The Consulting Report is pleased to announce The Top 50 Consulting Firms of 2022. This year’s awardees comprise some of the most trusted and influential professional services firms in the world. They help provide corporations, governments, and other types of organizations with analytics, insights, and counsel on a wide variety of matters. These firms help their clients solve their biggest problems, capitalize on opportunities, and in some cases, avoid costly mistakes. In a world changing faster than ever in nearly every respect, from technologically to culturally, consulting firms serve as an indispensable partner for any organization navigating its path to success.
By some estimates, there are thousands of consulting firms around the world. Based on nominations and our further proprietary research, we have selected the 50 best firms. While this year’s awardees offer their services across a wide variety of sectors and geographies, and often have very different methods of approaching the problems they solve, what they do have in common is the ability to produce results for their clients. Whether massive global firms or small boutiques, clients rely on these firms for revenue growth, operational improvements, human capital management, and digital transformation, among many other services. Please join us in celebrating The Top 50 Consulting Firms of 2022.
1. Kearney
Headquarters: Chicago, IL
Kearney is a leading global management consulting firm with more than 4,200 people working in more than 40 countries. We work with more than three-quarters of the Fortune Global 500, as well as with the most influential governmental and non-profit organizations.
Kearney is a partner-owned firm with a distinctive, collegial culture that transcends organizational and geographic boundaries—and it shows. Regardless of location or rank, our consultants are down to earth, approachable, and have a shared passion for doing innovative client work that provides clear benefits to the organizations we work with in both the short and long term.
Kearney consistently ranks high on a variety of lists for both the consulting industry and the wider business world. It has been ranked in the top 10 in Vault's Consulting 50 multiple times, and in Consulting magazine's Best Firms to Work For. It has also been named to Working Mother’s Top 100 Firms for Working Families and Women as well as to the Best Companies for Dads list. In addition, Human Rights Watch has consistently named it one of the Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality.
2. Boston Consulting Group
Headquarters: Boston, MA
Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is a global management consulting firm and one of the “Big Three” management consultancies. Founded in 1963 by Bruce Henderson, BCG partners with leaders in business and society to tackle their most important challenges and capture their greatest opportunities. The firm focuses on delivering integrated solutions through leading-edge management consulting, technology and design, and corporate and digital ventures. BCG is driven by more than 25,000 employees across 90-plus offices in over 50 countries and regions.
BCG boasts expertise in a wide array of industries, including aerospace and defense, automotive, oil and gas, consumer products, and more. The firm has received many awards for its workplace equality, global culture, and environmental records, including the Human Rights Campaign Award for Workplace Equality Innovation.
3. Deloitte
Headquarters: New York, NY
Professional services network Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (commonly referred to as simply “Deloitte”) continues to set the bar high for services including analytics and cloud computing. It’s hard to find something at which this star of professional advising is less than excellent, from business strategy and data analytics to risk assessment and enterprise technology, with the firm’s AI Institute being a standout in the world of artificial intelligence research and development.
Deloitte is a storied institution that traces its roots back to its founding in 1845. It is one of the largest professional services networks in the world, with annual aggregated revenue nearing $50 billion, and the firm is highly respected for its forecasts regarding the world of technology and work. In 2019 and 2020, Gartner stated that Deloitte was the No. 1 consulting service provider worldwide by revenue.
4. Bain & Company
Headquarters: Boston, MA
Bain & Company is a global management consulting firm headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and with 63 offices in 38 countries around the world. Founded in 1973, Bain is one of the “Big Three” management consultancies (along with McKinsey & Co. and Boston Consulting Group). The firm boasts a workforce of more than 14,000 professionals who provide guidance to public, private, and non-profit organizations of all sizes.
Bain has received many awards and accolades, including being named to the top three of Glassdoor’s 2022 “Best Places to Work” list. The firm has also made a 10-year commitment to invest more than $1 billion in pro bono services to bring its expertise and insight to organizations tackling today’s urgent challenges in education, racial equity, social justice, economic development, and the environment.
5. Oliver Wyman
Headquarters: New York, NY
Frequently named among the top management firms in the world, Oliver Wyman has served more than 1,000 global clients over the past 50 years. Founded in New York City during the mid-1980s (by former Booz Allen Hamilton partners Alex Oliver and Bill Wyman), the firm has since become the fastest-growing management consulting firm today. It has more than 60 offices in Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific and employs over 5,000 professionals.
While the firm offers a wide range of consulting services, it is best known for its work within banking and financial services. In fact, it serves more than 80% of the world’s largest 100 financial institutions – and in 2021 it reported $2.5 billion in annual revenue. In addition to financial success, the firm frequently receives top accolades from the likes of Fortune, The Financial Times, and Vault. Indeed, it has ranked in the top 10 of Vault's best consulting firms since the list was created in 2001.
6. McKinsey & Company
Headquarters: New York, NY
No other firm in the world has as much consulting prestige as McKinsey & Company. It has consistently been the #1 most valued brand in the consulting industry and is associated with cutting-edge strategic approaches. Since 1926 when James O. McKinsey, a University of Chicago professor, opened a consulting office in Chicago, the firm has provided strategic advice to corporations and other organizations.
Now based in New York City, much of the firm's success stems from its unique culture of hard work and zealous employees. As a result, McKinsey’s alumni pool has generated the greatest number of Fortune 500 CEOs. The consulting firm opened its first international office in London in 1959 – and has expanded steadily since. It now boasts over 30,000 employees, 130+ offices around the globe, and more than $10 billion in annual revenue, making it the biggest pure consulting firm in the world.
