Best Boutique Consulting Firms

Which are the best small, mid-sized and specialist consulting firms to work for?

What is a boutique firm?

While there is no hard and fast definition, the term is generally understood within the consulting industry to refer to firms that are narrower in focus and smaller in size than the larger, generalist firms that can offer advice across a wide range of practice areas and industries. Thus, each of the firms on this ranking are specialists in their practice areas--some have, in fact, just one area of specialization, and all had fewer than 750 consultants at the time of publication.

Why work for a boutique?

There are many reasons why someone would choose to work for a boutique consulting firm over one of the larger competitors in the industry. For example, boutiques tend to offer better work-life balance opportunities. Some staff employees locally, as opposed to firms that operate on 100% travel models. And sometimes, it just comes down to specialization: if you're only interested in economics or public sector consulting, it might not make sense to work at a firm where you'll be expected to rotate through a variety of practice areas in your first two years.

Every year, we look at our consulting survey data from a number of angles, trying to find insights and takeaways about the consulting industry that we haven't seen before. One of those insights led directly to the creation of the Best Boutique Firms ranking--that when you compare responses of employees from large firms and those who work for boutiques, one major factor stands out: big firm consultants are much more likely to value the prestige of their organization than those who work for boutiques.

Interestingly, the remaining factors that motivate employees at the two groups of firms are almost identical and, when prestige is excluded, are also weighted almost identically.

As a result, we decided to examine our data from that perspective: to eliminate prestige as a concern, and simply rank the boutique firms based on the remaining factors that consultants identified as being important to them, weighted as closely as possible to their relative importance in our survey data. The result is this ranking, which is weighted as follows:

25% Firm Culture
20% Satisfaction
20% Work/Life Balance
10% Level of Challenge
10% Compensation
10% Overall Business Outlook
5% Promotion Policies

As ever, our survey is only open to consultants who are currently employed at reputable firms in the industry. When rating quality of life issues, consultants are only permitted to rate their own firm. For prestige and practice area rankings, however, consultants are only allowed to rate competitors, and NOT their own firms.

2020 Best Boutique Consulting Firms

SCORE 9.336

2019 Rank 15

ClearView Healthcare Partners

ClearView is a boutique consulting firm in the life sciences strategy field. The company has enjoyed exponential growth since its founding in 2007, providing advice and insights across four main areas of focus: pharmaceuticals, biotechnology,...

Overview Survey Says Employee Reviews

SCORE 9.328

2019 Rank 4

ghSMART

ghSMART is a management consulting firm based in Chicago, with offices across the U.S. and in London. The firm was founded in 1995 by Geoff Smart after the publication of an award-winning Ph.D. dissertation study on management assessment in...

Overview Survey Says Why Work Here Employee Reviews

SCORE 9.327

2019 Rank 2

Insight Sourcing Group

Founded in 2002, Insight Sourcing Group is a consulting firm that focuses exclusively on strategic sourcing and procurement. Led by alumni of some of the world's top consulting firms, including the likes of Accenture and Deloitte, Insight...

Overview Survey Says Employee Reviews

SCORE 9.305

2019 Rank 1

Putnam Associates

For more than 30 years, Putnam Associates has grown into a premier strategy consulting firm serving biopharmaceutical, biotechnology (cell, gene and tissue therapies), diagnostics, medical device, and related clients in the healthcare space. The...

Overview Survey Says Why Work Here Employee Reviews

SCORE 9.136

2019 Rank 7

The Keystone Group

Founded in 1991, The Keystone Group is a management consulting firm that works with mid-market manufacturing and distribution clients. The firm is based in Chicago, with another office in Atlanta. Manufacturing Profit Keystone operates in...

Overview Survey Says Employee Reviews

SCORE 9.042

2019 Rank 8

Ignyte Group

Founded in 2014 by former Big Four consultants, entrepreneurs, designers, and engineers, Ignyte Group is a management and digital experience consultancy located in the heart of Washington, DC. The firm strives to bridge the gap between...

Overview Survey Says Why Work Here Employee Reviews

SCORE 9.007

2019 Not Ranked

Blue Matter

Founded in 2012, Blue Matter is a specialized management consulting firm serving the life sciences industry. The firm maintains offices across the United States and Europe. Blue Matter works to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies...

Overview Survey Says Why Work Here Employee Reviews

SCORE 8.952

2019 Rank 11

Clarkston Consulting

Clarkston Consulting is a business and technology consulting firm serving the consumer products, retail and life sciences markets. Besides its headquarters in Durham, N.C., the firm has offices in six U.S. cities. Clarkston Consulting was...

Overview Survey Says Why Work Here Employee Reviews

SCORE 8.927

2019 Rank 10

Health Advances

The professionals at Health Advances consult about one thing and one thing only: health care. Established in 1992, the firm's core belief is that focusing on just one industry allows it to provide clients with greater resources and focused...

Overview Survey Says Why Work Here Employee Reviews

#10

SCORE 8.918

2019 Not Ranked

DeciBio Consulting

DeciBio Consulting is a boutique strategy consulting and market research firm focusing on the life science industry. DeciBio's mission is to provide the market intelligence and strategic insights that drive disruption and innovation in the...

Overview Survey Says Employee Reviews

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