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INNOVATION

In G&A, many companies are can help identify the substantial and sustainable
taking a fresh look at their changes required for the post–Covid-19 world. It
will allow companies to shape their strategy and
“desired cost structure-right- investment posture in an industry and market
sizing real estate holdings context, differentially investing to become “best in
for the new reality of a cost” for low-value-added capabilities and “best in
class” for capabilities that can give them a compe-
permanent shift to work titive advantage. By taking a today-forward/future-
from home back approach to zero-based redesign (ZBR), they
optimize current operations while also developing
future productivity applications (see the Bain Brief
In G&A, many companies are taking a fresh look at “Radical Change through Zero-Based Redesign”).
their desired cost structure—right-sizing real estate
holdings for the new reality of a permanent shift to To help them accelerate out of the downturn, com-
work from home, for panies can use the fi ve big themes to define the
example. Morgan Stanley’s CEO reported that the ideal end state and specific targets in their ZBR
bank has “proven we can operate with no foot- efforts. They assess how those themes will affect
print.” Tata Consultancy Services announced that their customers, competitors and thus the com-
75% of its employees would permanently work pany itself, which will inform their bold aspirations
from home by 2025. (The industry average was in the new world.
20% before the crisis.) Companies across industri-
es will improve resilience by pursuing global busi-
ness services that As companies retool for a future
protect them from disruption, relying on digitaliza-
tion and automation to achieve more value faster. that will look nothing like the
“past, a zero-based methodology
In procurement, the best companies will improve can help identify the substantial
spending visibility and reduce spending in direct
and indirect categories, rethinking their purchasing and sustainable changes
strategy to avoid supply chain disruptions. That required for the post–Covid-19
means consolidating spending by determining the
true number of suppliers required and potential world
discounts from suppliers hungry for business, for
example.
Companies begin the ZBR process by assessing
In cash management, bold companies are mana- their current state of affairs—not only in terms of
ging cash up front to make sure they’re in a strong the numbers (P&L and balance sheet) but, crucially,
position to accelerate through the recovery while what they learned during the crisis that they can le-
investing in retooling for the future. verage going forward. They will identify up to three
Cash management is not only a reflexive initial cri- areas in which they can invest to outperform com-
sis response. Many companies now see the need petitors, and then decide where to radically reduce
to build stronger cash management, net working cost. The zero-based approach also enables them
capital optimization and capital deployment capa- to reduce complexity and chart the most effective
bilities for the future. That requires eliminating ma- path toward increased automation, building a new
nual, uncoordinated cash management processes set of capabilities to ensure costs do not come
and implementing new ones that support real-time, back.
rapid decision making and accurate forecasting.
Most healthy companies don’t have a culture fo- When a travel company rethought its business and
cused on cash management. It’s a new mindset, economic model to better meet future customer
requiring new visibility and a new set of behaviors. and supplier needs, it redefined essential roles
for the new world. It simplified the service delivery
structure and used a zero-based approach to rea-
How to do it lign customer and market priorities. Similarly, when
a bank defi ned its retooling initiatives early in its
crisis response, it also made sure that future re-
Zero-based thinking. The clean-sheet appro- covery actions matched the company’s new, long-
ach has helped companies across many business term strategy. It shifted a signifi cant portion of its
cycles radically reform cost structures and fully workers to permanent work from home, investing
redesign their businesses to support their stra- in the required IT and building its recovery plans
tegy. Now, as they retool for a future that will look so that only critical workers would come back to
nothing like the past, a zero-based methodology the office.

34 34 Impiantistica Italiana - Settembre-Ottobre 2020