Chris Zook

Chris Zook is a partner in Bain & Company's Amsterdam office. He has been co-head of the Global Strategy practice for the past 15 years. During his more than 25 years at Bain, Chris has specialized in helping companies find new sources of profitable growth.

A best-selling author, he is currently working on a sixth book, "The Founder's Mentality" (spring 2014).

He is also the author of "Repeatability: Build Enduring Businesses for a World of Constant Change," published by Harvard Business Review Press in 2012. "Repeatability" presents an argument for simple, great repeatable models to realize enduring, profitable growth. In 2010, Chris published "Profit from the Core: A Return to Growth in Turbulent Times" (Harvard Business Review Press), an updated edition of his 2001 best-selling business book, "Profit from the Core: Growth Strategy in an Era of Turbulence," which offers an approach to assessing and making the most of core business opportunities. Chris’s sequel, "Beyond the Core: Expand your Market without Abandoning your Roots" (Harvard Business School Press, 2004), was voted one of the top 100 business books ever written. It examines how companies that have fully exploited their core businesses can systematically and successfully expand into related or adjacent areas. "Unstoppable: Finding Hidden Assets to Renew the Core and Fuel Profitable Growth" (Harvard Business School Press, 2007) completes the series and examines what to do when your growth formula of the past begins to approach its limits, demanding that your company change its strategic focus and redefine its core.

These “growth trilogy” books have received widespread critical support. "Beyond the Core" was recognized by The Economist as one of the top five business and economic books in the year it was published. Unstoppable was identified by The Financial Times as one of the notable business books of the year. Based on his work on how companies grow, Chris was recently included by the Times of London in its biannual list of the 50 Most Influential Global Business Thinkers.

Chris’s other Harvard Business Review credits include, "How to find your next core business," "Open-market innovation" and "How to think strategically in a recession." He has also been published in The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, The New York Times, Fortune, Forbes and BusinessWeek.

Chris is a frequent speaker at a wide range of international and business forums including the World Economic Forum, the World Knowledge Forum, the Forbes’ CEO Conference, the BusinessWeek CEO Conference and the Economist Summit.

He received a bachelor of arts in mathematics and economics from Williams College, an M.Phil. in economics from Exeter College, Oxford University, and earned master’s and doctorate degrees from Harvard University.