McKinsey & Co.

& Its competitors

BCG and Bain & Co.

DECEMBER 5, 2016

ADITYA CHAUHAN
29NMP05

Theres a reason why McKinsey, Bain and BCG are the top dogs in the management consulting
industry and biggest competitors. Perhaps its more accurate to say that there are many reasons
that make consultants at these 3 firms part of an elite club. History, prestige, and expertise are
a few of the elements that make MBB the most sought after management consulting firms for
business undergrads and MBAs, but theres a huge list of other factors that attract the brightest
business minds in the world like insane training and development programs, Fortune 100 client
interaction and culture etc.
In terms of size, breadth, and reach, McKinsey has always been the obvious market leader. As
the youngest of the 3 firms, Bain is the consistent upstart of the group and the firms lack of
experience is compensated by huge risk-taking and market-differentiating moves. BCG generally
falls somewhere in between competing with both McKinsey and Bain by striking a balance of
expertise and creativity and when selling, they are more creative than McKinsey and more
seasoned than Bain.
So where do you belong? Here are few things to consider when comparing MBB firms:

Global reach

All 3 firms have offices around the world, with a home base in the United States. In terms of
geographic reach, McKinsey is top dog with the largest pool of consultants and the most offices.
BCG comes in at a close second, with Bain a far 3rd.
Where youll be physically located for work depends on the firms staffing model. With
McKinseys global model, you might see 8 different countries over your tenure. If youre looking
for the jet setter life with the chance to rack up travel miles and earn free weekend trips,
McKinsey is your best bet.
At Bain, international travel is much less frequent. Youre almost always going to work in 1
primary country (or regional office like Singapore). You do have a chance to work abroad at Bain,
however during the 6 month period when you have a choice of an externship with another
company, an international transfer, or a rotation in Bains private equity or non-profit arms.
BCG falls somewhere in the middle. The firm has more of a local staffing model like Bain, but also
enjoys an established global reach, which means BCGers are still more likely than Bainees to
travel internationally so the firm can keep utilization above 75%.
At the end of the day, you will be on the road every week with all 3 firms. The norm is 4 days a
week at the client site and back to the office on Friday.

Scope

McKinsey is the largest firm with 9,000 consultants, followed by BCG with 6,200 and Bain with
3,500. Bain is also the smallest firm in terms of revenue. In terms of price, however, the 3 firms
often compete at the same price point ~$500K for a 6 person team for a month.

MBBs count Fortune 50 and Fortune 100 companies among their clients (although they prospect
to the Fortune 1000 and privately traded firms like Private Equity and Hedge Funds as well). As a
consultant youll be interacting with C-level executives hence the reason for the rigorous hiring
process. MBB firms need to uphold a certain level of professionalism and sophistication when
theyre dealing with CEOs of huge corporations, if for no other reason than to keep the CEOs
comfortable with the price tag theyre paying.
Since Bain came to their senses in the late 2000s and joined rank with McKinsey and BCG, all
firms now employ a 1-project staffing model. That means consultants are on only 1 project at a
time, making resource management across the firm much smoother.
McKinseys technology and education practices serve as huge differentiators from its competitors
neither Bain nor BCG offers anything like it. When it comes to private equity firms, however,
Bain is the powerhouse of the trio. Heres your takeaway: the 3 firms have strengths in different
practice areas, which means as a candidate coming from a particular background, your chance
of being hired could be greater at one firm over another.

Culture

More than anything else, youre going to see big differences among the MBB firms when it comes
to culture. Oftentimes, when candidates have more than 1 MBB offer to consider, they make
their final choice based on which firms culture resonates best with their personality and
background.
McKinseyites are smart, business-like, and not very collegial. They are trained to attack a
problem in a certain way so no matter which global office youre in or what level youre at, you
can count on The McKinsey Way. The organization itself is structured and formal, and everything
from attitude and attire at McKinsey reflects that. The firm is known for its long legacy client
relationships and even longer reports.
BCGers are creative, innovative, and in the upper ranks thought leaders in their fields. BCG puts
a strong focus on both teamwork and individual contributions when it comes to projects and is
great at looking ahead for trends in business and the global economy. BCG sells against McKinsey
more often than Bain, and their customized, collaborative client approach is a direct slam on
McKinseys dust off another report approach.
Camaraderie, connectivity, and conviction characterize the culture at Bain, where the local office
culture is strong and the focus is on teamwork. Considered the frattiest of the top 3 firms,
Bainees know how to enjoy a beer in the office on Fridays. This atmosphere of work hard, play
hard is a huge draw for new recruits. In head to head recruiting, Bain often beats out BCG
because of culture but loses to McKinsey based on prestige or brand-name.
In terms of staffing, youll find that Bain is more analyst heavy than both McKinsey and BCG. On
a standard McKinsey or BCG team, there may be only 1 analyst. In contrast, a team from Bain will
have 2 analysts and fewer people who are more senior. This could mean youll have more
responsibility early on at Bain, and at the end of the day play a larger role in the teams success.

Depth of experience

McKinsey, not surprisingly, leads the pack on depth of experience. Theyve been around for the
longest, they have the largest number of consulting staff, and their reach is the most extensive.
Dozens of best-sellers have been authored by McKinseyites and hundreds of firms have been led
by McKinsey alum. When they come to the table to pitch to a client, McKinsey can usually point
to 10 examples where theyve done the same job successfully before.
On the other end of the spectrum, Bain relies on its well work hard for you mentality to win
clients. The firm doesnt have the decades of experience to draw from like its competitors, but it
does have a card up its sleeve. Bain gives a lot more ideas away in the sales process than would
McKinsey or BCG, relying heavily on its quantitative prowess and willingness to go the extra mile.
A senior consultant at Bain might give away what would normally be the first month of work to
a potential client a tactic that often sways clients in their favor.
BCG is going to sell somewhere in between theyre not McKinsey in that they do come up with
a customized approach, yet theyre not Bain in that they do have a large, global reach with a lot
of great experience behind them. Their approach is to roll up their sleeves and provide
tailored solutions for clients.

Beating the odds in market.

The very small number of companies that completely replace their strategies or reverse
direction suggests that few competitors are likely to generate real surprises. Companies
should not spend the majority of their strategic-planning time trying to anticipate all of their
competitors possible strategic moves.
The timing of many competitors moves can be predicted, because these moves either result
from an annual planning process or are prompted by external events visible to all companies.
Companies should be sure they understand the external landscape of their industry at least as
well as their competitors do (and investigate when their competitors conduct their annual
planning process).
The competitors likeliest to succeed with new strategic initiatives are those that are already
outperforming financially. These competitors are also the likeliest to search for a new
initiative, making them the ones to focus on when watching for surprise strategic moves.

References:

https://managementconsulted.com/management-consulting/mckinsey-bain-bcg/
http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/beating-theodds-in-market