Can somebody explain to me which consulting firms/companies are considered Tier 1 vs Tier 2 and so on? As lame as it sounds,I don’t know where IBM stands or even Big 4 & wanted to understand this 🙏🏻

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^ you respond to Lindsay?

likefunny

1- MBB
1b- OW, LEK
2- B4, ACN
3- IBM, Capgemini, Slalom etc.
4- local firms

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C1 has it pretty right, in terms of exit ops/b school/etc.

Below is from Charles Aris’ annual comp survey. These are largely considered the major top tier strategy shops.

And I’m gonna be seeing Lyndsay later, tyvm.

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likefunny

Tier 1
—————
MBB

OW, ATK, LEK

Tier 2
—————
B4

ACN, IBM

Tier 3
—————
Capgemini, Grant Thorton, Slalom

likesmarthelpful

First. “Tiers” are bs. If the firm wins the work, then there’s no difference in “tiers”. If anything, the tiers make more sense in regards experience at the firm (promotion structure, comp, ratio of good to bad projects, exit opps, difficulty getting in)

Strategy and traditional Mc:
Tier 1 - mbb, specialists
Tier 2 - atk, ow, s&, lek, Monitor, other top boutiques
Tier 2.5 - other strategy boutiques, Accenture strategy, strategy arms of large firms (parthenon, kpmg strat, etc)
Other MC firms - big4, Accenture, booz

I would assume IBM is in the ‘Other MC’. And don’t assume that this means the “other Mc” is bad, cuz these firms also are Tier 1 in Implementation and name recognition outside of Consulting.

likesmart

IBM and ACN are competitors. ACN beats IBM 3 out of 5 times.

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^ yeah dominant in terms of ability to respond to surveys. Normalized based on size of firm, it's a poor seeing for mck.

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SC1 casually letting us think he slays

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Consulting is more nuanced than just strategy or implementation. McKinsey, BCG, Bain and OW are top firms. Deloitte and PWC have some sharp people, especially in their strategy branches but really everywhere overall, but the only thing holding them back is that their scale also results in having some really mediocre people. AT Kearney and LEK are solid firms as well - I’d say on a half step below Monitor and Strategy& in prestige

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Some boutiques are really prestigious though so 4 can be wonky. Some boutiques are in the 1b or 2 category.

likehelpful

GT is the mcdonalds of the consulting industry

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What is this? College ACB?

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Thanks PwC1!

Lol strategy

C1 is spot on. At Deloitte customer strategy is now split into its own offering, which was probably the biggest good to come out of the recent org redesign, as it ranks or ties 1st vs. competitors in that space.

Wow McK/BCG are that dominant huh?

@Consultant 2 a lot of that is driven by size. Those ratios correspond well to how many went to each firm from my b school. It’s not their “position” in the hierarchy.

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