Up or out

In a hierarchical organization, "up or out", also known as a tenure or partnership system, is the requirement that each member of the organization must achieve a certain rank within a certain period of time. If they fail to do so, they must leave the organization.

Industries

Accounting, consulting, law, and engineering are some industries in which this culture exists, tacitly or openly. Many military systems and academia also exhibit characteristics of the system.

Private sector

"Up or out" is practiced throughout the accounting industry in North America, most notably at the Big Four accounting firms, which also practice this policy in other countries.

Up or out is "commonly regarded as a sign of the consulting industry’s hard-nosed approach to doing business" with Bain & Co and McKinsey & Company being the two consultancies most closely associated with the approach. However, it is "not a label that the consultancies are keen to own up to". According to Leslie Perlow, up or out is also employed at Boston Consulting Group.