The Big Zero: The Transformation of ZBB into a Force for Growth, Innovation and Competitive Advantage

Do you want to achieve startup speed at enterprise scale? Growth. It's what every company strives for. But it's become more and more elusive as companies struggle to hit their projected growth rates in an increasingly competitive market. While zero-based budgeting (ZBB) has been wielded for decades to cut costs, it falls short when it comes to spurring growth. But a zero-based mindset (ZBx) does that and more. ZBx facilitates forensic oversight into resource allocation that funnels savings back into growth initiatives and encourages new sources of innovation. The Big Zero shows how a ZBx approach focuses on agility over austerity, visibility over guesswork and the future over the past to fuel growth and competitiveness.

About the Author :
Kris Timmermans (Author) Kris Timmermans is a Senior Managing Director who heads Accenture Strategy's supply chain, operations and sustainability practices. He also leads Accenture's ZBx initiative globally. For more than two decades, he has helped clients define cost and operations transformations that create competitive advantage for their organizations. He is based in Brussels. Chris Roark (Author) Chris Roark is a Managing Director and leads Accenture's competitiveness and zero-based platforms for North America. He works with consumer package goods, industrial and retail clients to create enterprise value through implementation of growth strategies, operating model designs and structural cost resets. He is based in Chicago. Rodrigo Abdalla (Author) For over fifteen years, Rodrigo Abdalla has been spreading the zero-based mindset across the globe in a broad spectrum of sectors. Besides ZBx, his experience includes M&A and corporate turnaround. Based in London, he also acts as an angel investor, board member, and senior adviser to PEs and startups.

Review :
The Big Zero catapults innovation to a new level - and the timing couldn't be better. In my teaching at Harvard, I've found the biggest challenge for senior-most executives is steadily protecting and improving current business models, while pursuing the break-thru innovation that leads to new levels of value creation. Kris Timmermans elevates the well-proven strategy of Zero-Based Budgeting by expanding its dimensions and illuminating a new path forward for leaders who are not only looking to increase efficiency, but also striving to invest smartly in growth. The Big Zero is required reading for executives in all sectors that want to survive and thrive in this turbulent world If you are looking for a framework (or mindset) that defines the future for leading change in the next decade and beyond look no further. The Big Zero breaks the mold on almost all current paradigms. While incorporating many of the components that we know to be critical - from transforming culture and improving agility to leveraging digital and the benefits of AI, robotics and the like - it also dismisses the old school definitions of continuous improvement, zero based budgeting, and benchmarking. This is a brilliantly refreshing perspective - one you will want your entire team to read and discuss The book does a superb job describing how old ZBB techniques have evolved into a management approach that is fit for purpose in today's dynamic business environment. The authors explain how good costs need to be separated from bad costs. Recognizing that smart investments can deliver benefits for business, society and the planet hits the mark, and is in line with ABInbev's sustainability commitments Zero-based budgeting is a proven technique for reducing costs to competitively-advantaged levels. With ZBx - a zero based mindset - the closed-loop process focuses the entire organization and engages senior management in the journey. The Big Zero clearly portrays the six steps necessary to successfully implement ZBx. However, cost savings alone do not guarantee success. As important as managing costs, ZBx creates a mindset in the organization to question historical norms across many areas. As described in the book, applying these new ways of thinking and reinvesting savings behind clearly articulated growth strategies is what will lead to sustainable profitable growth A zero-based mindset is improving our productivity and effectiveness in brand and marketing investments as we reduce the cost of advertising production and increase investment in media channels. Zero-based principles are also eliminating waste in those areas where we have tended to over-saturate traditional media channels, as well as reshaping our overheads to be future-fit