7. Capgemini
Headquarters: Paris, France
Digital transformation and consulting firm Capgemini works to bring innovative solutions to corporate clients around the world. Included in its wide range of expertise are achievements in the fields of AI, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure development, and business operations. Capgemini’s revolutionary Platform AI and analytics portfolio is a standout example of how the firm has been able to offer scaled data transformation at an unmatched level.
Capgemini operated as a small data processing firm from its launch in 1967 until its acquisitions of computer and data companies in the United States in the 1970s and 1980s. Now, more than 50 years into its history, Capgemini boasts more than 270,000 employees in dozens of countries. In June 2021, Capgemini partnered with Sanofi, Orange & Generali to launch Future4care, a European start-up accelerator focused on digital healthcare.
8. Booz Allen Hamilton
Headquarters: McLean, VA
For more than a century, Booz Allen Hamilton has been a leading management consulting firm, serving military, government, and business organizations around the world. With headquarters in McLean, Virginia – in the Greater Washington, D.C. area – and 80 other global offices, Booz Allen is made of approximately 29,200 engineers, scientists, software developers, technologists, and consultants. The firm provides expertise in industries including cybersecurity, data analytics, and digital technologies.
Booz Allen has been consistently recognized as an industry-leader in corporate citizenship, employee empowerment, and executive leadership. Among the firm’s many awards, Booz Allen is a three-time honoree of the “World’s Most Ethical Companies®” award from the Ethisphere Institute. The firm is also committed to sharing its diversity and equity values, as well as its environmental, social, and governance practices.
9. Alvarez & Marsal
Headquarters: New York, NY
Founded in 1983, Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) is a global professional services firm notable for its work in turnaround management and performance improvement of several large, high-profile businesses both in the U.S. and abroad. Its clients have included Lehman Brothers, HealthSouth, Tribune Company, Warnaco, Interstate Bakeries, Target, Darden Restaurants, and Arthur Andersen. The firm’s founders, Tony Alvarez II and Bryan Marsal, have led the firm in a fact-driven and action-oriented manner, sharing duties as co-Chief Executive Officers and working to help clients turn areas of stagnation into growth to achieve sustainable results.
With over 6,000 people across four continents, A&M delivers tangible results for corporations, private equity firms, law firms, and government agencies facing complex challenges. The firm is committed to a culture of inclusion and diversity and a focus on community engagement.
10. Arthur D. Little
Headquarters: Brussels, Belgium
Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, Arthur D. Little (ADL) is an international management consulting firm with over a century of heritage. The firm was founded in 1886 and formally incorporated in 1909 by Arthur Dehon Little, a scientist instrumental in developing chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Named for its founder, the firm pioneered the concept of contracted professional services and played a key role in the development of the word processor, the first synthetic penicillin, LexisNexis, SABRE, and NASDAQ.
ADL is also an innovator of business strategy and operations research, which it has honed during its more than 130-year history. The firm boasts 40 offices globally and more than 1,500 experts and professionals; it’s also regularly recognized as one of "America's Best Management Consulting Firms" by Forbes, among other accolades.
11. EY Parthenon
Headquarters: Boston, MA
EY Parthenon, with the well-known shorthand of EY-P or EYP, is Ernst & Young's global strategy consulting division. First originated as The Parthenon Group, LLC in 1991 by William "Bill" Achtmeyer and John C. Rutherford, two former Bain & Company directors, it eventually merged with professional services firm Ernst & Young to create the entity EY-Parthenon. This merger was a bold gambit from a Big Four contender to step up its value chain efforts, moving beyond audit services to embark on new business ventures and give its clients various new points of entry.
EYP arms C-suites with strategic guidance in a wide swath of industries, including private equity, consumer products, education, financial services, healthcare, information and media, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, oil and gas, and technology. Going to bat against the likes of Bain, McKinsey, and BCG, as well as other strategy consulting offshoots for Big Four firms, EYP often rises above its competitors in industry rankings by honing in on its ambitious corporate strategy and private equity undertakings.
12. FTI Consulting
Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
FTI Consulting, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is counted among the largest financial consulting firms in the world, typically ranking highly in consulting firm industry listings. The firm is specifically a titan in the fields of corporate finance and restructuring, economic consulting, forensic and litigation consulting, strategic communications, and technology. Founded in 1982 as Forensic Technologies International, Ltd, FTI operates in just under 30 countries with an employee base of more than 6,200.
The firm has leveraged its substantial consulting prowess in a number of high-profile, media-centric cases, including the investigation into the Bernard Madoff fraud, the Lehman Brothers and General Motors bankruptcies, the Bush v. Gore case, and the Major League Baseball steroid investigations of January 2020. In recent history, FTI is known to have had the biggest restructuring business in the U.S.
FTI’s five business segments cover a broad range of services. Corporate Finance and Restructuring provides business turnaround services, including support for restructuring, litigation, insolvency, and interim management. Economic & Financial Consulting offers economic analysis and expert testimony for law firms, corporations, and government agencies. Forensic and Litigation Consulting covers investigative data analysis and forensic accounting services as well as construction solutions services. Strategic Communications handles public relations services for customers managing financial, regulatory and reputational challenges. And Technology, a latent source of boosted revenue for the firm, provides specialized software to manage ediscovery risks.
