Getting Drunk in First Class

Maybe you’re not yet a TD consultant but you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, laughing at our ridiculous madness and yet idolizing our enviable lifestyles and are wondering just who the big dog firms are and who’s who. Here we have a brief inspection of several top consulting firms. Fortunately, we’ve spared the 2×2 matrix in favor of readability and actual useful information. =) We’ve also included a ‘typical consultant’ picture that portrays your typical consultant within each firm.

Bain & Co.
www.bain.com

One of the “Top 3″ in terms of prestige and overall reputation as a strategy consulting firm, Bain is considered the ‘nicest’ of the 3 strat. firms.

Just look at this Bain TD, how many strategic cost reductions has he done in his time? At least a hundred. You can tell by those specs.

Juicy fact: Most consultants travel relatively infrequently and when they do, often their travel schedule is only 1 or 2 nights a week rather than 3 or 4 (or more).

McKinsey & Co.
www.mckinsey.com

This ‘Firm’ has come to be known as the cornerstone of management consulting. Just about every MBA sports a big massive hard-on when they begin salivating over fat salaries and prestigious partnerships at McKinsey. Though McKinsey didn’t ‘invent’ management consulting, it was one of the very early pioneers. If you happen to land a spot on this firm’s payroll, you basically have a to ticket walk on water almost anywhere else should you ever choose to leave ‘The Firm.’ Some McKinseyites are plagued by their own reputation and have egos and high-horse attitudes to come along with. Many, however, are bright, top of their class, easy-going individuals. Like its other strat. partners, it expects its undergraduate analysts to leave after 2-3 years for MBA school and return after their degree, reimbursing cost of tuition after a 2 year ‘contract’ to work for the firm. If you want to truly reach True Total Dickhead(c) status, this is the firm to join.

These McKinseyites live by the adage of dressing a step above the client.

Juicy fact: Maintains a strict, as a matter-of-fact, low profile in the public eye. Most people have never heard of management consulting in general but if they have, they almost barely ever hear about McKinsey.

Boston Consulting Group
www.bcg.com

The last of the “Top 3″ major strategy consulting players. What can we really say about BCG? We’ve heard a few good lines but when all is said and done, if you had a choice between Bain or BCG, you might as well flip a coin.

This BCG TD can probably seagull your team better than anyone!

Juicy fact: An ‘innovator’ with many of its management philosophies and ideas as well as the first consulting firm to establish offices in Tokyo, a burgeoning market for consulting services then and continues to be today.

Monitor Group
www.monitor.com

Lesser known but a veritable competitor in the marketing strategy consulting space. It also remains relatively top-of-mind with MBA graduates. It has been known to possess somewhat of an academic feel which may appeal to some individuals. Makes sense considering that one of its co-founders, Michael Porter, is responsible for the classic Porter’s Five Forces taught in business schools everywhere. This firm isn’t going to explode anytime soon and remains a force to be reckoned with even among the top firms when competing on bids.

These guys are creating the future curriculum for your MBA…

Juicy fact: Had (or still has, we’re not sure anymore) a king-size bed in a room in their Chicago office giving PowerPointing slave-consultants pulling all-nighters in the office a chance to nap. I’ve always wanted a bed in my firm’s office because why go home? I love working 24 hours all the time. It’s also a message to incoming hires that you’ll be working your fucking tail off.

Deloitte Consulting
www.deloitte.com

Deloitte almost spun off to become Braxton back when Deloitte & Touche was considering spinning off their consulting operations to mitigate risk from SOX and other litigation but the plans were shelved at the final hour. Deloitte Consulting remains strong, despite major pressures from the dot-com bomb, and has steadfastly grown its reputation and prestige in the marketplace. It remains one of the most desirable rosters for consultants to jump aboard. However, its attachment to its former ugly sister, the external audit arm of Deloitte & Touche, affects its risk-taking capacity for some engagements. It also faces difficult decisions with clients where there exist opportunities to provide both attestation and consulting services: Given the legal liabilities and SOX regulations, the firm may decline work that it might have otherwise won with little competition. Beware, the undergraduate track is split into 2 primary pieces: Business Analyst Program and System Analyst Program. If you want your MBA paid for and the traditional ‘expectation’ of heading off to a ritzy-ditzy MBA program, seek the Business Analyst track. System Analysts are not expected to leave for advanced degrees though there exists a program to allow eligible System Analysts to attend a master’s program and have the firm pay for it, but the programs one may choose from are restricted to ‘approved’ schools (not all of which are MBA degrees). Bottom line: If you’re brought on-board, consider yourself quite fortunate.

Looks like the Deloitte Hong Kong office is pretty slick but empty… they’re always traveling.

