Arthur D. Little

Arthur D. Little helps global companies, governments, and emerging ventures with their most pressing business challenges. From more than 40 offices and laboratories in 31 countries, we use business innovation to help our clients set strategy, shape organizational culture, and develop cutting-edge products and technologies. Working with Arthur D. Little, our clients get the performance improvements and breakthrough results that increase top-line growth and bottom-line results. Founded in 1886 by Arthur Dehon Little, we are the world's first consulting firm. Today we are one of the world's premier consulting firms. Key Dates: Chemists Arthur D. Little and Roger Griffin found Griffin & Little, Chemical Engineers. Company becomes private when the Memorial Drive Trust buys back the outstanding 30 percent. Arthur D. Little School of Management forms partnership with Boston College's Carroll School of Management. Chemists Arthur D. Little and Roger Griffin established Griffin & Little, Chemical Engineers, in Boston in 1886. The venture was a bit of a risk, as chemists and chemistry were viewed rather negatively, but the pair believed there was a market for their consulting services. Hoping to enhance products and processes, Griffin & Little initially became known for its knowledge in papermaking. The firm was able to elevate papermaking from an art to a practical technology, and in 1893 it published The Chemistry of Papermaking, a reference work. That same year, however, Griffin was killed in a laboratory accident. Little kept the business going, and in 1900 the firm patented the first acetate fiber, also known as 'artificial silk.' The company also worked with cellulose, which eventually led to the creation of nonflammable motion picture film. Also in 1900 Little found a new business partner, William Walker, The firm changed its name to Little & Walker, but Walker remained with the company only five years, leaving to join the faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 1909 the firm incorporated as Arthur D. Little, Inc. (ADL). Accomplishments during the 1920s and 1930s were plentiful and noteworthy. In 1921 the firm succeeded in using a bucket of sows' ears to make a silk purse. This revolutionary achievement later became part of the Smithsonian Institute's collection. ADL was involved in the development of an odor classification system, the first of its kind, designed to help in the creation of such products as food, wine, and cosmetics. The firm filed a patent for producing blown glass fibers in 1930; the process paved the way for the creation of Fiberglass. In 1936 ADL was able to make a product that converted sea water into fresh water. Known as the Kleinschmidt vapor compression still, the converter used little fuel and was used extensively by the U.S. Navy during World War II. Though founder Arthur D. Little died in 1935, his legacy did not, and the firm continued to make progress in the 1940s. ADL worked on 'Operation Bootstrap,' a technical-economic plan for the industrialization of Puerto Rico, worked with MIT on the production of a low-pressure system to liquefy helium, and came up with an iron blast furnace operation that successfully boosted the production of iron while decreasing consumption of fuel. The system was embraced by the steel industry. ADL faced some changes in the 1950s, the first involving a change in ownership. By the early 1950s MIT owned 55 percent of ADL, a fact that did not sit well with Royal Little, nephew of the founder. Little thus established the Memorial Drive Trust, a profit-sharing trust for the employees of the firm, in 1953. Little purchased MIT's 55 percent and transferred the shares into the Memorial Drive Trust, hoping to ensure ADL's continued independence. The 1970s and 1980s brought difficult times to ADL. The firm was no longer the only consulting firm specializing in technology but did little to battle competition. Economic conditions across the globe were