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One of the three leading strategy firms Bain & Company is among the world leaders in international strategy consulting. Founded in 1973 with a handful of employees, Bain now boasts a consulting staff of 1,650 and has served clients in over 80 countries on five continents. The firm has 25 offices (representing 18 countries), though many of them are relatively young by comparison with those of main competitors McKinsey and The Boston Consulting Group. Its client base consists primarily of diversified, international corporations in all sectors of business and industry, such as financial services, e-commerce, strategy, health care, and manufacturing. Bain also has a leveraged buyout practice, which was developed in San Francisco in 1994 and expanded into a firm-wide practice in 1998. Specialists? We don't need any! Unlike many of its consulting competitors, which are moving toward increased industry specialization, Bain remains a pure generalist, strategy shop. It must be working - the company projects 10 to 15 percent growth in revenues in 1999. But the state of the firm has not always been so rosy. Bain ran into trouble in the mid-1980s when one of its employees working for Guinness in London was implicated in a share-dealing scandal. Around the same time, a disastrous ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) overloaded the company with annual payments. Falling business forced the firm to lay off over 20 percent of its workforce, and Bain nearly went bankrupt in 1991. A very impressive reputation again Since then, Bain has not only recovered its prestige, but enjoys a high reputation for confidentiality and integrity (even for its once scandal-ridden operations in England). Since a management buyout in 1991, the firm's revenues have risen year after year. While it shares its headquarters building with Bain Capital, a venture capital firm founded by William Bain in 1984, the two firms have no official connection. Bain Capital, however, does exhibit a "preference" for Bain when it needs to hire a consultancy for its due diligence work, and the two firms are said to use a similar "results-based" operative framework. Bain consultants routinely make the (short) move to Bain Capital; the consulting firm even circulates "help wanted" e-mails for its VC cousin. Bain love "Bainies," as the firm's consultants are affectionately called, have cultivated a very close-knit corporate culture. "What are you going to do Monday morning at 8 a.m?" is a catchphrase at the consultancy, which concentrates on producing immediately implementable and valuable results for its clients. Orit Gadiesh (or "OG"), the brilliant, flamboyant (and purple-haired) chairman of Bain & Company insists that it's better to have an 80 percent solution that is immediately implementable than a perfect, 100 percent solution that is purely theoretical. The future of Bain Bain remains something of a specialized breed among consulting firms - small and very focused on strategy. Unlike an operation such as the consulting arm of the enormous PricewaterhouseCoopers, which may have 5,000 partners, Bain has a mere 190 partners. And at a time when consulting firms like McKinsey and BCG (the other ultra-elite consultancies) are increasingly turning to sourcing and IT consulting as a source of future income growth, Bain, according to its former worldwide managing partner Tom Tierney, will remain focused on strategic consulting. "That's absolutely bucking the industry trend," Tierney told the Financial Times of London. "We're really good at strategy. We understand IT, but we absolutely do not sell IT services." Why is Tierney convinced that branching out into IT is the wrong direction for Bain? It comes down to core competencies, he asserts - successful businesses are those that grow their core businesses. Tierney seemingly believes that strategy consulting firms should stick to strategy - and similarly, would argue that "most professional services [firms] do not implement a strategy very well." When the current boom cycle comes to a close, the wisdom (or lack thereof) of Bain's strategy will show itself. In February 2000, Orit Gadiesh was elected chair of Bain for the third consecutive term, while Tom Tierney was replaced by John Donahoe as worldwide management partner in a planned succession after two terms. Donahoe had been head of Bain's West Coast operations since 1992, and had spearheaded the development of bainlab, Bain's e-commerce incubator.