13. L.E.K. Consulting
Headquarters: Boston, MA
Since being founded in 1983 by three Bain & Company partners – James Lawrence, Iain Evans, and Richard Koch – L.E.K. has become a major player in the global management consulting space. With over 1,400 employees and 21 offices worldwide, the firm brings in roughly $500 million in annual revenue. While L.E.K. services nearly all industries and functions, it is best regarded for its work in healthcare and private equity.
Major project achievements include assisting the U.K. government on the privatization of passenger train operating companies in the mid-1990s, providing strategic and commercial advice on the world's largest airline merger in 2007, and opening its fifth European office in Madrid, Spain in 2021. Among its numerous awards, in 2007 L.E.K. was awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise for international trade and export. The following year, L.E.K. became the first global major management consulting firm to hold carbon neutral status.
14. KPMG
Headquarters: New York, NY
British-Dutch multinational professional services network KPMG International Limited, often shortened to KPMG, is well known as one of the Big Four accounting organizations. It operates as an extensive network of firms in 145 countries with an employee base of more than 236,000. KPMG’s three primary lines of services cover financial audit, tax, and advisory concerns, with its tax and advisory services further divided into a number of specific service groups.
KPMG provides adept consultation for highly varied situations. The firm’s extensive client base spans an impressive 16 different industry sectors: banking and capital markets; insurance; investment management; building, construction, and real estate; alternative investments; industrial manufacturing; retail; food, drink, and consumer goods; energy, natural resources, and chemicals; government and public sector; healthcare and pharmaceuticals; technology; high growth mid-market and venture capital; media and telecommunications; private equity; and high growth emerging markets.
15. SAIC
Headquarters: Reston, VA
Certain industries require especially high degrees of accuracy and security, and the Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) is the firm trusted most by governments and other entities with IT support for sensitive, high-end missions. With next-level solutions in IT modernization and engineering on offer, SAIC is a critical supplier of IT expertise to the space, defense, and intelligence industries.
Spun off in 2013 from an earlier corporation, SAIC has spent the better part of the last decade leading the charge to bring the benefits of deep engineering expertise to government and civilian clients. The IT services brought to life by this firm include top-tier cyber, cloud, and enterprise IT service delivery.
16. PricewaterhouseCoopers
Headquarters: New York, NY
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is a behemoth in the world of accounting and consulting services. Along with Deloitte, EY, and KPMG, PwC is recognized for being one of the Big Four accounting firms. It provides services to 420 out of 500 Fortune 500 companies, making it the second largest professional services firm in the world. While the firm in its present form was created in 1998 (by a merger between two accounting firms: Coopers & Lybrand and Price Waterhouse), its legacy can be traced back to the middle of the nineteenth century, when it was founded in the U.K.
Today, it employs over 280,000 people who operate in more than 150 countries around the world. Among its services, PwC offers its clients tax, audit, insurance, and consulting services in the fields of aerospace, defense, automotive, banking, health, insurance, and technology, among others. Recognized as the fourth-largest privately owned firm in the U.S., PwC's global revenues were a whopping $42.4 billion for the 2019 fiscal year. In addition, as of 2020, PwC US has been on Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For in the US for 16 years.
17. Teneo
Headquarters: New York, NY
Teneo was founded in June 2011 by Declan Kelly, Paul Keary, and Doug Band and currently has more than 1,450 employees located in 40 offices. CVC Capital Partners, to which Teneo sold a majority stake in 2019 at a total valuation of around $700 million, has described Teneo's core service as "providing strategic and communications services, which covers a wide array of engagements such as customer communications, crisis management, investor relations, digital and social media consulting, executive recruitment, and litigation management."
Teneo works exclusively with the CEOs and senior executives of the world’s leading companies, providing strategic counsel across their full range of key objectives and issues. Its clients include a significant number of the Fortune 100 and FTSE 100, as well as other corporations, financial institutions, and organizations. The firm is widely known for solving for the most complex business challenges and opportunities by integrating a wide variety of disciplines.
18. Ernst & Young
Headquarters: New York, NY
Consulting powerhouse Ernst & Young Global Limited, commonly referred to as EY, is a multinational professional services network with an impressive international reach that has powered its status as one of the biggest service networks in the world. It is often the first firm mentioned when industry experts discuss the Big Four accounting firms, keeping competitive pace with its rivals Deloitte, KPMG, and PwC.
EY is known for offering assurance (financial audit), consulting, tax, and advisory services to its customers. The firm has followed the trends of the sector by augmenting its service portfolio to include markets adjacent to accounting, adding strategy, operations, HR, technology, and financial services consulting. Functioning as an expansive network of member firms, EY’s 700 worldwide offices employ over 300,000 team members in more than 150 countries.
The firm, initially not officially known by its initialism, came into being through the 1989 merger of two accounting firms, Ernst & Whinney and Arthur Young & Co. The EY rebranding campaign of 2013 solidified what had been an informal moniker.
As of 2019, EY’s strong U.S. presence has made it into the seventh-largest privately owned organization in the nation. For the past 20+ years, Fortune magazine has consistently included the firm in its list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For, beating out the streaks of other leading accounting firms.
19. Mercer
Headquarters: New York, NY
Mercer LLC is the world’s largest human resources consulting firm. It specializes in helping clients by improving the most important asset for every organization: its people. Headquartered in New York City, Mercer exudes a large global presence, with more than 25,000 employees operating in more than 130 countries.
