John Drzik of Mercer Oliver Wyman

Creating an elite boutique consulting firm and cultivating it into a global power is relatively simple.

Target your offerings to the top companies in a complex, highly regulated industry; hire the best people; and stick to your model. Executing those steps, particularly the last one, is where the difficulty arises, says Mercer Oliver Wyman president John Drzik.

"In the early days of a new firm, it's hard to attract business and people in a highly competitive market," he observes. "New boutique firms tend to go downmarket in terms of clients or people early-on in their existence. And it can be very difficult to rebuild an 'elite boutique' type of presentation if you haven't been working for the most challenging firms in the industry and hiring the best people." Mercer Oliver Wyman has been doing just that since its founding in 1984 by Alex Oliver and Bill Wyman (and a group of four Booz Allen consultants). And Drzik is quick to credit the founders.