Booz Allen Hamilton: An insider guide - Gymkhana

Organization of the FirmView from the TopIn a world of mega-mergers, Booz Allen has remained independent andprivately held. That means the firm’s officers still call all the shots (and pull inthe big bucks). The organization consists of two business units: the corporateconsulting group, called the Worldwide Commercial Business (WCB), and thelarger, government-focused Worldwide Technology Business (WTB). Thoughpeople within the firm are typically aligned with one side of the firm or theother, Booz Allen positions itself as one firm serving both government- andprivate-sector clients.The FirmView from the MiddleBooz Allen has taken a different approach to the standard management consultingsetup. Historically, new commercial-sector hires had to align with a practice group(industry focus) right away. Now Booz Allen prefers that commercial consultants—exceptfor those specializing in IT or operations—start their careersgaining broad skills across industries before they “go deep” and concentrate onone area by joining a natural market team. “I think we lost some people [in thepast] because we weren’t as flexible as we could be,” says a recruiter.Booz Allen’s approach to client work is based on the theory that a complexbusiness problem cannot be adequately addressed using a single methodology,perspective, or framework. The firm’s staffing model brings industry, strategy,operations, and information technology specialists together to form cross-17