The firm, which has been ranked the #1 HR Consulting Firm by Vault for several years running, is arguably the top global consulting leader in talent, health, retirement, and asset management. Furthermore, Mercer is not a stand-alone firm. It’s a subsidiary of parent company Marsh & McLennan – the consulting giant that earns annual revenue of nearly $20 billion. Globally, Mercer is also the largest investment consultant and delegated services (OCIO) provider, with over $15 trillion in assets under advisement (as of June 2020) and over $300 billion in assets under management (as of September 2020).
20. Protiviti
Headquarters: Menlo Park and San Ramon, CA
With more than 5,000 employees across 85+ offices in over 25 countries, global consulting firm Protiviti has made tremendous progress during the past two decades. In 2002, Protiviti was formed with the recruitment of more than 700 Arthur Andersen staffers (in the wake of its collapse), including some 50 partners of the firm. Since then, Protiviti has expanded rapidly, reporting revenue that surpassed the $1 billion mark for the 2019 fiscal year.
The firm specializes in risk and advisory services with an internal audit expertise that spans a variety of areas. The services offered include helping companies identify, measure, and manage operational and technology-related risks as well as providing internal audit services, technologies, and skills for business risk management throughout the world. Headquartered in Menlo Park and San Ramon, California, Protiviti boasts a clientele that includes over 60% of Fortune 1000 and 35% of Fortune Global 500 companies.
21. IBM iX
Headquarters: Armonk, NY
With headquarters in Armonk, New York and more than 10,000 employees, IBM’s consulting branch IBM iX is now one of the largest digital and design consultancies worldwide, with roughly 60 studios as well as wide-reaching global network of strategists, designers, developers, and data architects leveraging deep industry and ISV expertise.
IBM iX provides hybrid data management solutions powered by AI that carry the advantages of a modernized information architecture, simplifying data collection and management as well as making processes smarter with automation containerization built on open platforms. The firm additionally gives its clients authentic end-to-end capabilities at scale, from experience strategy to the design, delivery, and optimization of employee/customer experiences. It collaborates with a peerless ecosystem of partners such as Adobe, Salesforce, Samsung, Apple, and SAP to drive value and differentiation through outstanding customer experiences. This year, IBM teamed up with the USTA to deliver all-new, all-virtual signature experiences for the U.S. Open, leveraging both IBM Watson® and IBM Cloud®.
22. Publicis Sapient
Headquarters: Boston, MA
Featuring a visionary startup mindset and the engineering prowess of an industry veteran, Publicis Sapient is a unique, creative digital transformation firm that’s upping the game for IT services. With an eye toward innovating for the next generation of tech, Publicis Sapient brings to the table a comprehensive array of IT services in enterprise platforms, digital product management, customer experience, and more.
Publicis Sapient has a fascinating history of collaboration and cross-pollination with its French parent company, Publicis, and its fellow subsidiary Sapient Razorfish. Now, Publicis Sapient is working with Microsoft and other tech firms to transform how groceries are delivered, how people travel safely, and much more.
23. Marsh
Headquarters: New York, NY
Marsh knows that managing risk in today's environment is complex. That's why the globally acclaimed multinational firm provides data driven risk advisory services and insurance solutions to its clients. The firm's roots stretch back to the first decade of the twentieth century, after one of its founders studied railroad risk and insurance needs by spending 30 days riding the rails. At the time, the firm was known as Marsh & McLennan. Today, it's known simply as Marsh, a subsidiary of Marsh McLennan.
With more than 800 risk, claims, safety, and industry-specific specialists in more than 40 countries around the globe, Marsh is primarily concerned with representing commercial interests searching for insurance coverage. The firm's clients in this area include large multinational companies, high growth middle-market businesses, small commercial enterprises, and high net-worth private clients. Remarkably, Marsh's $5.98 billion in 2016 revenue accounted for 45% of the parent company's total fiscal year revenue.
24. Raytheon Technologies
Headquarters: Waltham, MA
Raytheon Professional Services (RPS) is part of Raytheon Technologies (RTX), one of the largest defense contractors in the world. Headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, RTX researches, develops, and manufactures advanced technology products in the aerospace and defense industry – including aircraft engines, cybersecurity, guided missiles, air defense systems, satellites, and drones.
The firm, which gets a significant portion of its revenue from the U.S. government, is the result of the 2020 merger between the aerospace subsidiaries of United Technologies Corporation and the Raytheon Company. Furthermore, the RPS segment provides tailored solutions for customers – commercial, government, and military – who are not just based in the U.S., but rather located across the globe. As experts in technology integration, RPS develops and delivers solutions that use the right technologies, tools, and processes to help with a single training element or a comprehensive, enterprise-wide program.
25. Willis Towers Watson
Headquarters: Arlington, VA
Willis Towers Watson Public Limited Company is a British-American multinational risk management, insurance brokerage, and advisory firm with roots dating back to 1828. Willis Towers Watson (now called WTW) is the third largest insurance broker in the world, operates in more than 140 countries, and has a workforce of more than 45,000 employees. The firm was formed as a merger of equals between London-based Willis Group Holdings plc and Arlington, VA-based Towers Watson & Co. in early 2016.
WTW provides data-driven, insight-led solutions in the areas of people, risk, and capital that makes organizations more resilient, motivates workforces, and maximizes performance. It is known for its strong client focus, an emphasis on teamwork, unwavering integrity, mutual respect, and a constant striving for excellence.
