My sense is the smaller consulting outfits don't survive as well in the current climate. E.g., Monitor was eventually bought by Deloitte after years of resisting the overture. Roland Berger tried to expand in Southeast Asia but eventually pulled back from some market they were trying out. Others try to serve Southeast Asia via remote control, but without presence here, find it hard to win business.

MBBs can weather storms better because they are essentially generalist firms. They serve pretty much everyone that wants their service and can pay their rates. So when one industry is in downturn, they can serve others. Boutiques that choose only certain industries to cater to must do so carefully because focusing on the wrong verticals means a dry pipeline. Oliver Wyman is the only one I know that's been pretty successful as a rather large "boutique". This is because they choose to concentrate on Financial Service sector... which is fast becoming a crowded place.