P&Q’s Must Reads: New Consulting Firm Ranking: Bain Tops MBB Rivals

Hello everyone  — Welcome back to Poets&Quants’ Must Reads, a quick, digestible recap of the top business school news, sponsored by CentreCourt, P&Q’s virtual admission events.  

I’m your host, Kristy Bleizeffer, and I’ll be highlighting the most important P&Q stories you might have missed. So, let’s get to it.  

No. 1: New Consulting Firm Ranking: Bain Tops MBB Rivals  

Management Consulted has crowned Bain & Company as the top consulting firm in the world.  Not surprisingly, it rated McKinsey & Company and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) as the runners-up. Oliver Wyman and PwC’s Strategy& round out the top five. 

This year’s ranking, released last month, represents the first time that Management Consulted has truly ranked firms rather than featuring the top players. 

See how the big consulting firms stacked up in the first full-fledged ranking, now in our trending tab. 

No. 2: Duke Fuqua Names Mary Frances Luce As Dean 

The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University has chosen continuity to lead it into its next chapter. 

Mary Frances Luce, who has served as interim dean since August 1, 2024, has been formally appointed dean of Fuqua. Luce, who succeeds Bill Boulding will begin her term April 1. 

It is a milestone moment for the school. Luce becomes the first Fuqua alumna to serve as dean. 

Read more about the new dean and her career now, from our homepage. 

No. 3: Nominate Your Favorite Business School Professor Under The Age Of 40 

Attention business students, faculty, alumni, and administrators: Nominations for Poets&Quants’ annual Best 40-Under-40 are now open! And, this year, the honor is open to more innovate business professors from around the world. 

Beginning for 2026’s list, we have expanded the honor beyond the MBA to include faculty teaching across graduate business programs – from MiMs to specialized master’s degrees in finance and analytics to newer programs centered on AI and emerging technologies. 

You’ll find the full eligibility guidelines and the nomination form in this article, which you can find in our news tab.  

No. 4: Our Weekly Round Up of News You Can Use 

No matter where you are in your MBA journey, we bring several helpful stories for you this week. 

First up: 10 Tough MBA Interview Questions & How To Handle Them. Find this valuable insight on our homepage. 

 Next: 8 Critical Questions To Ask Yourself Before Taking The MBA Plunge.  

You’ll find this article in our admission’s hub.

 Finally, also in our admission hub: The Top MBA Admissions Consultants Of 2025. Don’t forget this list in your search for an MBA consultant to help you get into the school of your dreams.  

And, that’s it for this week’s Must Reads recap.  

 I also want to alert school seekers to our events tab from our main menu. There, you’ll find all the upcoming admissions events for a range of degrees and programs including full-time and online MBAs, specialized masters, entrepreneurship and more. Registration is free. 

Again, I’m Kristy Bleizeffer, and you can join me next week, right here, for a recap of what’s important in the world of business education. Thanks for listening. 

 

© Copyright 2026 Poets & Quants. All rights reserved. This article may not be republished, rewritten or otherwise distributed without written permission. To reprint or license this article or any content from Poets & Quants, please submit your request HERE.