26. ZS Associates
Headquarters: Evanston, IL
ZS Associates was founded in 1983 by two professors at Northwestern University who developed sales force alignment models using the world’s first personal-computer-aided territory mapping system. Now, it is a major management consulting and professional services firm focusing on consulting, software, and technology and provides services for clients in healthcare, private equity, and technology. The firm continues to offer sales force alignment service to this day, in addition to a range of professional services, many of which are supported by advanced analytics. It employs more than 10,000 employees in 25 offices in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia.
ZS has been awarded for its firm culture by Consulting magazine several years in a row and was chosen by Forbes magazine as one of America’s best management and consulting firms in 2019. The firm has also been recognized by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation for earning 100 percent on its Annual Corporate Equality Index for LGBTQ workplace equality.
27. Cognizant
Headquarters: Teaneck, NJ
As an industry leader in business consulting, outsourcing, and information technology solutions, Cognizant has long been hailed for its results and resilience. With nearly 300,000 employees working from home since March 2020, Cognizant continues to expand its reputation for quality digital solutions and workplace innovation, with particular focus on its Work Ahead AI action and research initiative.
Initially an in-house tech unit for data analytics firm Dun & Bradstreet, Cognizant has achieved remarkable growth over the past decades, rising to the top 200 of the Fortune 500 list last year. Since 2018, Cognizant has also been at the forefront of using blockchain technologies to facilitate secure data sharing between companies.
28. CohnReznick LLP
Headquarters: New York, NY
With over a century’s worth of experience, nearly 4,000 global team members, and 25 locations including global subsidiaries, CohnReznick LLP serves clients in 30 different industries through an integrated team of advisory, assurance, and tax professionals. The firm’s Nexia International affiliation expands its reach to more than 128 countries.
In serving its many stakeholders, CohnReznick is committed to its role as a value creator and force for change in promoting sustainability, social justice, and proactive corporate governance. The firm has held a leadership position in community investment for more than 35 years and a 15-year commitment to the cleantech and renewable energy industries. CohnReznick’s history of social advocacy has helped strengthen housing policies and paved the way for emerging industries like cannabis.
CohnReznick recently launched its Gamechangers in ESG Awards program to recognize U.S. businesses that are “changing the game” through their commitment to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies and practices. With an entry deadline of June 30, 2022 and winners announced in the fall, the program provides a platform for organizations to communicate their ESG stories and be recognized for their accomplishments – whether they are just starting their ESG journey or are well on their way.
29. Charles River Associates
Headquarters: Boston, MA
Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Charles River Associates (CRA) is a global consulting firm specializing in management consulting and economic litigation. Founded in 1965, CRA offers economic, financial, and strategic expertise to major law firms, corporations, accounting firms, and governments around the world. The firm is fueled by a combination of cutting-edge research, state-of-the-art methods, and proven experience, and includes a diverse team of more than 800 professionals from over 50 countries.
CRA provides a wide range of solutions to organizations in communications, retail and distribution, life sciences, energy, and other industries, and its services include analytics, forensic accounting, mergers and acquisitions, and more. The firm is routinely recognized as one of the top 10 consulting companies in fraud, forensic, and investigation services. Among its clients, CRA counts a large number of Fortune 500 companies and Am Law 100 firms.
30. Bates White Economic Consulting
Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
Bates White Economic Consulting is a privately-held consulting firm specializing in advanced economic, financial, and econometric analysis for law firms, corporations, and government agencies. Founded in 1999 by Charles Bates and Halbert White, the firm currently has one office in Washington, D.C., with nearly 300 employees. Bates White boasts expertise in a wide array of sectors, including antitrust, media and communication, finance, healthcare, and many others, and its clients include several Fortune 500 companies.
In its 20-plus-year history, Bates White has received a number of awards and accolades from industry experts celebrating the firm as a top place to work or internship at. Since 2009, Global Competition Review has included Bates White in its annual "Economics 20" for top antitrust and competition economics consultancies every year.
31. CSG Government Solutions
Headquarters: Chicago, IL
CSG Government Solutions (CSG) is a national leader in IT management consulting for complex projects that modernize the technology and business processes of large government programs. CSG provides project related services including planning and strategy, program and project management, independent verification and validation, quality assurance, organizational change management, testing, system security, and federal compliance.
CSG works with its clients collaboratively to deliver results. Its clients include more than 200 government organizations across 47 states and territories, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Labor, and large municipal governments. The operation of CSG’s business is characterized by The CSG Way, an environment that emphasizes teamwork, communication, and consistent high-quality work. Over the years, CSG has attracted many of the most respected senior experts in the government programs they serve.
Established in 1997, CSG recently celebrated 25 years serving as a trusted advisor to the public sector. Along with being named one of The Consulting Report’s Top 50 Consulting Firms of 2022, CSG has also been named one of America's Best Management Consulting Firms five years in a row (2018-2022) by Forbes magazine.
32. Crowe
Headquarters: Chicago, IL
Crowe LLP is a public accounting, consulting, and technology firm headquartered in Chicago and with offices around the world. Crowe uses its deep industry expertise to provide audit services to public and private entities. The firm and its subsidiaries also help clients make decisions that lead to lasting value with its tax, advisory, and consulting services. Crowe is recognized by many organizations as one of the best places to work in the U.S.
