Comment by holdenc

It does seem strange, but here are some reasons why this happens:

- When you hire BCG or McKenzie to (for example) value a business segment or recommend an acquisition, their feedback can be touted as expert and unbiased.

- BCG will do whatever it takes to deliver what's asked, even if it's a banal Power Point. So the person who decided to hire them is taking a minimal risk by doing so.

- In many cases it's a chance for the client company to get insights on how competitors have solved similar problems. Albeit in the story everyone's right out of school, I've seen cases where a pharma company will hire a group from a place like BCG because they've also worked for a competitor.

- Lastly, it's a chance to work with some talented folks who might make good permanent hires at the client company.

Bottom line, is that this type of consulting is usually a huge waste of money. But it's also one of the only ways huge companies can get a group of talented degree-toting individuals to work on important temporary projects with the assurance that company will get exactly what it wants.