The essence of consulting is to help a client create value by providing information and advice which leads to lasting organizational change in a variety of ways including development of new strategies, accounting systems, information systems integration, quality management, process redesign, marketing, distribution channel development, logistics, leadership training, cost control, productivity enhancement, leveraging technology, activity-based costing, competitive analysis, human resource strategy and value management. Good consultants listen, think, analyze, brainstorm, challenge assumptions, cajole and convince good companies to become even better by implementing new ideas that create value. In the words of Geoffrey M. Bellman: "...consultants are people who, when asked, agree to use their expertise to help clients narrow the gap between they now have and what they think they want or need. Those who offer help that is not wanted may think they are consulting, but are not. Consultants have clients, and clients decide whether they are going to be clients or not. Successful consultants are made by clients seeking their help." Consulting is done in a wide variety of contexts by some of the most prestigious firms in the world and by a whole bunch of other entities including lots of people working in their basement with a telephone and fax machine.

The content on this page is taken from Career Paths in Accounting and Consulting, an award-winning CD-ROM containing graphical screens, lots of information and 250 QuickTime video clips of an array of current and former consultants and accounting professionals from a variety of firms including Andersen, Bain & Co, Campos & Stratis, Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, KPMG, McKinsey, Mercer, Monitor and Price Waterhouse. You can meet and interact with people involved in systems integration, change management, logistics, litigation consulting, value management and reengineering. The CD-ROM gives you an appreciation for what the culture and people in a consulting firm are like in a way a book (or recruiting brochure) never can. The emphasis is on going beyond the recruiting PR into the essence of what you would be doing in a future job. What are the various firms really like? Which firms have the highest quality people? What are the latest trends shaping the business? And, would you be a good fit for an exciting and stimulating industry that is also sometimes prone to give employees burnout, outrageous travel schedules, menial coding tasks on gigantic, never-ending client-server projects and serious cases of jargonese? The CD also has an interactive test which will recommend a job area for you, an interview simulator and examples of successful resumes. To obtain a brochure or to purchase a copy of the CD-ROM contact Convergence Multimedia at (214) 258-6681. Or you can obtain a free demonstration CD in exchange for answering a few market research questions. To use the CD-ROM you will need to have a Windows or Mac computer with 8MEGs of RAM, a double speed or better CD-ROM player and sound.

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• Skill Requirements in Consulting
• Key Job areas
• Print Resources
• Internet Resources
• Salaries
• Facts and Trends
• Top Consulting Firms

