For most management graduates and students in business schools, working for the world famous Big Five management consultancies such as McKinsey, Booze Allen, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Price Waterhouse (PWC), and Anderson consulting is a dream come true. Indeed, the fact that these consultancies are often given the Day Zero or the opening slots in the campus hiring calendar is testament to the brand image and the perceptions among management professionals. This means that it is important to know what these firms do and how they add value to society. For that, we need to understand how they work, what they do, and why they are the management professionals’ ultimate dream.

Management Consulting

This article introduces the field of management consulting so that the readers would have a fair idea about these consultancies. Before launching into the discussion, it would be worthwhile to note that management consultancies compete with investment banks for the mind space of both the industry leaders as well as the management professionals. As we discuss subsequently, this has a direct bearing on how the business world works in terms of which firm or investment bank is often hired to consult by the business leaders. Indeed, both management consultancies and investment banks consult with the industry to ensure that firms derive value from their operations and the difference between their pitches is often to do with the terms of reference wherein management consultancies encompass a broader swathe and realm of operations whereas investment bankers often focus on the financials as well as the strategies to be put in place to raise capital and ensuring that the firms are competitive on this front.