As an independent member of Crowe Global, one of the largest global accounting networks in the world, Crowe serves clients worldwide. The network consists of more than 200 independent accounting and advisory services firms in more than 130 countries around the world. Crowe is driven by a workforce of more than 4,400 professionals and experts, and has been recognized by Fortune’s 100 Best Companies To Work For list.
33. Grant Thornton LLP
Headquarters: Chicago, IL
Grant Thornton LLP is one of America’s largest audit, tax and consulting firms. The firm offers tailored solutions to a broad range of publicly- and privately-held organizations across a wide range of industries, government agencies, financial institutions, and civic and religious organizations. With revenues of $1.97 billion, 51 offices, and more than 9,000 problem-solvers across the U.S., the firm is also the largest member of the Grant Thornton International Ltd global network.
In pursuit of Grant Thornton’s purpose to make business more personal and build trust into every result, Grant Thornton consultants focus on relationships, quality and comprehensive service. The firm has experienced professionals in almost 20 industry groups who consult on nearly every aspect of business, from finance and technology to operations and compliance as well as risk mitigation, mergers and acquisitions, strategy, cybersecurity and workforce management. Further, Grant Thornton consultants are consistently awarded with some of the industry’s top accolades.
The firm’s commitment to client relationships is only matched by a commitment to its people. Grant Thornton’s award-winning, people-first culture prioritizes mentorship and colleague care, and the firm continuously reviews and enhances its benefits to ensure it promotes work-life balance and strengthens every aspect of its colleagues’ health.
34. Kenway Consulting
Headquarters: Chicago, IL
Technology and management consulting firm Kenway specializes in technology solution delivery, enterprise program leadership, and information insight. Founded in June of 2004 on the core principles of being good and being truthful, the firm has a resolute vision "to transform business by doing what is right," with a critical stated focus on helping businesses achieve their objectives through the enablement and enhancement of both process and technology.
The "doing what is right" credo permeates its firm culture, leading Kenway to continually be included in the top ranks of best companies for work-life balance listings. This includes placing in Best Places To Work In Chicago in 2020 and 2021 and being honored as one of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For by the National Association for Business Resources for four consecutive years.
The firm’s banner Technology Solution Delivery capability is how it enables people and processes via strength of technology. This features the establishment and alignment of overall IT strategy with a client’s business strategy, and further delves into formation of solution architecture, design, and development for custom-built or enterprise package solutions.
35. Kroll
Headquarters: New York, NY
Serving more than 50% of the S&P 500, corporate recovery specialist Kroll, LLC is no stranger to receiving honors for being one of the top consulting firms in the world. Established in 1932 as Duff & Phelps, the firm has since added more than 30 complimentary companies to its robust portfolio. This includes the 2018 acquisition of Kroll, which was used in the firm's renaming process that was completed in 2022. The acquisition valued Kroll at just north of $4 billion.
Headquartered in New York City, the firm now has nearly 5,000 employees across 30 countries and territories. Over the years, Kroll has been hired by multinational corporations and governments alike to investigate a wide range of issues. Kroll advises clients in the key areas of valuation, corporate finance, disputes and investigations, cyber security, and regulatory issues – but the firm is arguably best known for its work in administration processes.
36. Putnam
Headquarters: Boston, MA
Pharma consultancy Putnam Associates – rebranded Putnam last year– made headlines in 2019 when it was acquired by healthcare giant UDG in an $88 million deal, which has allowed Putnam to strengthen its foothold in the rapidly expanding life sciences industry. Since being launched in 1998, the firm has grown significantly, and now has over 200 employees across offices in Boston, London, New York, and San Francisco.
Unlike many consulting firms, it's a specialist, and tends to focus on a wide spectrum of areas within the life sciences industry. That's good news for its client roster, which has grown steadily to include 19 of the top 20 global biopharmaceutical companies. Meanwhile, Putnam has also become the strategic partner of choice for venture-backed biotech companies, franchises, and a range of others in the life sciences space. In 2021, Putnam received numerous top honors, including being ranked by Vault as the #1 Consulting Firm for Health and Wellness.
37. Stax
Headquarters: Boston, MA
Stax is a global management consulting firm serving corporate and private equity clients across a broad range of industries including software/technology, healthcare, business services, industrial, consumer & retail, and education. The firm partners with clients to provide data-driven, actionable insights designed to drive growth, enhance profits, increase value, and make better investment decisions.
Stax was founded in Boston in 1994 and currently boasts more than 180 professionals in offices in Boston, Chicago, New York, and Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is proud to have established relationships spanning over two decades or longer with public and private corporations, private equity firms, their portfolio operations groups, and portfolio companies. About 25% of its work comes from clients in Europe and Asia and 40% has a major international component.
38. Tata Consultancy Services
Headquarters: Mumbai, India
By the latest reckonings, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the largest and most valuable IT services provider in the world. It’s no understatement to say that the Mumbai-based firm possesses top-level talent on a wide variety of IT services, but it is perhaps best known for its work in application development and management as well as its work in enterprise solutions and outsourcing – particularly its lauded enterprise application TCS Crystallus.
With nearly 300 offices and 150 delivery centers worldwide, TCS has posted impressive financial gains even during the time of COVID-19, with operating income in excess of $6 billion as of 2021. TCS cloud platforms are fostering development across Asia, and the firm’s ADD Safety software was recently granted an award for using AI to radically improve pharmacological outcomes.