• Consulting is an exciting and risky profession to enter. The work is stimulating and important, but not everyone lasts in this business.
• Consulting is the business of providing advice to firms in trouble; firms on the move and firms which are trying to do what they do better, faster, and more cheaply. Consulting is about business. People who love business like consulting.
• Consulting requires the ability to listen to your customer; it also requires the ability to explain to your customer. Consulting is about communication. Good communicators do well in consulting.
• The business of consulting has been growing by leaps and bounds in the 1990s. There is a lot of hiring going on and there is likely to be strong demand in the future.
• You would usually start in an analyst position. To succeed in these positions you need to be extremely dedicated and be willing to travel. Many, but not all, positions are grueling because they require long hours and heavy travel.
• It's important to have a good network of business contacts in consulting as you progress. New business development becomes part of your job. As your classmates rise in their respective business areas it is important to stay in touch with them as they may become your future customers.
• A key to success in consulting is teamwork. Being able to pull together persons with large egos to get a presentation together for a client is a challenge and is likely to be rewarded highly. You will almost always work as part of a team.
• At it's essence, consulting is using stretching and using your brain. A consultant sells ideas, smarts, brilliance (and, of course, talks a lot about transforming ideas into action). People with serious smarts and analytical firepower are in constant demand from the very best consulting firms.
• Candidates with original perspective wanted. Consultants listen, analyze and solve. To put it all together you have to be able to look at things differently than the average manager out there. If you've lived in a different country, or have a strong background in a non-business area like literature, music or biology, you may have just the type of thought-process a consulting firm is looking for.
• Industry knowledge counts. If you have serious experience working in a specific industry, be it utilities, paper, airlines, retail or financial services, there probably is a consulting firm looking for you. Firms want specialists with deep knowledge in specific industries who can understand the present and envision the future.
• SAP is red hot. One of the most demanded skills in consulting firms like Andersen Consulting, Ernst & Young and Price Waterhouse is SAP programming ability. SAP is a software package which allows a company to integrate its financial, HR and accounting transactions into a flexible reporting system. SAP R/3 has very popular accounting modules including Controlling, Enterprise Controlling, Financial Accounting, Capital Investment Management and Treasury. Learn more by going to the SAP World Wide Web page at www.sap.com.
• The ability to think on your feet is an enormous help. Consultants are often called upon to provide information and solutions on very short notice. If you can think quickly and effectively, you will be able to add lots of value when it counts. Plus, if you can think while answering questions after a presentation, you will be worth your weight in gold. If you've ever been a debater or, perhaps, a student leader, you may be particularly well-suited for a position in consulting.
• Informational technology convergence means tremendous demand for skilled consultants who can work to link cable companies, web providers, online services, broadcast networks, wireless services, telephone companies and publishers. If you understand this technology and have a vision for its future, you could have a bright future in consulting.
• Presentation skills matter. If you can understand a clients needs, help them formulate a solution and then present your findings effectively, whether it be one-on-one or in front of a crowd with the latest multimedia technology, you will be in demand. Ability to present well is something that takes hard work for almost everyone. Try to convey your commitment and ability in this area.
• There are plenty of time when the work is less than glamormous. Taking an idea you already understand and applying it to a new client. Or doing laborious industry research. Or using simple common sense on clients that don't need a Ph.D., just a kick in the pants. Be sure that you have realistic expectations about what the work is like day to day.
• The desire to help others is crucial. Consulting isn't just another job. Youre there to help a client and you will inevitably do better at it, if you take the clients best interests to heart and act with integrity. If you have an outwardly oriented personality aimed at helping others, you are likely to make a good consultant.

Strategic Consulting: These consultants help companies with strategic planning for the next two to five years. This can involve choosing a strategy for growth, making suggestions for restructuring, providing international expertise, suggesting acquisitions/divestitures and revitalizing leadership. While not applying fixed "recipes" some consulting firms are known for having a specific perspective. Gemini Consulting, for example, suggests that businesses transform themselves by the "four R's": reframing corporate issues, restructuring the company, revitalizing and then renewing the organization and its people. Prominent firms in strategic consulting include:

A. T. Kearney (Chicago, IL)
Andersen Consulting (Chicago, IL)
Asymmetrix (Boston, MA)
Bain & Co. (Boston, MA)
Booz Allen & Hamilton (New York, NY)
Boston Consulting Group (Boston, MA)
Conner & Company (New York, NY)
Coopers & Lybrand (New York, NY)
Gemini Consulting (Morristown, NJ)
GeoPartners Research (Boston, MA)
LEK/Alcar Consulting Group (Boston, MA)
Linkage (Lexington, MA)
McKinsey & Co. (New York, NY)
Mercer Management Consulting (Lexington, MA)
Mitchell Madison Group (New York, NY)
Monitor Company (Cambridge, MA)
Origin (Netherlands)
Piper Trust (London, UK)
Strategos (London, UK)
Vertex Partners (Boston, MA)

Business Process Reengineering Consulting: An important trend in business in the last five years has come in the form of an enormous push to increase productivity by improving business processes. You could get involved in activity-based costing to get started. Business process reanalysis and design has been a large part of the consulting practice of many firms including:

A. T. Kearney (Chicago, IL)
Boston Consulting Group (Boston, MA)
Coopers & Lybrand (New York, NY)
CSC Index (Cambridge, MA)
Ernst & Young (New York, NY)
Hackett Group (Hudson, OH)
JLA Consulting International (Toronto, CA)
Price Waterhouse
Business Process Reengineering Firms

