PRACTICE AREA RANKINGS
What a difference a year makes!
Last year, McKinsey & Company ranked as the top consulting firm in eight practice areas. It wasn’t even close! Accenture and Deloitte both topped the list in three areas, while BCG bested McKinsey in Environmental Sustainability and Strategy Consulting.
That’s right: it took three firms to even tie McKinsey.
MCKINSEY OPTS OUT
This year? McKinsey led the way in just one practice area: Management Consulting. And that was the only area where it was even ranked!
What caused McKinsey’s score to fall off the proverbial cliff? Well, let’s just say it was self-induced. This year, McKinsey asked to only be considered in one practice area: Management Consulting. Beyond that, it ceded the field to its competitors. Hence, you could say there might be asterisks next to the top performers in many of this year’s fields.
That’s might.
BCG HOLDS ITS OWN
On paper, the main beneficiary of McKinsey’s absence is the Boston Consulting Group. The firm claimed the top spot in nine practice areas: Economics, Energy, Environmental Sustainability, Finance, Health Sciences, Operations, Pricing, Sales, and Marketing, Retail, and Technology, Media, and Telecommunications. Yes, BCG replaced McKinsey in six areas, plus snatching Financial Consulting from Deloitte. Here’s what’s interesting: BCG actually scored higher this year than McKinsey did last year in 12 of 17 categories. Among the remaining five, Health Sciences is the only area where McKinsey had outperformed BCG last year.
Advantage: BCG!
To compile the Practice Area ranking, Firsthand relied on the same 1-10 scale to rate consulting firms. However, consultants could only issue scores in areas where they worked and to peer firms they had encountered. Most important: they couldn’t rate their own firms. While these consultants wouldn’t be privy to the day-to-day operations of competitor projects, the Practice Area ranking acts much like the Vault Consulting 50 Prestige ranking: it reflects the respect that consultants have for their competitors. When many of these consultants take the exit ramp to the c-suite, it may also be an indicator of which firms they hire in the future.
Accenture again ranked as the top firm in the same three categories: Data Analytics, IT Operations, and IT Strategy. Like the 2022 ranking, Lockheed Martin was the firm to beat in Defense Consulting, with the same being said for Deloitte in Human Resources. That said, there was one major change: Deloitte beat out Booz Allen Hamilton in Public Sector consulting.
Another change: Bain & Company edged out BCG in Strategy consulting. Overall, Bain’s scores ranked among the five-best in 14 practice areas – a feat that was also achieved by Deloitte (with Accenture cracking the top 5 in 13 areas).
Data Analytics Consulting
1) Accenture
2) IBM Global Business Services
3) Boston Consulting Group
4) Deloitte Consulting
5) Bain & Company
Defense Consulting
1) Lockheed Martin Corporation
2) Northrop Grumman Corporation
3) Booz Allen & Hamilton
4) Raytheon Professional Services
5) BAE Systems North America
Economic Consulting
1) Boston Consulting Group
2) Bain & Company
3) NERA Economic Consulting
4) Analysis Group
5) Charles River Associates
Energy Consulting
1) Boston Consulting Group
2) Bain & Company
3) Deloitte Consulting
4) Accenture
5) Ernst & Young
Environmental Sustainability Consulting
1) Boston Consulting Group
2) Bain & Company
3) Deloitte Consulting
4) Ernst & Young
5) Accenture
Financial Consulting
1) Boston Consulting Group
2) Ernst & Young
3) Bain & Company
4) Deloitte Consulting
5) KPMG
Health Sciences Consulting
1) Boston Consulting Group
2) ZS
3) L. E. K. Consulting
4) Bain & Company
5) ClearView Healthcare Partners
Human Resources Consulting
1) Deloitte Consulting
2) Korn Ferry
3) Mercer
4) Boston Consulting Group
5) Accenture
IT Operations Consulting
1) Accenture
2) IBM Global Business Services
3) Deloitte Consult
4) KPMG
5) Capgemini
IT Strategy Consulting
1) Accenture
2) IBM Global Business Services
3) Deloitte Consulting
4) Boston Consulting Group
5) Bain & Company
Management Consulting
1) McKinsey & Company
2) Boston Consulting Group
3) Bain & Company
4) Deloitte Consulting
5) Accenture
Operations Consulting
1) Boston Consulting Group
2) Bain & Company
3) Accenture
4) Deloitte Consulting
5) Ernst & Young
Pricing, Sales & Marketing Consulting
1) Boston Consulting Group
2) Bain & Company
3) Deloitte Consulting
4) Simon-Kucher & Partners
5) Accenture
Public Sector Consulting
1) Booz Allen Hamilton
2) Deloitte Consulting
3) Accenture
4) Boston Consulting Group
5) Bain & Company
Retail Consulting
1) Boston Consulting Group
2) Bain & Company
3) Deloitte Consulting
4) Accenture
5) Ernst & Young
Strategy Consulting
1) Bain & Company
2) Boston Consulting Group
3) Deloitte Consulting
4) Accenture
5) EY-Parthenon
Technology, Media & Telecommunications Consulting
1) Boston Consulting Group
2) Bain & Company
3) Accenture
4) Deloitte Consulting
5) Ernst & Young
Next Page: Historical Vault Consulting 50 Scores
