Bain & Company is a management consulting firm, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, that is recognized as one of the leading business institutions in the world. It has been named by Consulting Magazine as the Best Firm to Work For in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. Its slogan is "Helping make companies more valuable."

As mentioned in a Harvard Business School case study, "In addition to its exceptional growth record, Bain distinguishes itself from competitors like BCG and McKinsey with its notion of results-oriented consultancy."

History
Bain & Company was established in 1973, by a group of seven former partners from the Boston Consulting Group headed by Bill Bain.

After a successful start, the company found itself facing a growing list of challenges in the late 1980s. In the midst of sluggish business conditions and overstaffing, Bain also faced the dilemma of having to turn away business due to its one-client-per-industry restriction. Competition increased as other firms copied Bain’s implementation-focused strategy.

However daunting these external challenges were, it was internal infighting that threatened to tear the firm apart. Bain was incorporated in 1985 and over the course of two years, the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) was established, after which senior executives borrowed against their equity for cash, leaving the firm with a heavy load of debt.

As business slowed, the debt load began to squeeze the firm.

The 2000s began with Bain guiding its clients through the “New Economy” of e-commerce. The collapse of the dotcom, coupled with a general slowdown in the economy as had been faced in the early 1990s. The slowdown was painful on all of the major consulting players; however, Bain’s previous experiences with contraction left the firm zealous in avoiding layoffs. The firm weathered the economic downturn and emerged from it in a position of strength by investing in its leadership ranks with internal promotions and key external hires. Subsequently, the economic recovery has been followed by another period of sustained growth. In 2007, the firm expanded its number of worldwide offices to 37, with the opening of offices in Kyiv, Moscow, Helsinki and Frankfurt in Europe, and worldwide consulting staff increased to approximately 2,700.

The new millennium also brought changes to Bain’s traditional “generalist” approach to solving clients’ business issues. The firm developed areas of specialization with its deep industry “Practice Areas” in order to better serve the varying needs of its increasingly diverse multinational and local client base. Through targeted industry hires, Bain added industry experts to each of these new Practice Areas, significantly raising its profile in fields such as Financial Services, Healthcare, IT and Media and Entertainment industries.

Steve Ellis is Bain’s Worldwide Managing Director. He is responsible for overseeing the firm’s 37 offices and over 3,700 employees. He joined the firm in 1993 from a Silicon Valley strategy consulting firm he co-founded in 1989. He was formerly the Managing Director of Bain’s San Francisco and Palo Alto offices and a leader in the firm’s Global Technology, Media & Telecommunications and Private Equity Practices.

Competitors
Bain's major competitors include the Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey & Company. The firm also occasionally competes with specialist boutiques such as Monitor Group or diversified consulting firms such as Booz Allen Hamilton and AT Kearney.

Recruiting
The main entry points for Bain & Company are at the Associate Consultant, Consultant, and Industry Hire levels. In a Financial Times interview, Bain partner Bill Neuenfeldt identifies the desired qualities in potential hires as “intelligence, integrity, passion and the ambition to make a difference.” In addition to these basic requirements, the Associate Consultant (AC) is typically a recent college graduate and is expected to have an enthusiasm for problem-solving and an analytical skill-set. No specific major is required, though a demonstrated interest in economics and business can be valuable. The AC role lasts for two years, after which outstanding ACs are invited to stay for a third year and become a Senior Associate Consultant (SAC).

This third year can be spent at a Bain office abroad ("transfer"), or working for a client ("externship").

Demand is very high for the entry-level AC position, making it difficult to attain for college graduates and is high on the list of preferred jobs for many Ivy League grads. Bain also offers an internship ("Associate Consultant Intern") for undergraduates in between their junior and senior years.

The Consultant role is a more senior role; most consultants join Bain with an MBA, either directly from school or from industry. In some cases, Consultants are former Bain ACs who went to business school and are returning to Bain. Unlike the AC role, the Consultant role is a longer-term career path, feeding the firm's management ranks, with Consultants eventually moving to roles of Manager and Partner. The consultant role also offers great flexibility in terms of six-month transfers and other opportunities. Also like the AC role, demand is quite high and Bain typically draws the bulk of its consultants from top-tier schools.

Bain employees receive approximately 105 hours of training annually, starting all of its associate consultants off with two weeks of orientation in their local offices, followed by a 10-day global training event in Cape Cod. Other global training sessions, conducted by some of Bain’s best managers and partners, are held every 12 to 18 months at places like Cancun, Barcelona and Phuket.

Bain repeatedly scores high in employee 'Best Places to Work' rankings, which are generally sponsored by regional newspapers or magazines. Recent awards include:

Press Trust of India Limited – “Best Places to Work for MBA Grads” (2007);
Fortune – One of the top “100 Best Companies to Work For” (2007);
The Great Place to Work Institute – “The Best Workplace in France” (2007);
Financial Times – “Best UK Workplace ‘Laureate’” (2007);
BusinessWeek – One of the top “50 Best Places to Launch a Career” (2006);
Consulting Magazine - #1 “The Best Firms to Work For 2007" (also 2002-2006);
Financial Times – “#1 “Top 10 Places to Work in Europe” (2006, 2007);
Financial Times – #1 “100 Best Workplaces in the UK" 2006

Additionally, Bain has translated its approach to client cases to its corporate environment as well. The Bain recruitment and hiring process extends beyond traditional face-to-face interaction into the virtual world of podcasts and Second Life, a leap which the company views as an accent to traditional methods rather than a replacement.

In Second Life, the company has created a “virtual recruitment center," complete with networking areas, auditorium and information stands where visitors can watch videos and slide shows and download information.” The ability to interact with Bain recruiters virtual world brought ease to the anxiety of many potential hires. Bain plans to utilize its virtual alternative in the future for other events such as global staff meetings, seminars and workshops.

Bain has also been recognized for embracing environmental innovation. The chance for new consultants to make a difference at the firm is most evident in the recent creation of Bain’s Green Team by two Associate Consultants, just four months after arriving at Bain’s New York office in 2005. Their mission to make the office more environmentally friendly by reducing paper usage, increasing recycling, using recyclable materials in office renovations, and reducing energy use, has expanded to a number of Bain offices around the world.

Source: wikipedia.org