PRACTICE AREA RANKINGS

There is a major gap between what employees and competitors see. In the 2023 Vault Consulting 50 ranking, McKinsey was declining all Work and Life Measures. Despite this, the firm achieved the highest Prestige ranking and consistently finished among the Top 5 across Vault’s Practice Areas.

When it comes to Prestige and Practice Areas, McKinsey remains the firm to beat.

Each year, Vault asks survey respondents to list the top three firms in their practice areas (excluding their own firm). Across the 17 industries, McKinsey was the top vote-getter in 9 industries – and they ranked among the Top 5 in the other 8 areas.

While Practice Areas aren’t factored into the Vault Consulting 50, they are a reminder of just how dominant that McKinsey is in the space. Just the firm’s sheer size – 45,000 staffers – enables it to thrive in areas that other firms simply lack the scale to pursue.

“Having our team constructed in a way that brings that diversity, talent, experience, and perspective together matters a lot,” explains Eric Kutcher, a McKinsey senior partner and North America chair, in a 2024 interview with P&Q. “We back it up with an incredible side of capabilities. Some of those capabilities sit in places far away from where I am [in San Francisco]. For example, we have PhDs sitting in centers in India who have enormous amounts of expertise in a particular topic that they can bring. Some solutions we have developed allow us to build things in a repeatable way. All of that collectively allows us to differentiate.”

In terms of Practice Areas, Accenture is the only firm to even come close to McKinsey. It was the top vote-getter in three areas: Data Analytics, IT Operations, and IT Strategy. Beyond McKinsey and Accenture, several firms collected top finishes across various consulting practice areas. They include Lockheed Martin (Defense), Economics (Analysis Group), Boston Consulting Group (Environmental Sustainability), and Booz Allen Hamilton (Public Sector).

Overall, BCG and Bain ranked among the Top 5 firms across 14 and 12 practice areas respectively.

Here are the 5 highest-ranked firms in each of the practice areas:

 

Data Analytics Consulting

1) Accenture

2) McKinsey & Company

3) Boston Consulting Group

4) IBM Global Business Services

5) Deloitte Consulting

 

Defense Consulting

1) Lockheed Martin Corporation

2) Northrop Grumman Corporation

3) Booz Allen & Hamilton

4) Vertex Professional Services

5) McKinsey & Company

 

Economic Consulting

1) Analysis Group

2) Cornerstone Research

3) NERA Economic Consulting

4) McKinsey & Company

5) Charles River Associates

 

Energy Consulting

1) McKinsey & Company

2) Boston Consulting Group

3) Bain & Company

4) Deloitte Consulting

5) Accenture

 

Environmental Sustainability Consulting

1) Boston Consulting Group

2) McKinsey & Company

3) Bain & Company

4) Deloitte Consulting

5) PwC Consulting

 

Financial Consulting

1) McKinsey & Company

2) Bain & Company

3) Deloitte Consulting

3) Ernst & Young

5) KPMG LLC

 

Health Sciences Consulting

1) McKinsey & Company

2) Boston Consulting Group

3) L. E. K. Consulting

4) ZS

5) IQVIA

 

Human Resources Consulting

1) McKinsey & Company

2) Deloitte Consulting

3) Boston Consulting Group

4) Bain & Company

5) Korn Ferry

 

IT Operations Consulting

1) Accenture

2) Deloitte Consulting

3) IBM Global Business Services

4) McKinsey & Company

5) Bain & Company

 

IT Strategy Consulting 

1) Accenture

2) Deloitte Consulting

3) IBM Global Business Services

4) McKinsey & Company

5) Boston Consulting Group

 

Management Consulting

1) McKinsey & Company

2) Boston Consulting Group

3) Bain & Company

4) Deloitte Consulting

5) Accenture

 

Operations Consulting

1) McKinsey & Company

2) Boston Consulting Group

3) Bain & Company

3) Deloitte Consulting

5) Accenture

 

Pricing, Sales & Marketing Consulting

1) McKinsey & Company

2) Boston Consulting Group

3) Bain & Company

4) Simon-Kucher

5) Deloitte Consulting

 

Public Sector Consulting

1) Booz Allen Hamilton

2) Deloitte Consulting

3) McKinsey & Company

4) Accenture

5) Boston Consulting Group

 

Retail Consulting

1) McKinsey & Company

2) Boston Consulting Group

3) Bain & Company

4) Deloitte Consulting

5) Accenture

 

Strategy Consulting

1) McKinsey & Company

2) Boston Consulting Group

3) Bain & Company

4) Deloitte Consulting

5) Accenture

 

Technology, Media & Telecommunications Consulting

1) McKinsey & Company

2) Accenture

2) Boston Consulting Group

4) Bain & Company

5) Deloitte Consulting

 

Next Page: Diversity Ranknings

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