Systems Consulting: Consultants are in the business of providing services to firms that involve specialized knowledge, a fresh perspective and high expertise. It would be hard to find an area which fits this description better than systems consulting, the practice of offering advice to organizations about the optimal configuration of their information systems, integration of information systems, introduction of client-server computing, participating in software design and recommending hardware purchases. Prominent players in this market include:

Andersen Consulting (Chicago, IL)
Arthur D. Little (Cambridge, MA)
Cap/Gemini America (Morristown, NJ)
Claremont Technology Group (Seattle, WA)
CSC Index (Cambridge, MA)
CTG
Digital Consulting (Maynard, MA)
EDS (Plano, TX)
Ernst & Young (Chicago, IL)
IBM (Armonk, NY)
Technology Solutions (Chicago, IL)
Trans-Tech (Chicago, IL)

Human Resources Consulting: Some of the most important and sensitive decisions in any firms involve who to hire, how much to pay them and how to develop their skills. The job of HR consultant was recently classified as one of the hottest jobs in America. Human resource consultants help firms make these decisions and offer advice on compensation and benefits packages, pension funding decisions, benefits of a diverse workforce, employee development programs and the like. Some leading human resource consultants include:

Automated Concepts (Chicago, IL)
Cambria Consulting (Boston, MA)
Hewitt Associates (Lincolnshire, IL)
HRStrategies (Detroit, MI)
Linkage (Lexington, MA)
SIA Consulting Group
Wyatt Group (Chicago, IL)
Towers Perrin (New York, NY)

Litigation Consulting: The complexity of litigation has increased significantly in recent decades. As a result, the demand by law firms for litigation support has risen dramatically. Litigation consultants provide this support by working with attorney's to map out case strategies, courtroom exhibits and tactics and provide economic analysis. This position requires good analytical skills and good problem-solving skills. Some of the many firms in this business include:

Charles River Associates (Boston, MA)
Chicago Partners (Chicago, IL)
Coopers & Lybrand (New York, NY)
Cornerstone Research (Menlo Park, CA)
Decision Research (Boston, MA)
Economic Analysis Corporation (Los Angeles, CA)
Economists Incorporated (Washington DC)
FinEcon (Los Angeles, CA)
Law & Economics Consulting Group (Emeryville, CA)
Lexecon (Chicago, IL)
Litigation Sciences (Los Angeles, CA)
Micronomics (Los Angeles, CA)
Price Waterhouse (Los Angeles, CA and New York, NY)
National Economic Research Associates (White Plains, NY)

Finance Consulting: Financial consultants provide financial advice to corporations and money managers. This advice may involve the pricing of securities, strategies for creating shareholder value, business valuation, economic forecasts and analysis or suggestions for Treasury management. Firms involved in this growing area include:

Andrew Kalotay Associates (Sea Cliff, NY)
A. B. Laffer & Associates (Los Angeles, CA)
Boston Consulting Group (Boston, MA)
The Hackett Group (Hudson, OH)
Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin (Los Angeles, CA)
Ibbotson Associates (Chicago, IL)
LEK/Alcar Group (Boston, MA)
McKinsey & Co. (New York, NY)
Mitchell Madison Group (New York, NY)
Stanford Consulting Group (Menlo Park, CA)
Stern Stewart & Co. (New York, NY)
Treasury Management Associates (Aurora, CO)
Wilshire Associates (Los Angeles, CA)

Company Insider Reports. From Wet Feet Press at 1-800-926-4JOB (349 Liberty Street, San Francisco, CA 94114-2953). Web Feet Press is cool. They have put together 20 to 40 page reports on a variety of consulting firms including Andersen, Bain, BCG, Booz Allen, CSC Index, Gemini, Kearney, McKinsey, Mercer and Monitor. Find everything from an insider's look at each firm's culture to interview techniques and key differentiating factors. Reports cost $25 apiece. For another ten bucks, they'll fax it to you now.

