企业历史

Overview
In the industry and among its employees, McKinsey & Company is known simply as "The Firm" – need we say more? With 82 offices and around 7,000 consultants worldwide, McKinsey serves more than two thirds of the Fortune 1000, or 85 of the world''s top 100 companies. McKinsey''s founder, James O. McKinsey, pioneered the idea of management consulting when he launched the firm in 1926. But it''s Marvin Bower, with McKinsey since 1933, who is credited with shaping the firm''s values, including a relentless drive for excellence, a mandate of putting the clients'' needs before the firm''s, and an insistence on discretion in financial matters. Indeed, the notoriously tight–lipped company rarely publishes the names of its clients, which include huge global companies, innovative startups, wealthy commercial banks, leading venture capital firms and vast technology companies. McKinsey also provides pro bono assistance to educational, social, environmental and cultural organizations. McKinsey emerged from the Internet gold rush days relatively unscathed compared to competitors, though it suffered its own PR challenges as it found
its name linked with scandal–plagued companies like Enron and Global Crossing. In recent years, the firm has turned its attention toward the IT sector and outsourcing, in an attempt to respond to the shifting trend in the consulting market toward more "tangible" services, such as systems integration. On the pure strategy side, McKinsey also has faced a competitive threat from rivals like Bain and Boston Consulting Group.
咨询业是杰姆斯·麦肯锡（James O. McKinsey，1889-1937）留给企业的遗产。身为芝加哥大学教授的麦肯锡把对会计学的高度热情转移到对管理咨询理论的研究上，第一次世界大战期间，他以军官的身份在美国各地奔走，寻求解决美国军队后勤给养问题的方法；一战后，他决定运用其所有的经验和学说，实践于一家控制严格的机构——麦肯锡公司由此诞生。