Rankings

Based on our studies, we regularly publish rankings of the “best consultants” and the “best auditors” from the perspective of the decision-makers surveyed. For this purpose, we continuously talk to executives from major German companies – board members, heads of specialist departments, sponsors of consulting engagements, and project managers. Their experience and evaluations form the foundation for our rankings.

In the following we have compiled some of the most recent rankings for the leading management consultants, the most important specialist consultants and the major accounting firms. In order to keep the data as easily comprehensible and comparable as possible, we have chosen a uniform presentation in all rankings: 100 percent corresponds to the maximum achievable value and thus an excellent attribution of competence. The intervals between the consultants are not always statistically significant and should therefore be understood as a tendency statement.

Since it is our aim to identify those consultants who are perceived as particularly effective in the market, but not to discredit particular consultants, we have only listed the five best consultants in each category in all rankings.

We have compiled the most important questions and answers on a FAQ page for anyone who would like to find out more about the statistical and methodological basis of our rankings.

The leading management consultants

In this section, we focus on the most important management consultants in Germany (McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, Bain & Company, Oliver Wyman, Roland Berger, Strategy&, Kearney, AlixPartners and Alvarez & Marsal), the management consulting division of the leading IT consultant Accenture and the consulting divisions of the four major accounting firms (PwC, EY, KPMG and Deloitte).

WGMB Satisfaction Score

How satisfied are German managers with their consultants? We have surveyed many of them over the past ten years. A maximum of 500 points could be awarded for excellent projects. Here are the results over time.

Selected rankings

Last update: May 2023
(n = 1,004)

Strategic Planning
Boston Consulting Group 83%
McKinsey & Company 81%
Bain & Company 80%
Strategy& 70%
Oliver Wyman 68%
Operations & Performance
McKinsey & Company 82%
Boston Consulting Group 79%
Kearney 75%
Roland Berger 74%
AlixPartners 72%
Organization & Talent Management
McKinsey & Company 82%
Boston Consulting Group 80%
Strategy& 77%
Bain & Company 76%
Oliver Wyman 71%
Transformation
McKinsey & Company 82%
Boston Consulting Group 80%
AlixPartners 79%
Roland Berger 78%
Accenture 77%
Digitalization
Boston Consulting Group 81%
McKinsey & Company 79%
Accenture 77%
Deloitte 76%
Bain & Company 75%
ESG/Sustainability
McKinsey & Company 80%
Boston Consulting Group 79%
Oliver Wyman 71%
Bain & Company 68%
Strategy& 65%

Max = 100 % (excellent)

The most important specialist consultants

In this section, we look at medium-sized specialist consultancies that are less well known than the leading management consultants, but whose expertise in their field is certified by their clients as higher than that of the three “champions” McKinsey, BCG and Bain & Company. We refer to them as “hidden champions”.

Selected rankings

Last update: January 2024
(n = 1,055)

Purchasing & Procurement
Kerkhoff Consulting 81%
H&Z 81%
TARGUS Management Consulting 80%
McKinsey & Company 73%
Boston Consulting Group 71%
Engineering & Production
ROI-EFESO 83%
McKinsey & Company 79%
TARGUS Management Consulting 78%
Bain & Company 77%
Staufen 71%
Marketing
Batten & Company 83%
Simon - Kucher & Partners 79%
Bain & Company 77%
Boston Consulting Group 73%
McKinsey & Company 71%
Organization & Leadership
undconsorten 85%
McKinsey & Company 76%
Boston Consulting Group 75%
Roland Berger 73%
Bain & Company 69%
Data & Analytics
d-fine 85%
Deloitte 78%
Accenture 76%
Oliver Wyman 75%
McKinsey & Company 69%
Change Management
CPC 82%
undconsorten 81%
Boston Consulting Group 75%
McKinsey & Company 72%
Strategy& 65%

Max = 100 % (excellent)

The major accounting firms

In this section we look at the 25 audit firms with the highest turnover in Germany – including audit giants such as PwC, EY, KPMG and Deloitte as well as companies such as BDO, Rödl & Partner, Ebner Stolz and Baker Tilly.

Selected rankings

Last update: March 2022
(n = 406)

Audit
PwC 85%
Deloitte 83%
KPMG 82%
BDO 73%
Grant Thornton 65%
Tax
EY 85%
PwC 82%
KPMG 79%
Deloitte 73%
Rödl & Partner 67%
Management Consulting
PwC 87%
Deloitte 83%
KPMG 79%
EY 67%
RSM Ebner Stolz 65%
IT Consulting
KPMG 84%
Deloitte 84%
PwC 82%
EY 74%
BDO 62%
Transactions
EY 83%
PwC 82%
Deloitte 81%
KPMG 80%
RSM Ebner Stolz 61%
Restructuring
PwC 83%
Deloitte 77%
KPMG 73%
RSM Ebner Stolz 64%
Rödl & Partner 63%

Max = 100 % (excellent)