allen, both Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management graduates.

Early Upbringing and Education

Born in Reading, PA in 1887, Edwin George Booz obtained his Bachelor’s degree in economics in 1912 and his Master’s degree in psychology in 1914 from the Kellogg School of Management. After earning his Master’s, Booz founded Booz Allen Hamilton in 1914 in Chicago, originally under the name The Business Research Service.

However, he was drafted into the Army as a private due to World War I in September 1917, and rose to the rank of major. He worked with the War Department in Washington DC to reorganize the business methods of its various bureaus.

Booz left the Army in March 1919 and returned to his business, servicing bankers, manufacturers, advertising agencies, wholesalers, sales managers, publishers, real estate operators, and other enterprises. He would go on to lead the firm as its chairman until 1946, and continued to work part-time for clients and to mentor the next generation of leaders until his death in 1951.

Meanwhile, James L. Allen was born November 21, 1904, in Somerset, Kentucky. He was raised on a farm, educated in public schools, and graduated from Somerset High School in 1921. In 1922, he left the small town for Chicago where he worked at several jobs and attended night school. Allen graduated in 1929 with a B.S. degree in Economics from the Kellogg School of Management.

After graduating, Allen joined Booz’s firm, Edwin G. Booz Surveys, in 1929. He was named a partner in 1936, and focused on developing business strategy, personnel, and organization studies. In the early ’40s, Allen and Booz worked for the U.S. Military leading up to World War II.

Allen was named chairman of Booz Allen Hamilton in 1946, and held that position until 1970. During this time, the firm enjoyed steady growth as it increased its number of partners, staff, and locations. He was named honorary chairman in 1970 and remained involved with Booz Allen Hamilton until his death in 1992.


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About the Company

Booz Allen first went public in 1970 with an initial offering of 500,000 shares at $24 per share. In 1976 public trading ceased after Booz Allen’s partners bought back stock in the largest-ever leveraged buyout involving a consulting firm. Years later, in 2007, managing director Marc Gerencser explained that being privately held allowed the firm to consider long-range investments that companies beholden to shareholders might not be able to make.

In June 2012, Booz Allen expanded its operations in North Africa and the Middle East, bringing offices to countries like Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Booz Allen specifically helped the Government of the United Arab Emirates a sort of National Security Agency for that country. The New York Times reported that the company “profits handsomely from its worldwide expansion.”

In 2014, Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation was awarded a “Top 2014 Workplace” by the Washington Post.

MBA Booz Allen Hamilton

Legacy

Edwin Booz’s name is immortalized as the only name to remain with the firm from its humble beginnings through today. He believed that he could help companies prosper by bringing them “a human touch” and insisted that “people, not products” were the focus of work. This approach gave birth to the modern management consulting profession.

Meanwhile, Jim Allen’s legacy lives on at the Kellogg School of Business at the James L. Allen Center. According to Kellogg, the Center hosts more than 6000 executives each year for one or more of the school’s 160 executive education programs. Considered “an academic retreat,” the Allen Centers offers living and learning spaces to the Kellogg community. Technologically enabled classrooms and comfortable gathering and group study spaces facilitate peer learning and informal interactions among faculty and participants. Additional amenities include indoor workout areas and outdoor exercise programs along the Lake Michigan shoreline provide opportunities for the occasional (and necessary) break and breather.

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Aug 15, 2017

MBA Alum Spotlight: Wharton Alum and Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat

Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat

In March 2015, the New York Times called Ruth Porat one of the most powerful women on Wall Street, and claimed she was poised to “immediately become one of the most powerful women in Silicon Valley” as CFO of Google’s corporate umbrella, Alphabet.

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Jul 10, 2017

The University of Washington Looks at the Effect of Minimum Wage

UW Analyzes Minimum Wage

Over the years, there have been many arguments for and against raising the minimum wage. The issue is that study results vary. Three years ago, Seattle became one of the first cities in the nation to approve a $15-an-hour minimum wage, to be implemented over several years. It started in April 2015, when the wage raised to $11 an hour from $9.47. Then, it continued in January 2016 with an increase to $13 an hour. Continue reading…

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May 23, 2017

MBA Alumni Spotlight: YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki

UCLA Alum Susan Wojcicki Responds to Google Memo

Quietly, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki just might be the tech world’s most decorated mover-and-shakers.

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Apr 17, 2017

Rotman School Weighs In on Canadian AI

Canadian AI

Before Google, Amazon and Silicon Valley took advantage of the artificial intelligence boom, Canada actually laid the groundwork. In fact, it was a handful of Canadian researchers—backed by the Canadian government and universities—that helped to produce a growing number of artificial intelligence startups. Unfortunately, many of Canadian AI scientists have been lured away from Canada by fat paychecks from Google, Facebook, Apple and other companies. Continue reading…

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Nov 7, 2016

Amazon or Microsoft: Seattle MBAs Debate Better Workplace

Seattle MBAs

When it comes to getting a job at a tech company, Seattle MBAs can have a difficult choice ahead of them: Amazon or Microsoft? These two heavyweights are the best of the best in the tech industry and draw in hundreds of MBAs each year. But GeekWire recently asked the question that’s on everyone’s mind: “Which is the better place to work?” Continue reading…

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