Bruce Henderson

Bruce Doolin Henderson (April 30, 1915 – July 20, 1992) was an American businessman and management expert.

Henderson was born on a farm in Nashville, Tennessee on 30 April 1915.

In the fourth grade, he enrolled in the Peabody Demonstration School (PDS) and remained there until his high school graduation in 1932.

During high school, Henderson played on the football team.

Henderson married twice.

With his first wife, Frances, he fathered four children.

He had two daughters—Asta Werme and Ceacy Griffin—and two sons—Bruce Alexander Henderson and Bruce Balfour Henderson.

His second wife was Bess, with whom he had no children.

Henderson had seven grandchildren at the time of his death.

Henderson began his career as a salesman in the Southwestern Advantage entrepreneurial program.

He went on to attend and earn an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from Vanderbilt University in 1937, before attending Harvard Business School.

He left Harvard only ninety days before graduation to work for the Westinghouse Corporation.

Henderson worked there for 18 years.

He became the vice president at the age of 37, making him one of the youngest vice presidents in the company's history.

In 1959, Henderson left the company to join the consulting firm Arthur D. Little as a senior vice president for management services.

He founded Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in 1963 in Boston, Massachusetts and headed the firm as the president and CEO until 1980.

He left the firm in 1963 over disagreements with the firm's leadership.

Upon leaving Arthur D. Little, Henderson accepted a challenge from the CEO of Boston Company to create a consulting arm for the bank, operating as a subsidiary under the name Management and Consulting Division of the Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Company.

This consulting arm began its operations in 1963.

Initially, it advised clients of the bank.

Billings for the first month were only US$500.

Nevertheless, Henderson hired his second consultant, Arthur P. Contas, in December 1963.

Henderson provided a very specific imprint to the firm, that of strategy consultants.

Robert Mainer gave an account of how that choice was made:"[Henderson] asked what we thought [BCG's] specialty should be. Many suggestions were offered, but in each case, we were able to identify several other firms that already had strong credentials in that particular area. The discussion began to stall. Then Bruce asked a momentous question: 'What about business strategy?' I objected: 'That's too vague. Most executives won't know what we're talking about.' Bruce replied, 'That's the beauty of it. We'll define it'.—Robert E. Mainer, Boston 1964-1967"

Bruce created the publication entitled Perspectives as a new form of marketing and in response to the McKinsey Quarterly and Arthur D. Little's Prism.

In 1974 Henderson made BCG an independent business and was one of the first to take advantage of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 that allowed the establishment of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).

The ESOP began the process of buying BCG from The Boston Company, the parent corporation of Boston Safe Deposit.

Between 1974 and 1980, Henderson focused on growing the firm and expanding its international presence.

By the end of 1977, revenues were split evenly among business originating in the United States and overseas.

The buyout was completed in 1979, five years ahead of schedule.

He wrote extensively for the publication until 1980.

Henderson stepped down from his role as the president and CEO of Boston Consulting Group in 1980.

He was succeeded by Alan Zakon.

By that time, he had grown BCG from a one-man-shop to a global firm with seven offices and 249 consultants.

He continued to serve as chairman of BCG until 1985.

He continued as the chairman until 1985.

He retired and went to Nashville, Tennessee, to teach at the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University.

Henderson died at the age of 77, ten days after suffering a heart attack at his home in Nashville in 1992.

He was survived by his second wife, four children with his first wife, and seven grandchildren.

A memorial service was held with an overflow of attendees at the Memorial Church at Harvard Yard, Cambridge, on December 11, 1992, amidst a blizzard.