Consultants and Consulting Organizations Directory, 1994, Gale Research, Detroit, MI, (800) 877-GALE. This comprehensive directory lists over 20,000 businesses and individuals who consult for businesses and government. Also check out Gale's European Consultants Directory.

The Consultants Calling: Bringing who you are to what you do, by Geoffrey Bellman. Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1990. The book is worth buying if you are a consultant or interested in becoming one.

Consultants News, Kennedy Publications, Templeton Road, Fitzwilliam, N. H. 03447, Available from the Consultants Bookstore at 1-800-531-0007 or fax: 603 585-9555. This publication covers the industry of management consulting, discussing recent trends, insightful views on the profession and who is growing. Ranks the largest firms, gives financial for small firms and coverage of the CPA consulting market.Cost: $158/year or one issue free.

"The Craze for Consultants: How Management Can Get It's Money's Worth," Business Week, July 25, 1994, p. 60-66.

"Deloitte Move Marks Further Shift Of Big Six Firms to Consulting Work," Wall Street Journal, September 21, 1995.

Directory of Canadian Management Consultants, Consulting Services Division of Department of Regional Industrial Expansion, Ottawa. Lists names, addresses, contacts, phone and other information on hundreds of Canadian consulting firms.

Directory of Management Consultants. Kennedy Publications, Templeton Road, Fitzwilliam, N. H. 03447. Available from the Consultants Bookstore at 1-800-531-0007 or 1-603-585-2200. This excellent directory lists 1600 consulting firms of all kinds and gives specialties, locations and phone numbers. Allows you to find names of 5400 key principals of these firms. Cost: $99.95. Directory of Management Consultants in the UK, Alan Armstrong, London. Lists information on hundreds of British firms incluiding name, address, phone, officers, staff size and firm description.

"The Ever-Bigger Boom in Consulting," Fortune, April 24, 1989, p. 113.

Harvard Business School Career Guide: Management Consulting, Harvard Business School Press, 1996. Lists job descriptions in leading consulting firms including contact persons for MBA students and phone numbers. If you buy one book on this list, buy this one! Cost: $24.95. The phone number is 800-545-7685 (for US & Canada) and 617-495-6192 (for international).

"Inside Andersen's Army of Advice," Fortune, October 4, 1993, p. 78. Describes Andersen Consulting's approach, its training and it's use of a common methodology for systems consulting.

Institute of Management Consultants. Members are drawn from private or consulting firms. This group certifies consultants and publishes the Journal of Management Consulting. Their address and phone are: 521 5th Ave., 35th Floor, New York, NY. 1-212-697- 9693.

"Let's Go for Growth," Fortune, March 7, 1994, p. 60. Describes a popular 1990s business strategy: high growth. Good background reading for an interview in consulting.

"Lock the Doors, It's EDS," Business Week, September 19, 1994, p. 36. Describes the aggressive strategy of EDS in the management consulting business. EDS's goal is to have 5,000 to 7,000 new consultants in the next five years. EDS plans to hire 250 MBA's in 1995.

National Association of Management Consultants (NAMC). Seeks to increase minority participation in industry. Members are minority consultants. Shares information, collaborates on projects, and improvement professionalism. 4200 Wisconsin NW, Ste. 106, Washington DC 20016. 202-466-1601.

"The McKinsey Mystique," Business Week, September 20, 1993, p. 66. Describes the workings of top-of-the-line McKinsey & Co ("The Firm") and close relations with Corporate America.

So You Want to be a Consultant: The Essential Guide to the Management Consulting Industry. From Wet Feet Press at 1-800-926-4JOB (349 Liberty Street, San Francisco, CA 94114-2953).

Survey of United States Key Management Information, ACME, Association of Management Consulting Firms. This survey (and a similar one available for Europe) gives you information on industry average fees, recruiting effort, compesnation and billing procedures. Multiyear data is provided.

"The Selling of a B-School Grad," Business Week, March 28, 1994, p. 146. Describes how Nick Hall, a recent MBA, went through a stress-filled interview season to end up with grueling interviews in management consulting.

