Monitor Deloitte

Monitor Group was founded in 1983, by six entrepreneurs with ties to Harvard Business School, including Michael Porter, Mark B. Fuller, and Joseph B. Fuller.

In 2008, the Corporation for National and Community Service honored Monitor for outstanding pro bono service for its 10-year partnership with and providing consulting resources for New Profit Inc., a national venture philanthropy fund, as well as its consulting work through Monitor Institute. More than 250 Monitor Group consultants have participated in projects supporting New Profit and its portfolio organizations.

Monitor was hit by the 2008 economic crisis. The company laid off nearly 20% of its workforce and closed several small offices. According to co-founder Joe Fuller, 2008 revenue was up on the previous year, but he stated that Monitor continued to anticipate "a demanding and tough market in the short term". Monitor also operated a research captive called Grail Research which was sold to Integreon in 2010, which is a member company of the Ayala Corporation.

On November 7, 2012, Monitor's US subsidiary filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and it was announced that Deloitte had agreed to acquire Monitor Group. The company was officially bought out by Deloitte on January 11, 2013. "The new combined practices will operate under the Monitor Deloitte brand, resulting in a new global presence in strategy consulting", according to the Monitor website in February 2013.

Monitor was based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and has 27 offices in 17 countries. Monitor's consulting areas included: Strategy and Uncertainty, Leadership and Organization, Innovation, Economic Development, Marketing Pricing and Sales, and Social Action. Monitor had a number of business units that specialize in these areas and work together on client projects and the development of intellectual property, including its own white papers and research reports. They included: Global Business Network (GBN), experts in scenario planning and experiential learning; Doblin specializes in innovation and design thinking; Monitor Regional Competitiveness supported economic development and regional competitiveness initiatives; Monitor Institute consulted on strategy for the philanthropy and non-profit sectors; Monitor 360 works on strategy for government and non-governmental agencies; and Monitor Talent, a network of authors, experts, and academics who shared ideas about the future of business, science and society. According to Monitor Group, about 85 percent of its revenues came from repeat clients.

Monitor Group did not disclose its list of clients. Even when discussing clients in-house, Monitor used acronyms to protect client's identities, a mark of Monitor's hyper-confidentiality. Some engagements that have appeared in the press due to their public nature include a major initiative with the Libyan government and an organizational effort with the University of California.

Monitor Group recruited both at MBA and undergraduate levels, including online recruiting, for the "consultant" position, the title given to all of Monitor's professional staff. Monitor's candidates typically come from top Ivy League schools and their international equivalents, liberal arts colleges and business schools across the world. Only around 2% of the undergraduate applicant pool received offers.

Several authors affiliated with the firm have written business consulting books related to Monitor's work, including Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors, by Michael Porter; Knowledge for Action: A Guide to Overcoming Barriers to Organizational Change, by Chris Argyris; A Theory of the Firm: Governance, Residual Claims and Organizational Forms, by Michael C. Jensen; The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing: A Guide to Growing More Profitably, by Thomas T. Nagle, John E. Hogan and Joseph Zale; and The Art of the Long View: Paths to Strategic Insight for Yourself and Your Company by Peter Schwartz.