Mirror Mirror on the wall, who is the best strategic consulting firm of them all?
Strategic consulting seems to be more needed then ever as companies are constantly trying to push the boundary with technology and client experiences. In fact, the management consulting industry has grown 3.6% to revenues of $241 billion for more than 708,000 firms in the last five years alone (1). When thinking about the top players in “strategy” in today’s consulting world, either as a place to work and/or a best-in-class partner to a corporation trying to evolve, three firms immediately come to mind: McKinsey, Bain & Company and Boston Consulting Group (BCG).These three firms are collectively known as the “Big Three” as they are the three largest firms in market by revenue.
The management consulting industry is extremely crowded — there are over 50 companies listed on the 2019 Forbes list for best management consulting firms (2). McKinsey, Bain & Company and Boston Consulting Group have all been major players in the space and have a reputation for being an elite club, rich with prestige and expertise. All three companies are also very competitive places to join as employees given the high salaries, invaluable network and tremendous development opportunities. Aspiring consultants prepare for rigorous case study style interviews and often have to go through multiple rounds. In addition, to join these companies, one often has to have degrees from top programs (for example, Harvard, Princeton, Yale or Stanford) or have extraordinary operating or innovation experience. The best and brightest aspire to be part of this prestigious club at all levels with the hopes that they can help drive strategic and impactful transformations.
In addition to recruitment of best-in class talent, these three firms are all known to be outstanding strategic partners to all types of corporations in all sectors. Every type of company can use the help of a strategic consulting partner; whether the company is a sleepy one that needs to evolve its brand identity and CRM technology or a distressed one that needs help managing their balance sheet or an influential Fortune 100 company that is driving growth through every avenue. These firms need to be agile and adaptive, as well as industry experts on business drivers and sectors.
Given that these three firms are all very competitive in terms of who they hire and how they work with all the different companies varying in size and sector, they are all ranked closely in the consulting world and often viewed interchangeably. However, when one must commit to deciphering which firm “is the fairest of all,” the mirror will reveal McKinsey. Aside from being ranked as the top dog of the industry in North America by Vault and other publications (3), McKinsey reigns supreme due to its focus on hiring and developing talent , global reach and market share, and investing in and prioritizing innovation.
McKinsey has continuously developed learning programs and recruited top tier talent that are indisputably change-makers in their field. McKinsey employees sing the company’s praises, “describing its mentorship and training schemes as ‘superb’ and celebrating its culture which leads to fast acquisition of skill and good career development (4).” Respondents to a 2019 Vault survey also claimed that McKinsey was “the best place to develop yourself” and had the “world’s greatest people” who consistently shared knowledge and perspective (3).Employees fundamentally believe that the company is invested in their development and are setting them up for success in house and for their future careers. Last, McKinsey celebrates diversity of backgrounds when putting together a team; the other consulting firms are extremely focused on hiring MBAs while McKinsey prioritizes creativity, life experiences and other professions including, but not limited to, medical doctors, engineers, designers, and civil servants. By focusing on diverse talent and investing in its people, McKinsey is creating an environment full of cutting-edge thinking that will help accelerate business growth for their clients.
In addition to its focus on hiring and developing talent, McKinsey has the resources, size and reach that no other strategic firm can compete against. McKinsey has consistently generating the most revenue of all of the firms and the company has the largest pool of consultants and offices (30,000 colleagues working in 130 cities and 65+ countries), 90+ years of experience in consulting and has served almost 70% of the Fortune 1000 companies (6). Within the 200+ billion-dollar management consulting industry, McKinsey commands the largest market share with an estimated 4% (7). Last, McKinsey’s investments and prioritization of innovation and technically is a final differentiator as to why it’s the best strategic consulting firm in the market. The company shares technology trends every year and has created a global institute focused on developing reports, models and insights focused on innovation and the new economies. This technology and digital-first direction is a focus of Kevin Sneader, the new Chairman of McKinsey.
With priorities on hiring top talent, tackling the technology sector and ambitions to be the tech industry’s strategic partner as well as annual revenues doubling to $10bn and counseling 90 of the top 100 firms (8), McKinsey is leading the charge in strategic management consulting and is even fairer than our dear friend Snow White.
Sources:
(2) https://www.forbes.com/best-management-consulting-firms/#79ad64e72d03
(3) https://www.vault.com/best-companies-to-work-for/consulting/vault-consulting-rankings-top-50
(6) https://www.mckinsey.com/about-us/overview
(7) https://digital.hbs.edu/platform-digit/submission/mckinsey-company-will-the-firm-win-digital/
(8) https://www.economist.com/business/2018/03/01/a-new-boss-for-mckinsey
(9) https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/06/how-to-land-a-job-at-mckinsey.html