Hey Consulting Monkeys,
Just wanted to clarify a few things about the rankings and perceived prestige of the major consulting firms. I do not come from a consulting background so apologies in advance if my misconception may seem obvious.
It's widely noted among undergrad/grad students that MBB is the holy grail of consulting. "MBB or Bust". "Case Prep Case Prep Case Prep". But a lot of the media online seems to be pointing otherwise. Below I've listed the arguments that I've found against MBB being "the best" and the arguments for. Would love to hear an insider's view as to why this is the case.
Against
i) Other consulting firms e.g. Big4, exceed MBB on consulting revenue in absolute terms
ii) Previously it was thought that Point i) as because MBB only did strategy consulting, but they're now reaching into operations, implementation, etc.
iii) In the 2019 FT ranking of Management Consulting firm's, McKinsey fell to 6th
For
i) Historically the most prestigious
ii) Make the most revenue per head
iii) Fxcking hard to break into
Point i) makes absolutely no sense from a prestige/quality perspective. McDonald's revenues are easily a few order of magnitudes higher than any 3-michelin-starred restaurant, but that doesn't imply their food is better.
As for ii), the type of "operations" or "implementation" work at MBB is still very different from what Big4/Accenture offer, as most of the time the MBB team has (1) more exposure to senior management and (2) wider responsibility in driving forward whatever is being implemented (and most of the time the Big4/Accenture project is a sub-workstream of the whole picture that the MBB team is managing).
Not familiar with FT rankings, so can't comment on this.
Overall, based on b-school intake and exit opportunities, I'd say that MBB is still a notch above the rest, at least in my geography (Western Europe).
GM did more revenue than Lamborghini last year, but would you rather drive around in a Chevy Cruze or an Aventador?
I was going to use this exact same analogy! haha
touché
personally I'd take a mini van, you can haul a lot of soccer moms and bag em' in that extra 3rd row
Is your question that MBB is not as prestigious as some of the other firms, or that the gap in prestige isn't as wide? Regardless, the answer is that MBB will probably always be more prestigious than Big 4/Tier 2 firms as long as they can continue to sell the fact that they do the most "interesting" strategy work with the highest level C-suite executives.
However, the landscape is changing somewhat. There are a significantly larger number of MBB alumni in F500 leadership positions across the country/globe now than there were 20-30 years ago. As these firms grow, and as more people exit, this number will only increase. That means that the knowledge and experience is only being more commoditized, which means that the onus is on these strategy firms to deliver results instead of offering high level suggestions/ideas. This is why you're seeing MBB go more and more into the Implementations/Operations spaces (McKinsey Implementation Coaches, etc.).
Gone are the days where you would join MBB and work exclusively on Strategy projects. You will still get more strategy work and high-level C-Suite exposure than other firms, without a doubt, but you will likely get your fair share of PMO/Implementations/less "glamorous" work as well. It's just the nature of the changing landscape of the consulting industry.
Despite smaller revenue numbers, MBB is the most "prestigious" if by that, we mean difficult to get into, viewed favourably by C-suites, etc. Revenue comes down to how companies position themselves in the market. If you try to sell all services and sell to any company (which is the Big 4 model), you'll have high revenues. I've interned at a Big 4 and they throw themselves at any project that will generate $ - we're talking projects that MBB, ATK, Oliver Wyman, etc. just doesn't position themselves in the market for at all.
I think people often get thrown off by the moniker of "Big 4". The term isn't used the same way as it is in tech world where the big companies are the best and most prestigious. It just refers to the fact that they do everything as long as it brings in money and have offices all around the globe. In terms of prestige, outside of Monitor/Strategy&, the T2 firms like A.T. Kearney, Oliver Wyman, LEK, etc. are typically seen as more prestigious than the Big 4.
As you mention, MBB has moved into a wider range of service areas. Although this has arguably diluted the prestige relative to their old days, they're still the most prestigious compared to the rest of the market. I wouldn't may mind to the FT ranking, I'm not even sure what the scores are based on. KPMG often does well in these rankings due to their size but I guarantee there are maybe 15 firms that 99% of recruits would take over KPMG.
Just curious to see the 15 firms “99% of recruits” would pick over KPMG Strategy. I get they are the bottom of the Big4 strategy consulting firms but they are still a Big4 firm with big brand recognition, lots of resources and are actively investing in the group.
I don’t see what firms outside of MBB, 3/4 of the Big4, Accenture Strategy, AT Kearney, LEK, Oliver Wyman you’d be better off at for prestige and exit opps. Outside of MBB I highly doubt the exit opps would be any different. I guess you can try to make an argument for Roland Berger and OC&C but even with that it would still be 12 firms total at best..
I think you're taking the comment a bit too literally. I think you understand was trying to say.
There are also boutiques that I'd throw up there like Bridgespan, Putnam Associates, Clearview, etc. but that's beside the point.
I know it sounds like I'm specifically shitting on KPMG and that's not my intention. All of these companies are good places to make a career and getting into management consulting at any solid firm is difficult! The point I was trying to make was that people tend to conflate reputation with a company's size when that shouldn't be the case. I agree that KPMG will be interesting to watch in the future as I know they're investing in organic growth for their strategy practice (and, with their resources, they're always a candidate to make an acquisition).
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