Consulting Industry

Strategy and general business consulting firms in Australia 2012

Post author By Tom Spencer
Post date May 31, 2012
30 Comments on Strategy and general business consulting firms in Australia 2012

[Last Updated: 31 May 2012]

THE list of strategy and general business consulting firms is part of the full list of consulting firms in Australia:

Tier One – Global

1. Bain
2. BCG
3. McKinsey

Tier One – Australian

4. Nous Group
5. Pacific Strategy Partners
6. Port Jackson Partners

Classic – Global

7. Accenture
8. A.T. Kearney
9. Booz Allen Hamilton
10. The Birchman Group
11. Deloitte
12. LEK
13. Oliver Wyman
14. PwC

Classic – Australian

15. Crescendo Partners
16. Momentum Partners
17. Oyster Consulting
18. SMT Consulting

1. Bain & Company

Website: www.bain.com

Founded in 1973 when Bill Bain and others left BCG to form Bain & Company. Bain operates in 47 offices across 30 countries. In Ausralia, Bain operates out of Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

Bain is well-known for offering services like due diligence, IPO preparation, portfolio profit improvement and revenue enhancement geared toward leveraged buyout and venture capital firms.

2. BCG

Website: www.bostonconsulting.com.au

Founded in 1963 by Bruce Henderson, BCG operates in more than 75 offices worldwide. In Australia, BCG operates out of Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Perth.

BCG specialises in business strategy and draws most of its clients from the 500 largest corporations worldwide, as well as working with smaller companies, non-profit organisations and government agencies.

3. McKinsey

Website: www.mckinsey.com.au

Founded in Chicago in 1926, McKinsey remains one of the world’s most prestigious consulting firms. It is worth noting that, as at May 2012, McKinsey continues to receive negative publicity due to the ongoing Rajat Gupta insider trading scandal. It is still unclear what the ultimate impact of the scandal will be on McKinsey’s brand. McKinsey operates in 98 locations worldwide. In Australia, McKinsey operates out of Sydney and Melbourne.

McKinsey works internationally in a broad range of industries with large private sector institutions, governments and other non-profit institutions.

4. Nous Group

Website: www.nousgroup.com.au

Founded in 1999 by Tim Orton (ex-McKinsey), Nous Group has grown to be one of Australia’s most influential strategy firms. In 2012, the BRW Client Choice Awards named Nous “best management consulting firm in Australia” including most innovative firm and best client outcomes from across the professional services sector. Nous has offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Perth, Adelaide and Manila and a workforce of 150 people that includes some of Australia’s leading critical thinkers, ex senior bureaucrats and business people.

Nous is best known for its ethos to create positive influence and use bold thinking to solve complex societal and business challenges. Nous service lines include business strategy, public policy, leadership & people development, organisational capability, and information management & technology.

5. Pacific Strategy Partners

Website: www.pacificstrategy.com.au

Founded in 2003, Pacific Strategy Partners has offices in Sydney and Melbourne.

Pacific Strategy Partners deploys low leveraged teams to provide clients with Strategy Development, Operational Improvement, and Transaction Support.

6. Port Jackson Partners

Website: www.pjpl.com.au

Founded in July 1991 by Terrey Arcus and Fred Hilmer to counsel the CEOs of select corporations. PJP is a boutique consultancy firm based in Sydney.

PJP’s Australian clients come from a diverse range of industries (e.g. financial sector, service industry, and industrial sector) and are typically top 100 listed companies, but a few are large government owned corporations. PJP focuses on helping companies with strategy and organisation.

7. Accenture

Website: www.accenture.com

Established in 1989, Accenture has offices in more than 200 cities in 54 countries. In Australia, Accenture operates in Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

Accenture offers management consulting services covering finance & performance management, talent & organisation performance, strategy, customer relationship management, and supply chain management.

8. A.T. Kearney

Website: www.atkearney.com

Founded in 1926, A.T. Kearney operates across 57 locations world wide. In Australia, A.T. Kearney operates out of Sydney and Melbourne.