• Commentary on Consulting
• Consulting Jokes
• Careers in Strategic Planning
• Get Consulting Firm Profiles and Great Case Interview Preparation Material
• Revolution from Strategos
• Death of Competition from James Moore of GeoPartners
• A Practice Case Interview from McKinsey
• Job Interview Questions from Hell
• French Consulting Firm List
• Consulting Resource Page
• Managing Dynamics of Change by Richard Couch of the Diablo Management Group.
• The Electric Kool-Aid Management Consultant
• Consultant's Corner
• So you are new to consulting?
• Memorandum Practice
• Consulting Exchange
• Yale Consulting Club
• What do you do if you're dinged by McKinsey?
• The Consulting Game
• Preparing for Case Interviews. From Wharton
• American Management Systems
• Andersen Consulting
• Booz Allen
• Deloitte & Touche
• Jobs at Economists Incorporated
• EDS
• KPMG
• Student Consulting Group at UT-Austin
• Yahoo Consulting Page

Cornerstone Research (BBA, Litigation Consulting): $40,000+
Gemini Consulting (MBA, Strategic Consulting): $80,000
Bain & Company (Bachelors, Strategic Consulting): $40,000 + (modest bonus 1996)
McKinsey & Co. (BBA, Strategic Consulting): $42,000
Management Consulting (MBA, Strategic Consulting): $75,000 base+$20,000 bonus
Andersen (MBA, IT Consulting): $47,000 (including signing 1996)
McKinsey (MBA, Strategic Consulting): $80,000 (1996) McKinsey (MBA, Associate, 1-2 years): $150,000-200,000
McKinsey (MBA, Junior Partner): $250,000
McKinsey (MBA, Junior Director): $800,000
McKinsey (MBA, Senior Director): $2 - 4 million

If you would like more information, a report on pay in consulting is also available here. A salary survey of what consultant's make at accounting firms is also available.