39. Syneos Health
Headquarters: Morrisville, NC
Based in Morrisville, North Carolina, Syneos Health is a biopharmaceutical solutions management consulting firm making waves in the life sciences industry. It was created in 2017 from the merger of INC Research and inVentiv Health – the parent company of a subsidiary, Syneos. The firm’s current name is intended to communicate the value of helping customers on both the clinical and commercial side.
Following the merger, more than 27,000 talented Syneos Health individuals now form one unique brand that offers a mix of research and advisory services. The pitch seems to be working, as Syneos Health continues to grow and currently boasts customers in more than 110 countries. In 2021, the firm reported annual revenue of $5.21 billion, a roughly 18.1% increase over the $4.42 billion it reported in 2020.
40. The Bridgespan Group
Headquarters: Boston, MA
The Bridgespan Group is a U.S. nonprofit organization launched in 1999 and based in Boston, Massachusetts that provides management consulting to nonprofits and philanthropists. In addition to consulting, Bridgespan makes case studies freely available on its website and publications. It’s stated mission is to build a better world by strengthening the ability of mission-driven organizations and philanthropists to achieve breakthrough results in addressing society’s most important challenges and opportunities.
Bridgespan was founded by Thomas Tierney, formerly Managing Director of Bain & Company; Harvard Business School professor Jeffrey Bradach; and Paul Carttar, formerly a Vice President at Bain & Company. Over the years, the organization has received substantial support from Bain, with whom it has maintained a close relationship. It specializes in helping clients to affect the greatest possible change with their charitable donations, and advises clients against spreading donations too thinly so "that they have no real impact. Bridgespan has advised the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and Bloomberg Philanthropies.
41. The Keystone Group
Headquarters: Chicago, IL
Founded in 1991 by Andy Rolfe, who formerly worked for Andersen Consulting, The Keystone Group is a results-oriented management consulting firm serving mid-market manufacturing and distribution clients and their stakeholders. With offices in Atlanta, Chicago, and Los Angeles, its small, experienced teams create value for clients through growth strategy, operational improvement, financial restructuring, and acquisition integration. With active partner engagement, Keystone’s teams develop and implement recommendations to address its clients’ most complex business challenges.
Rolfe founded Keystone with the goal of creating a firm that placed service to its clients above its own interests. He believed that if his firm always strove to do what was best for its clients, it would in turn end up working out well for the firm. Since 1991, the firm has been working side-by-side with clients, fostering long-term relationships and delivering tangible, sustainable results. In 2021, Keystone was recognized as a top consulting firm to work for in Vault's 2021 Consulting Firm Rankings. It was named the #13 Best Consulting Firm, #4 Best Boutique Consulting Firm, and #1 for Best Firm Culture.
42. Kaiser Associates
Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
Boutique strategy consulting firm Kaiser Associates was founded in 1981 with a basic but perceptive mission of helping executives follow through on informed strategic and operational decisions by incorporating external insight and analysis. From the firm’s outset, it has specialized in and set the operational standard for steering fact-based strategy and implementation.
Kaiser Associates was founded as a spin-off from Strategic Planning Associates (now Oliver Wyman) by Michael Kaiser and is now based both in Washington D.C., and London, with a third office in São Paulo. Featuring an unparalleled 360° research capability as well as rigorous analytic capabilities, the firm has earned a stellar reputation due to its benchmarking, competitive analysis, ability to listen to the voice of the customer, commercial diligence, work supporting investment decisions, and other externally driven strategic development work. The firm is a preferred thought partner to the world’s most highly valued corporations, PE firms, and government entities, guiding them in turning their most difficult obstacles into extraordinary growth and productivity opportunities.
43. Cornerstone Research
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Founded in 1989, Cornerstone Research is a litigation consulting firm based in San Francisco, California. Cornerstone Research provides economic and financial analysis and expert testimony to attorneys, corporations, and government agencies involved in complex litigation and regulatory proceedings. The firm prides itself on its creative and energetic staff, cutting-edge technology and research, and its work with academic and industry experts. Cornerstone boasts a workforce of more than 700 professionals across eight offices in the United States and United Kingdom.
Cornerstone also collaborates on the "Securities Class Action Clearinghouse" in conjunction with the Stanford University Law School, providing summary information regarding federal class action securities litigation in the U.S. The firm was recognized in the 2021 Vault Consulting 50 list of the best consulting firms to work for.
44. Huron
Headquarters: Chicago, IL
Global consulting firm Huron Consulting pledges to deliver sustainable, long-lasting results to its clients, providing deep expertise in advisory services covering technology, strategy, operations, and analytics to drive results in industries such as higher education, healthcare, commerce, and life sciences. The firm also offers guidance and support to organizations as they navigate the changes transforming their industries and businesses. Huron, which was founded in Chicago, Illinois 20 years ago, has just under 4,000 employees across 25 locations in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.
Huron Consulting specializes in helping its client organizations navigate change and economic pressures in various dynamic environments. Since the firm’s founding just after the turn of the century, it has provided guidance for more than 450 health systems, hospitals, and academic medical centers as well as approximately 400 colleges, universities, and research institutions and over 125 life sciences organizations. Huron’s client base also features hundreds of Fortune 500 companies as well as small and midsize businesses. With the consultation of Huron, clients have been empowered to improve performance, resolve disputes, leverage technology, comply with complex regulations, recover from distress, and stimulate expeditious growth.