A.T. Kearney’s mission is to help the world’s leading corporations gain and sustain a competitive advantage, and to achieve profound, tangible results for its clients. Services offered include complexity management, enterprise transformation, operations, procurement solutions, strategic information technology, strategy and sustainability.

9. Booz Allen Hamilton

Website: www.boozallen.com

Founded in Chicago in 1914 by Edwin G. Booz, BAH operates in 115 offices across six continents. In Ausralia, BAH operates out of Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, and Canberra.

BAH has its main area of expertise in strategy and technology consulting, working in both the commercial and government sectors.

10. The Birchman Group

Website: www.thebirchmangroup.com

The Birchman Group operates across 7 countries. In Australia, Birchman operates in Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra, and Adelaide.

The Birchman Group provides six core services: value management, business advisory, IT advisory, enterprise applications, software development, and business change.

11. Deloitte

Website: www.deloitte.com

Founded in 1893 in the US, Deloitte has a strong global presence and operates in all capital cities of Australia.

Although offering a large number of accounting services, Deloitte also has a consulting practice. The consulting practice offers HR, outsourcing, strategy & operations, and technology consulting.

12. LEK Consulting

Website: lekconsulting.com.au

Founded in 1983, LEK operates in 20 offices worldwide. LEK has offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland.

LEK’s portfolio of services draws on its core capabilities of research, benchmarking, modelling, analysis and strategy development to help companies determine the best way forward.

13. Oliver Wyman

Website: www.oliverwyman.com

Founded in New York in 1984, Oliver Wyman operates in 60 offices across 23 countries. In Australia, Oliver Wyman operates out of Sydney.

Services offered by Oliver Wyman include business transformation, organisation & leadership, finance & risk, marketing & sales, operations & technology, and strategy.

14. PwC

Website: www.pwc.com

Created in 1998 out of the merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand, PwC has historical roots going back some 150 years. PwC operates in 159 countries worldwide. In Australia, PwC has offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth, Sydney and Townsville.

PwC provides assurance, advisory and tax services. PwCs consulting arm indicates that “people engage PricewaterhouseCoopers to help them design, manage and execute lasting change.”

15. Crescendo Partners

Website: www.crescendopartners.com.au

Crescendo Partners is based in Sydney and has extensive experience providing value to clients across the globe.

Crescendo Partners is an elite high value consulting, advisory and private equity firm. Services include strategy consulting, M&A support, capital raising, and private equity investment.

16. Momentum Partners

Website: www.momentumpartners.com.au

Founded in 2003, Momentum Partners has offices in Sydney, Adelaide and Perth.

Services include strategy, operational performance, organisational effectiveness, corporate advisory, business systems and processes. Momentum has consulted to thousands of different organisations across more than 50 countries. Clients include public and governmental organisations, private companies ranging from large global corporations to small, fast growing start-ups.

17. Oyster Consulting

Website: www.oysterconsulting.com

Oyster Consulting is based in Perth.

Oyster Consulting has strong resource industry experience, and offers a range of services including corporate strategy and business planning, business analysis, services optimisation, business improvement, and organisational design services.

18. SMT Consulting

Website: www.smt.com.au

SMT is located in Sydney and Melbourne.

SMT Consulting is a specialist provider of supply chain and logistics services.

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Tags australia, BAH, Bain &, BCG, Booz, Booz Allen Hamilton, Boston Consulting Group, consulting, consulting firm, consulting firms list, Management Consulting, McKinsey, Melbourne, strategy consulting, Sydney

30 replies on “Strategy and general business consulting firms in Australia 2012”

thanks, I will move to Melbourne from NYC and was looking for an overview like that.

This is a great work. I am starting out a consulting coy focusing on Human Resources and Business Development Management Services for Small and Medium size Businesses in Africa. I came online looking for coys for benchmarking,what i got is pleasant and very useful.

A good job.

I will be back

Chris Owojori
+2348056447636

Great work Tom.

You are a champion, Tom. I am looking for a non-consulting position in a consultancy firm and you made my job search task easy. I will write back to you with my progress.
Excellent work
Helanath

Thanks Helanath, you’ve made my day! I am very happy that you’ve found this information useful.

This is brilliant!
Thanks a lot Tom. This is really good particularly the office locations!!