• The business of consulting is large. In 1995, over 100,000 consultants sold over $43 billion of advice. Compound annual growth expected to be 14 percent through 1998. Today, technology planning, strategic services and enterprise consulting represent 35 percent, 20 percent and 15 percent respectively of the worldwide consulting spending.
• It is very hard to break into the top firms in consulting like Bain, McKinsey and Mercer Management Consulting. McKinsey hiring chief Howard Williams targets hiring at top MBA schools including Harvard Business School, Wharton, Stanford, Sloan (MIT), Kellogg (Northwestern) and INSEAD. That said, the firm hires heavily at these schools. Ten percent of the 1993 Harvard graduating class went to work for McKinsey.
• The Big Six firms are giving more autonomy to their consulting practices. In September 1995, Deloitte & Touche announced that it was going to separate its consulting operation from its auditing arm in order to create clearer incentives for the consulting outfit. In the words of Philip Laskawy, Chairman of Ernst & Young: "Consulting is where the action is, and we're targeting it for 50% of our total revenues in three years."
• Other firms have taken the approach of integrating consulting throughout the firm. For example, KPMG/Peat Marwick has a market focus on five integrated sector groups and staffs each area with auditors, tax specialists and consultants.
• Integrated or not, the pursuit of specialized knowledge is rising rapidly. Firms are looking for consultants with very specific knowledge in areas like logistics management, knowledge management, data warehousing, multimedia, client-server development, sales force automation, electronic commerce, brand management and value management.
• Other firms such as Andersen Consulting are large and easier to crack into. Andersen has hired thousands of consultants on college campuses in a given year.
• Some of the best people in consulting work in small firms. The reason is that the best people may prefer the autonomy and impact that they can have there. The responsibilities of a consultant are significant, regardless of the size of the practice. Its much more like being an attorney; an attorney in a small firm can have a very large case.
• While consulting firms have traditionally targeted MBA students, they are becoming more willing to hire students with Ph.D degrees, lawyers and engineers and put them through business training. McKinsey has a 30-day mini-MBA course.
• That said, its important to show an open mind as an engineer or techie entering consulting. While consulting firms are always looking for sharp people with good analytical skills, surprisingly they are often hesitant to hire engineers because of fear that they can't break out of the box. Rigid thinking that cant adapt to business situtations is the worry. A good way to get a consulting position with engineering experience is to convey flexible thinking in an interview. Even better would be successful business experience where you applied your engineering know-how to solve a business problem.
• "Relationship consulting" is on the rise. This involves working with a company over many years to ensure continued monitoring, discussion and implementation of new ideas.
• Longer consulting contracts have brought higher fees. It is not uncommon for a long-term consulting contract to cost over $20 million in consulting fees.
• Consulting has been growing at a rapid rate since the late 1970s. Money Magazine reported in February 1992 that the profession has grown 52% since 1978 and has a good future outlook.
• One important explanation of the rapid growth in consulting is change and a tumultuous business environment. The Nineties have challenged corporations with unprecedented new global competition, breathtaking technological advances and important new ideas about organization. The upshot of all of this is that advice from consultants has been in high demand.
• Another important reason to expect growth in consulting is the expanding demand for consulting services in other countries. U.S. consultants have been consulting for major firms around the globe while helping companies at home such as AT&T and Avon Products crack foreign markets. The Big Six accounting firms and McKinsey have had a strong presence in Europe for many years. The global focus of consulting growth has created high demand for foreign students.
• This growth in foreign business will be particularly significant in developing countries. The reason is simple. There is a narrowing gap between developing and developed economies. Consultants are helping to bridge that gap by bringing solutions and ideas to firms in economies as diverse as China, Brazil and Nigeria. Because these ideas are creating huge amounts of value, the demand for consultants services is skyrocketing and should continue to do so for the next several decades. Several of the main strategic consulting firms are now realizing over half of their revenue outside of the First World. As you go through school, try to develop a framework that you can use to analyze and think about developing economies by taking courses in development economics, trade and international finance.
• A new trend in consulting is to include members of the management of the client firm as part of the consulting team. This eases implementation of recommendations and can commit the client to buying into new ideas.
• Many consulting firms use the case interview method where you are presented with a business situation and asked to suggest a solution. Charles Wendel, VP of Mercer Management Consulting, justified this approach by saying that "We want to get the people who are the most mentally alert and intellectually alive and the case approach works particularly well." (Business Week)
• It's tough to make it in solo consulting because of the difficulty of maintaining credibility and marketing yourself. Only one in ten solo consultants lasts for ten years.
• If you go into business for yourself it is important to credibly convey your expertise. One way to do this is to become a Certified Management Consultant (CMC). Contact the Institute of Management Consultants, 230 Park Ave., Suite 544, New York, NY 10169, (212) 697-9693 for more information.
• Reengineering is cold. Hammer is getting hammered. The reason is that firms are attempting to grow rapidly as economic prospects have brightened. Firms like Mercer, Booz Allen and Coopers & Lybrand are aggressively pursuing business in the growth area. In the words of Dwight Gertz of Mercer Management Consulting: You cant shrink to greatness.
• SBU analysis is hot. If you can go into a firm and analyze which strategic business units are profitable and which are not, youll be of interest to consulting firms. If a telecom firm has a lousy phone cord manufacturing operation, outsource it. If your company has a low cost, profitable engine making operation, keep it. Maybe grow it. Consultants have lots of names for this type of thinking like growth share matrix analysis, ABM etc.
• Many firms are looking for generalists. Strategic thinkers with backgrounds in everything from romance languages to sociology. Some see a trend towards hiring more business majors who have concrete analysis skills. Depending on your point of view, this may be a disturbing trend.
• According to a hot consultant at Bain & Co: "Its a funny business. Almost 100% of the it comes from referrals. You do a great job for one company. And a board member there whos part of another company brings you in. You do a good job there and that leads to more business elsewhere. This means that it is crucial as a consultant to have a total client focus on every job. Your future in the business depends on how well you do in generating enthusiasm and answers that work on every engagement."
• One nice thing about consulting is that it is recession-proof. When the economy gets tubed, the first thing many firms do is call in consultants. This means that your job should be stable. Look for a relatively lean firm, though. Other than nonperformance, the best way to get fired at a consulting firm is to work for an overstaffed organization with lots of administrators.
• Be sure to ask about the extent and type of training that you will get as a consultant. Some firms favor the hit the ground running mold of consultant, while others would like to mold you to their culture and values through a training program. Training is a good thing and the best firms have lots of it.
• Leading consulting firms like Ernst & Young are increasingly trying to create virtual organizations which allow collaboration across geographical and organizational borders by exploiting videoconferencing and computer networks. This makes it especially important that you become comfortable using new technology.
• One of the largest practice areas of the Bix Six consulting firms is health care. Health care payment and delivery systems are changing rapidly, generating high demand for consultants to help health care organizations change through alliances, innovation, management care, access strategies and quality improvement.
• Another hot practice area is sales force automation. Many firms with large sales forces are finding that they can vastly improve their marketing effectiveness by providing seamlessly integrated wireless PDAs, contact management systems, easily accessible support databases, e-mail systems.
• Yet another hot practice area is value management. Value management is the practice of creating incentives in an organization to maximize cash flow returned to shareholders as measured by the change in a firms market value over time. A lot of firms provide value management services. The best ones back it up with training and communication for clients up and down the organization in order to create real change.

