The management and strategy consulting industry provides services and products to help businesses establish and improve their corporate strategy, marketing and sales, organizational design, and process and operations management. Management and strategy consultants also advise companies on their human resources systems, financial management, logistics, and information technology strategy. According to the market research group IBISWorld, the U.S. management consulting industry generated upwards of $259 billion in 2019, and had a compound annual growth rate of about 3.4 percent from 2014 to 2019. This growth is expected to continue in the years to come.

According to findings from an annual survey by Vault.com, the top 10 consulting firms in 2019 were McKinsey & Company; Bain & Company; The Boston Consulting Group Inc.; Deloitte Consulting LLP; Oliver Wyman; Putnam Associates; EY-Parthenon; PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services LLC; Bridgespan Group; and Accenture. As of 2019, the companies that have the largest marketing share in the management consulting industry are Accenture PLC and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited. There are more than 774,107 management consulting businesses in the United States, employing nearly 1.7 million people.

The management and strategy consulting industry is relatively new compared to other industries, with origins in the late 1800s and early 1900s. At the turn of the 20th century, the proliferation of machinery in the U.S. to speed up manufacturing and mass production made companies realize they needed to have efficient operations to improve sales and revenue. They hired consultants to analyze their business operations, including worker productivity, in an effort to improve manufacturing efficiency, maintain and increase customers and consumers, and increase their profitability. Among the oldest, and still in operation, consulting firms is McKinsey & Company, established in 1926 by James O. McKinsey, a form...