| Topic Name: |
real strategy / real hire |
| Message Name: |
Different firms |
| Date Posted: |
03/20/2002 |
| In Reply To: |
People write whole books on this and actually make money, but, in short.... Bain is more entrepreneurial. BCG is more theoretical. McKinsey is more corporate. Mercer and other consulting firms are less strategic.
Those that make money off of whole books on this stuff and actually have some decent write-ups are the Vault and also Wet feet press.
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| Message: |
Here are some thoughts from the MBA perspective...
I totally agree with you on Bain, BCG and McKinsey. These are the traditional strategy firms with niches (for a reason) as you described.
For an introduction, it's probably more useful to describe firms out there in terms of categories--I admit these are really, really rough, so someone go ahead and correct:
Large strategy: McKinsey, BCG, Bain
Boutique strategy: Monitor, L.E.K., Strategic Decisions Group, Mercer(?), Parthenon
Full-service mgmt consulting: Accenture, Booz-Allen, Deloitte, PwC, KPMG, CGEY, and Andersen R.I.P.
Boutique eBusiness consulting: DiamondCluster, MarchFirst
Tech integration plus mgmt consulting: IBM, EDS
These are my best guesses at MBA-described prestige. MBAs typically take any offer in the first category. The next two categories seem to be on equal ground, though MBAs generally believe strategy is more glamourous and have a slight preference towards the strategy boutiques over the full-service firms (Accenture and Booz-Allen are the exceptions).
I also agree, purchase or borrow a copy of Vault or Wet Feet's insider's guide to consulting, as that is a really good way to find out about a lot of firms. They can be biased towards some firms over others, so read with a grain of salt.
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