Bain hired approximately 200 MBAs in 1999, and plans to hire about 200 more for the class of 2000, with the same number of undergraduate hires. The hiring process starts with a first round on campus or at a local hotel. This round consists of two separate interviews. One is a fit interview "that's meant to tell if you are a dynamic, friendly, hyper-smart person who would fit well into the Bain culture, but [which] is mainly going over your resume"; the other is a case interview. These preliminary interviews are short - 30 or 40 minutes each. The candidates Bain deems worthy of a second round are interviewed either on campus again or at a nearby Bain office. This second round consists of three 40-minute interviews. One of these interviews is a more intense non-case fit interview, while the other two are case interviews. Bain caters to its most desired candidates. At some of its larger core schools - such as Harvard, Wharton, Kellogg, Stanford and Chicago - Bain has a campus rep on hand to answer questions. A consultant is also available to fly in and answer any questions recruits have about the firm. Each Bain office has at least one recruiting contact. For the Boston headquarters, the undergrad recruiting contact is Jennifer Fulton (tel: 617-572-2236), and the MBA recruiting contact is Crisolita Pontes (617-572-2236).
The good faith firm Consultants say that the firm makes a "good faith" effort to put them on assignments in which they are interested and also offers them the flexibility they need to balance their work schedules with the demands of their personal lives. Insiders say that "the level of the assignments is top notch." "Excellent researchers" on case teams also help solve client problems. We hear that "the hours fluctuate a lot, from 50 to 80 hours a week, and [are] sometimes strange." Bain gives all of its employees - including recent hires - "as much responsibility as they can handle." The "intense," "upbeat" corporate culture emphasizes teamwork "constantly," insiders say, comparing the firm to "an elite fraternity or sorority - Beta Alpha Iota Nu." Even chairman Orit Gadiesh spends about 70 percent of her time on client work. Superpopular Bain Plenty of applicants want to join in the fun. The firm "has been known to get 100 resumes a day." Junior consultants interact "frequently" with senior employees, especially at Bain's numerous social events. A special perk at Bain is the "Bain Band," a semiprofessional musical ensemble composed of Bain employees that plays at special events. "Suits are required" at this prestigious firm, "except for Fridays (and throughout the summer, except when meeting with clients). For a few years, people violated the dress code regularly, until the company cracked down." In terms of diversity, the firm's record is fairly clean. "Although the breakdown of men to women is about 70/30, I felt women were well accepted in the organization," says a female former consultant. "And of course, the chairman is a woman, Orit Gadiesh." While minorities are "treated as equals," "at the end of the day, there were few minorities in the company." If Bain can make it there... Bain plans to open a New York office by the fall of 2000. Although Bain has had no difficulty serving its New York clientele from Boston, many potential recruits have expressed a desire to live and work in the city. Road warriors The amount of travel seems to vary from consultant to consultant and from office to office. One insider remarks, "I worked for Bain for a year and a half. I never traveled internationally, and my domestic travel was maybe once a month." Another insider has a different tale to tell: "I traveled constantly. At least three days per week." Another remarks, "I worked on a Japanese case for six months, but spent only six weeks in the country. The same with the France project. I worked almost entirely out of the domestic office; it was only the last two and a half weeks of the project that I flew to Paris." Generally, the firm is "good about transferring its personnel from one office to another, especially if it truly wants you. For example, if Bain needed a health care expert in Sydney, it would set you up with a really nice housing situation. On the other hand, [when changing offices] financial gradation depends on how badly you want it versus how badly the client needs you." Popular offices According to insiders, Bain's more popular offices include San Francisco, London ("you can be abroad, but still speak English"), Paris ("because, well, it's Paris"), Sydney, and Johannesburg ("it's an exciting time to be in South Africa"). Foreign language proficiency, although not a requirement of the company, "is common among Bainies. Many people have studied or lived abroad." Bain offices are well equipped, insiders say. "There are some secretaries and a lot of research staff. You can do your own research or sometimes you give your requirements to the support staff," says one consultant. "They'll either give you the stuff the next day or that evening, depending on how much of a rush it is. You can get hundreds of pages sometimes." Reports another insider, "every team has a team assistant, who handles the administrative details. The library is very modern; it has laserdiscs and CD-ROMS, the whole bit."
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