Juicy fact: The San Francisco office loves to throw monthly in-office cocktail/beer events. And, on several floors, there are massage chairs for taking a load off. The firm is consistently recognized for its flexible work arrangements but often these apply more towards the other functions of the firm rather than just consulting. Expect to travel 80-100%. Additionally, Deloitte is often lauded for its socially active consultants on projects in and out of the office.

Booz Allen Hamilton
www.boozallen.com

Booz (what an appropriate first name), once had a much higher stature in the industry as a go-to place for MBAs and consultants-to-be alike. Over the past few years, it has lost much of its original luster. In place is a large system integration practice catering heavily towards public sector clients (Federal and State). What exists of its remaining strategy and operations practice serving more of the private sector is more laudable and if you’re pursuing a serious role here (say, as an MBA), make sure you steer yourself towards the private practice.

Smart but… balding… must be a public sector dude

Juicy fact: The firm was public in the 70s, also around the same time it was at the height of its reputational and prestigious image. Firm leadership later executed management buyouts to bring it private once again.

Accenture
www.accenture.com

Spun off from Andersen Consulting in the 90s, before Arthur Andersen collapsed in 2002, this firm also went public. In hindsight, going public was a double-edged sword: On one side, they gained a major influx of public and institutional investment capital (depsite only a small %-age of the company being sold as public shares) to make significant investments in outsourcing methods, tools, and software packages. Meanwhile, going public and growing their outsourcing and software development sweatshop business meant a decline in the quality of their people and the rewards for top performers. Accenture has lost much of the luster it once had as a privately-held firm back when it was Andersen Consulting. All things aside, the company continues to grow and win lots of business and is adding headcount all the time.

“Hey guys! I can code in C++ and make Partner!”

Juicy fact: On the bright side, it has a growing reputation for its operations and strategy practice but that remains small when compared to its technology powerhouse. Good things have been rumored about this area of the company but we can neither confirm nor deny. If you can speak to the ops/strat part of the company, feel free to leave an informative comment.

IBM Global Business Services
www.ibm.com/services/bcs/us

The product of IBM’s evolution into a technology services business from a mainframe/hardware/software company, GBS is a behemoth by any measure of the day. Despite its size and relatively stable but modest growth, IBM barely commands the kind of respect that is often reserved for the top echelon, and most profitable, consulting firms. Many second-tier MBAs do seek its bureaucratic ranks but often suffocate themselves out for greener pastures. However, if you like technology and some of the elements of ‘real’ consulting, you might actually find yourself at home.

“Globalization rocks!” <typety-typety> “Occasionally, they even let me talk to clients!”

Juicy fact: You can hire your own IBM consultant to code up your family’s homepage for about 50 bucks an hour. Not bad!

Capgemini
www.capgemini.com

Spun off from Ernst & Young’s consulting practice and sold to Sogeti (but remains Capgemini), the french firm, Capgemini has been in a downward spiral and in a depressing lull since its spin-off with the exception of most of its European operations where it has a more favorable reputation and brand awareness among European clientele. Its North American operations have continued to be second-rate in the marketplace and the quality of its people reflects that. As a consulting firm, like IBM, it remains heavily technology-based but they are making attempts, albeit feeble, to foray into higher food chain work in the strategy and operations arenas. It is not uncommon to occasionally see Capgemini as the sub-firm on a larger consulting contract sold and run by a more aggressive firm like a Booz, Deloitte, Accenture, or IBM.

“Oawww… We-We… I can drink Bordeaux and install SAP at the same time!”

Juicy fact: The French are putting their wine-making fortunes to work and buying up third- and fourth-tier systems integrators and software shops in the US. Guess there’s one way to get more client relationships and that’s to just buy them!

BearingPoint
www.bearingpoint.com

Also the child of a spin-off, BearingPoint started from KPMG Consulting. KPMG Consulting was never a firm to write home to Mom about and it remains this way today, despite going public and changing its name to a clever catch-phrase-of-the-day. BearingPoint, over the last several years, has experienced hard times despite a significant market recovery overall and heavily fueled growth specifically in the consulting arena. It has been plagued with its best people flocking for greener pastures at other firms, quarterly earnings investigations and reporting delays, and a sunken stock to reflect it all. Its public sector business has grown more in line with the market but this firm actually risks losing its existence if the consulting industry takes a big enough dip over the next couple of years. If you’re looking for a winning team, you won’t find it here unless the company can pull a complete about-face to turn it all around.

“We offer consulting services, including hair restoration.”

Juicy fact: Free Propecia samples after signing your offer letter.

There you have it, a quick and dirty run-down of some of the top (and not quite so top) firms in the consulting world. Granted, most of these dogs are the juggernauts and are the most well-known. There are hundreds of small and medium-sized consulting firms serving many boutique and niche areas and many of them are actually quite pleasant places to be if you cater to their niche. We’ve heard of several but we’ll leave that research to Vault.com for you to work on.