Top Management Consulting Firms in 2013

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Management Consulting Firms

Each year, Vault asks consultants from prestigious firms to answer a survey. Then ratings are collated and management consulting firms are ranked based on a weighted formula. Below is an analysis of the top management consulting firms in 2013.

Overall Ranking

The Big Three remains on top of the list in this order – Bain, McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group. Booz rises to the fourth rank. This is considered a major accomplishment since it was in 10th and 16th places in 2012 and 2011, respectively.  Deloitte takes one step lower – from 4th to 5th rank.

Two new consulting firms that showed progress this year are PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and Censeo Consulting Group. The former currently grabs the 8th place (from 12th last year) and the latter occupies the 10th rank (from 16th last year). LEK Consulting wasn’t able to make it to top 10 but its increase in rank – from 26th to 12th – indicates a positive change.

Prestigious Management Consulting Firms in 2013

Prestige of firms was also evaluated based on gathered ratings. Respondents were asked to rate firms, except the one they are working for. Results say nothing has changed in the top 6 firms, which are the following:

  1. McKinsey & Co.
  2. The Boston Consulting Group, Inc.
  3. Bain & Co.
  4. Booz & Co.
  5. Deloitte Consulting LLP
  6. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Ernst & Young LLP, Accenture and Monitor Group still made it to top 10 with slight rank changes. Oliver Wyman rose to 10th rank (from 12th last year), but Mercer LLC’s status went 4 steps lower (from 9th to 13th).

Best Management Consulting Firms in 2013 – Practice Areas

Respondents were asked to name three firms that perform well for every business focus. They were not allowed to include the firm in which they are connected. Below are the results:

Practice Areas Top 3 Firms
Economic Consulting
  1. NERA Economic Consulting
  2. McKinsey & Company
  3. Cornerstone Research
Energy Consulting
  1. McKinsey & Company
  2. The Boston Consulting Group, Inc.
  3. Bain & Company
Financial Consulting
  1. McKinsey & Company
  2. Ernst & Young LLP (Consulting Practice)
  3. Deloitte Consulting LLP
Human Resources Consulting
  1. Mercer LLC
  2. Towers Watson
  3. Aon Hewitt
Management Consulting
  1. McKinsey & Company
  2. Bain & Company
  3. The Boston Consulting Group, Inc.
Operations Consulting
  1. Accenture
  2. Deloitte Consulting LLP
  3. McKinsey & Company
Public Sector Consulting
  1. Booz Allen Hamilton
  2. McKinsey & Company
  3. Deloitte Consulting LLP
Strategy Consulting
  1. McKinsey & Company
  2. Bain & Company
  3. The Boston Consulting Group, Inc.

The results above say that except for Human Resources Consulting, McKinsey consistently belongs to top 3 firms. However, it failed to grab the 1st rank in the overall ranking because the respondents were more satisfied with other companies in terms of:

  1. Work-life Balance
  2. Compensation
  3. Firm Culture

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