Andersen Consulting, 33 W Monroe Street, Suite 16-E, Chicago, IL 60603-5302, (312) 372-7100, 1993 revenues: $2,876 million, Number of consultants: 22,500; Recent clients: Astra/Merck, Caterpillar, FPL.

Coopers & Lybrand, 1301 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019-6022, (212) 259-1000, 1993 revenues: $1,351 million, Number of consultants: 7,650; Recent clients: Allied Signal, H. J. Heinz, Quaker Oats.

McKinsey & Co., 55 E. 52nd St., New York, NY 10022, United States, (212) 446-7000 Fax: (212)688-9521, 1993 revenues: $1,300 million, Number of consultants: 3,100; Recent clients: American Express, AT&T, Mellon Bank, Shoney's Restaurants.

Booz Allen & Hamilton, 101 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10178-0053, 212-697-1900, 1993 revenues: $800 million, Number of consultants: 6,000; Recent clients: Procter & Gamble, Volvo, Broken Hill Proprietary.

Gemini Consulting, Inc., 25 Airport Road Morristown, NJ 07960 (201) 285-9000, 1994 revenues: $551 million, Number of consultants: 1,700; Recent clients: Allied Signal, H. J. Heinz, Quaker Oats.

CSC Index, Cambridge, MA (or 5500 Wayzata Boulevard, Suite 1100, Minneapolis, MN 55416-1242, 612-593-1122) 1993 revenues: $470 million, Number of consultants: 2,600; Recent clients: Agway, Amoco, Hallmark, Pepsico.

Boston Consulting Group, The Boston Consulting Group, Exchange Place, Boston, MA 02109, United States. Phone: (617) 973-1200, Fax: (617) 973-1339. 1994 revenues: $430 million. Number of consultants (1/96): 1,500. Recent clients: Aetna, American Airlines, GTE, NYNEX.

A. T. Kearney (recently merged with EDS)., 222 W Adams Street, Chicago, IL 60606-5235, 312-648-0111, 1993 revenues: $278 million, Number of consultants: 950; Recent clients: GM, Sears, Sony, Unilever, Warner-Lambert.

Mercer Management Consulting, 33 Hayden Avenue, Lexington MA 02173, 1993 revenues: $134 million, Number of consultants: 600; Recent clients: British Rail, Chemical Bank, Sara Lee, US West.

Monitor, 25 1st Street, Cambridge, MA 02141-1810, (617) 252-2000, 1993 revenues: $90 million, Number of consultants: 340; Recent clients: AT&T, Pacific Telesis.

Source: Business Week, July 25, 1994.