Thanks very much Tom. I am looking to break into this industry in Sydney and this site is a great starting point. Well Done!

Now thats what i call precise n accurate!!..Great job Tom!

Hi Tom,

This is such a good way to start my search! I am looking for a career break in Sydney and this list will help me get started. Well done and thanks for sharing your efforts. We need more generous people like you in this world:)

David- have you had luck in your search? I’m based in Sydney too and keen to know how your going? Hopefully all well?

-Rebecca

Hey Tom, I’m from Canada was looking for employment with an international consultancy after graduation from university. I found my current job through this list, thanks so much.

curious as to why PwC is not mentioned at ALL on your site with respect to consutling firms in general, in aust etc.

-Tom

Tom,

Thanks for the comment, good question! That would seem to be an oversight on my part. The omission probably ocurred because PwC in Australia has a strong reputation for accounting and when I was thinking about business consulting firms, I simply overlooked them.

I will add PwC to the list.

Cheers,
Tom

that’s what i figuired, however i thought about pwc consulting, their consulting arm that was sold to ibm GBS. curious to hear your thoughts / rants about it as you’ve ranked deloitte and accenture pretty high up.

-Tom.

Hi Tom

Appeciate your efforts in compiling the list. Do you have an updated version

Secondly where are the boutique consultancies in Australia on your list, and who did you see as the major players in this category?

I welcome your thoughts

Regards

Vic Hodge
Head of Consulting
Pacific Micromarketing

Hi Tom,
Your list has saved me a lot of time and allowed me to refine my prospect list.
Thanks
Anthony

Great job Tom! The information is precise and very useful.

Great site. Good SEO as it ranked 1 on my search too. I noticed some consultancies not mentioned in Australia. Can I respectfully suggest them:
Edgar Dunn (US based)
Partners in Performance
Third Horizon
Black Dot
All the best with the site.
Cameron

Hi Tom,

Great list, The Litmus Group with offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Singapore and Brisbane would be a good addition to this list.

Cheers – Julian.

ohhh this is really great! I am looking for this type of consulting firms in australia ..thanks!

Thanks so much Tom this is extremely helpful

A friend of mine who is an Engineer really wants to try Consulting, this list has greatly aided us. And now the hard task of finding graduate employment after the graduate apps have closed!

Sash

Glad you found the list helpful, Sash!

Consider joining the consulting forum, to discuss your ideas, thoughts and questions with other people passionate about consulting.

Best, Tom.

By the way, not sure if you are aware Tom, but I believe Booz & Co and Booz Allen Hamilton are now separate entities.

Regards
Dan

Hey Tom,

Terrific blog, much appreciated! I am a penultimate year law student and I am really interested in getting some work experience in strategy consulting over the summer. I am concerned that my marks (mid-credit average) rule out any prospect of getting work experience with most (if not all) of the firms listed. Is this a realistic assumption, and if so, what advice, if any, would you have for someone in my position?

David,

Thanks for your question.

Top consulting firms are looking for people with impressive credentials, and strong marks are definitely one of the things they are looking for. For some firms (e.g. McKinsey) marks will be more important than other (e.g. Deloitte). Of all the firms in the list, the Classic Global firms are probably the least likely to care about average marks.

I suggest you play up the things you’ve got. If you are studying at a top law school then you can play on that. If you have impressive extra-curricular achievements, then you can play on those also. Emphasise anything that makes you stand out from the crowd, and would make them want to speak with you.

What about Partners In Performance (PIP) ?
Silly name but with 300 people they have a good rep, especially in the heavy industry space, and are Australian based and owned. Tons of projects, usually at the strategy, operations level. Technology doesn’t seem to be their thing.

One of my university colleagues works there and loves it, but he has been busy, which always makes things better.

I work at a major Aus bank and we were impressed by the team that came to talk to us, so I thought about approaching them. I am doing research on PIP, which is how I came across this site.

Is there a reason you don’t have them listed here? Is that a good or bad indicator?

Hoosier,

Thanks for your message.

From memory, I considered their profile and did not believe they focused much on strategy and so excluded them from the list. I will take another look at them.