45. ClearView Healthcare Partners
Headquarters: Boston, MA
Founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 2007, ClearView Healthcare Partners is a global strategy consulting firm serving the life sciences sector. ClearView combines international industry knowledge and deep scientific expertise across a range of therapeutic areas with an extensive network of external stakeholders to deliver practical and actionable recommendations. The firm’s projects include cross-functional support at the corporate, franchise, and product levels for pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, and diagnostics companies worldwide.
ClearView is a boutique firm with a workforce of more than 400 professionals across offices in Boston, San Francisco, London, and Zurich, Switzerland. The firm’s clients include a broad range of operating companies in the life sciences, from medical device and pharmaceutical companies to investors in the life sciences fields. Among other awards, they were recognized in the 2021 Vault Consulting 50 list of top employers.
46. The Brattle Group
Headquarters: Boston, MA
The Brattle Group provides consulting services and expert testimony in economics, finance, and regulation to corporations, law firms, and public agencies. It is distinguished by the clarity of its insights and the credibility of its experts, which include leading international academics and industry specialists. The firm has more than 500 employees across 13 offices in North America, Europe, and Asia.
The Brattle Group’s clients include many of the world’s best-performing and most admired companies, law firms, and industry organizations, as well as U.S. and international regulatory and government agencies. 80% of AmLaw 100 firms, 50% of Fortune 100 companies, and 25% of Fortune 500 companies use The Brattle Group’s expert services. Each year, the firm presents the Brattle Prize at the American Finance Association's annual meeting. The award is given for outstanding papers on corporate finance published in the Journal of Finance.
47. The Chartis Group
Headquarters: Chicago, IL
The Chartis Group is at the vanguard of healthcare, helping leading healthcare organizations navigate the future of care delivery. It is the nation’s leading healthcare advisory firm and has an unparalleled breadth of capabilities and depth of experience. From reshaping the healthcare ecosystem, to redefining how care is delivered and financed, Chartis helps its clients achieve meaningful and lasting results.
The Chartis Group consists of more than 550 talented professionals across four offices in Boston, Chicago, New York, and San Francisco with the experience and capabilities required to transform healthcare. 90% of the hospitals on the "Best Hospitals Honor Roll” by U.S. News & World Report work with the firm, and it serves more than 600 healthcare organizations annually. It has also been the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions, including being named one of Modern Healthcare’s Best Places to Work 2021 and Best in KLAS in four different categories in 2022: Healthcare Management Consulting, Digital Transformation Consulting, HIT Advisory Services, and Financial Improvement Consulting.
48. Keystone Strategy
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
Serving a bevy of global brands and leading law firms from its offices in Boston, San Francisco, New York City, and Seattle, Keystone Strategy provides strategy and economics consulting fueled by an entrepreneurial spirit as well as dedication to collaborating with clients and peers. Keystone’s rich expertise in strategy, economics, data analysis, product development, intellectual property, and antitrust make it stand out in the consulting industry. The firm teams up with a multitude of Fortune 50 technology companies as well as global consumer brands such as Facebook, GE, Intel, Roche, Amazon, Microsoft, and Oracle.
Keystone combines the strategic insights of leading academic experts from Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Wharton, and other top universities with the practical industry expertise of its accomplished network of professionals to deliver extraordinary impact. Its diverse teams leverage expertise in business, technology, and economics, and as a result, their work includes digital transformation, innovation, AI/ML, data analytics, algorithms, ecosystem strategy, process optimization, antitrust, intellectual property, and tax transfer expertise.
49. NERA Economic Consulting
Headquarters: New York, NY
Described by The New York Times as "one of the country’s oldest and best-known economic consultancies,” NERA Economic Consulting, Inc. is the go-to consulting firm for many high-profile disputes and legal cases around the globe. NERA was launched in 1961 as National Economic Research Associates. Notably, it was the first consulting firm dedicated to methodically applying rigorous microeconomic thought to litigation and regulatory matters. As such, its consultants use hard economic data to make their case, drawing on the firm’s expertise in fields like statistics and computer science.
Currently, NERA employs more than 500 professionals, including 425 economists, who provide a plethora of services – from creating strategies to providing expert testimony and policy recommendations – for corporations, government authorities, and the world’s leading law firms. Since 1983, when NERA was acquired, it has remained a part of the Oliver Wyman Group, a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. In 2018, NERA was ranked second in Vault's annual survey of the top firms in economic consulting.
50. Insigniam
Headquarters: Narberth, PA
Founded in 1990, Insigniam handles enterprise-scale transformation, transformational leadership, and managing change as a leading management consulting firm. Insigniam’s organization transformation service holds a core value proposition of enabling clients to “build a bond and collaboration” amongst their people. The firm invests deeply in training and fostering entrepreneurship in its own employees so they can bring the most impactful solutions to clients. Insigniam’s belief is that culture fuels strategy.
The firm categorizes its consulting methodology into four areas: reveal, unhook, invent, and implement. This helps to ensure that all breakthrough, innovation, and transformation initiatives are truly led by client leadership and their employees, making it clear that capabilities and competencies are to be developed in tandem within the organization. Insigniam partners with its clients to blend inherent business insights with its expert, unique methods for alternative thinking, sculpting behavior, and execution of results.
____________________
Copyright: The Top 50 Consulting Firms of 2022 publication is copyrighted material, produced and published by The Consulting Report. For information pertaining to content permissions, please refer to The Consulting Report’s award usage regulations.
