The comparison between the top 3 consulting firms and the 4 big ones is an interesting comparison. The three main management consulting firms are McKinsey, Bain and BCG, known as MBB firms. They are not necessarily the biggest firms, but rather the firms with the most prestige and that can demand high fees from their clients. The big 4 refer to the top 4 accounting firms.
These firms may have branches of strategy that compete with MBB firms, but most of their businesses are related to accounting. So let's make a small comparison between the top 3 and the top 4 consulting firms and see what some of the differences are. If you're looking for which companies to apply to, this should provide you with some great facts to consider. The top-tier consulting firms are collectively known as MBB, which stands for McKinsey, BCG and Bain.
These three companies are the most prestigious management consulting firms to work for. The Big Three or MBB is the name that is colloquially given to the three big strategic consulting firms. They are considered to be the most prestigious firms in the management consulting industry. In terms of employees, McKinsey & Company is the largest and leads by revenue, followed by Boston Consulting Group and Bain & Company.
Both have successfully exploited their traditional reputation to obtain an important job in the digital transformation market, as companies from various sectors seek to integrate new business models to deal with industry-specific disruption. For example, a project may involve the implementation of a new process or technology in multiple areas of the client's business or a reorganization of business units. However, the market share of the four large companies in the consulting market does not come close to their dominance of the auditing market, where in some countries they own more than 80% of the companies in the upper segment. Business skills, the best talent, a wide geographical reach, together with technological capabilities, are attractive qualities of large consulting firms, and it is known that the main firms are home to both, which means that companies tend to treat them as the first usual port of call for new projects.
To avoid becoming spectators in the race for digitalization, companies of all sizes are hiring consultants to help them in their technological and business transformations.