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NOMINATE FOR ZERO DISTANCE AWARDS 2022

About the awards

In 2020 the Business Ecosystem Alliance (BEA) launched the Zero Distance Awards.  The awards identify and celebrate the work of organizations throughout the world in eliminating the distance between their employees, their operations and their customers.  The BEA believes that ecosystems are a dynamic means of bridging the gap between organizations and their customers.  Each year, BEA acknowledges the groundbreaking work of ten organizations in seeking to achieve Zero Distance.

About Zero Distance

The concept of Zero Distance was introduced by the Haier Group. It emphasises the connection between the business and the end-user or customer. This has become central to the management model of the Internet of Things era.

In 2015, Professor Dennis Campbell published “Zero Distance to Users” as a Harvard Business School case.  He taught the case in the “High Performance Organization and Cultural Design” class. From the case, the principles of Zero Distance are clear:

Having a management philosophy that allows the organization to proactively react to newly identified user needs

An organizational design and processes that eliminate organizational barriers that separate employees from end users

The use of user-focused and independent teams that can move fast and smoothly within the organization

End-to-end accountability for the experience of end users is taken by the company and/or independent teams

The systematic collection, storage and use of end user data in order to increase value for end users

Commitment to the ecosystem principles of openness, equality, co-creation and co-sharing.

Winners 2021
Winners 2020
Winners 2021
Blue Cross Shield of Massachusetts (US)
With 3,800 employees the healthcare and health insurance company has created its Well-B Innovation Center, an ecosystem to proactively identify health care problems and opportunities. This is supported via a human-centered design approach which includes direct and frequent consumer engagement when understanding problems, coming up with ideas,  prototyping concepts, and testing solutions.
Robert Bosch Power Tools (Germany)
Committed to empowering its users to build better lives, it started the biggest transformation in the company’s history in 2016 with the goal of transforming the Robert Bosch Power Tools division into a user-centric organization based on agile principles. It follows a holistic definition of agility embracing leadership, a collaboration culture, organisation, processes and methods as well as strategy. All underlined by a strong focus on communication internally as well as to and from customers.
Cipla (India)
At the beginning of the pandemic, the pharmaceutical company came up with the concept of Healthcare Superstars (HSS). Its aim was to reimagine the regular webinars conducted for doctors. Multiple surveys with doctors and internal stakeholders, as well as competition mapping, led to the genesis of HSS. The first six episodes helped Cipla reach more than 7.5 million people through social media, creating a database of over 11,000 doctors from 60+ countries. 
Mammut Sports (Switzerland) 
The outdoor company providing high-quality products and unique brand experiences for fans of mountain sports around the world has focused on building digital ecosystems. It has forged strong partnerships and striven to reduce the environmental footprint of its products and processes. Mammut’s goal is “to create a world moved by mountains”. This covers both internal operations and co-creating with others: to work, to inspire staff and partners to come up with new ideas. 
MAQE (Thailand) 
A professional services dedicated to (literally) changing how the world works. MAQE’s operating principles include: commitment to openness, equality, co-creation and co-sharing; the use of user-focused and independent teams; the systematic collection, storage and use of end user data to increase value for end users; organizational design and processes that eliminate barriers separating employees from end users; and end-to-end accountability for the experience of end users. 
Resurgia Health Solutions (US) 
Resurgia is on a mission to transform medical care and inspire hope by providing medical care to home bound patients in their homes. Resurgia’s diverse team of clinicians and support staff, swap roles to provide an opportunity for all to spend time with each other to learn about what they all do. Resurgia preaches context, not control. Its empowered team receives context behind decisions through quarterly updates, weekly metrics and an open door to leadership.
 
Security Scorecard (US) 
A cybersecurity firm with 361 employees, SecurityScorecard is the global leader in cybersecurity ratings with tens of millions of companies continuously rated. The company believes that every organization has the universal right to understand their true cybersecurity posture. With that mission in mind, trust and transparency is key. SecurityScorecard has the industry’s first publicly-available Trust Portal, providing transparency into it’s ratings methodology and delivering insights into how it aligns with industry standards. 
Viisi Mortgages (Netherlands)
Founded in 2010 with the aim of transforming the financial sector. It now has 60 employees organized around a simple “golden rule”: treat others as you wish to be treated yourself.  Its management philosophy is also built on trust, radical transparency, elected leadership, and self-managing employees who enjoy zero distance to their customers.  Viisi believes that its clients are the best ambassadors for the company and its services. 
 
WATCH THE ZERO DISTANCE AWARDS 2021
Winners 2020

For proving zero distance to customers in the consulting world. The mission of Centigo is to practice business wellness as a philosophy. They practice zero distance by being a bossless organization.

For pioneering the micro-enterprises model in a large corporation. Which they see as a “decisive action to create and drive a customer obsessed mindset in the organization.”

For implementing the Rendanheyi philosophy into the company. Zero Distance has unlocked business opportunities that are propelling GEA’s growth, through its “owner is boss philosophy” paired with its House of Brands approach.”

For proving the strength and resilience of the Rendanheyi model in times of crisis.

The London-based training company Happy has a management philosophy that allows the organization to proactively react to newly identified user needs. Founder and Chief Happiness Officer Henry Stewart sees his role as not to be the expert, making decisions, but to create the framework for others to make those decisions as close to the front line as possible and not need upward approval. The experience of end-users is the responsibility of all staff.

Haier’s Internet of Clothing has created a variety of smart scenarios including clothes washing, care, storage, matching, purchase, and recycling, built a full-process ecosystem, and realized Zero Distance to users.

For putting 40,000 weavers directly in contact with end-users in the western world, 42-year journey that has been able to transform the lives of 40,000 women weavers. 

For its ‘no managers model,’ and creating a group of 100 companies with their customers. Based in the Basque region, the company has transformed over 80 businesses in the last 15 years, resulting in 50 to 200% growth and up to 5 times higher profitability. Under its model, productivity soars and salaries are up to 40% higher than the national average.

For exploring zero distance to customers to reinvent the steel industry. Severstal has introduced zero distance into the highly conservative industry of metallurgy, taking steps to reduce the distance between employees and customers.

The Think Tank Unit spearheads the PPP (Public, Private and People) initiative in Oman, which aims to reduce the distance between the three main parts of the national ecosystem – government, business, and citizens.

Led by Dr Ali Qassim Jawad, the initiative, which began in 2014, takes a three-fold approach, using: Dialogue – to build a collaborative spirit and mindset between the three parts by aligning their misaligned agendas; real projects – to build tangible win-win-win situations on the ground; and initiatives: to nudge the government toward competitiveness, the private sector toward innovation, and citizens toward entrepreneurship.

What does it mean to win a Zero Distance Award?

“For us, Zero Distance means having no barriers for front-line staff to interact directly with our clients and being able to respond as they wish without needing any approval. We certainly plan to continue to ensure there are no organisational barriers that separate our people from our clients.” 

Henry Stewartfounder and Chief Happiness Officer, Happy

“It’s a great moment for Jaipur Rugs to win the Zero Distance Award and a testimony to our philosophy of connecting the weavers directly with the end consumers. I feel more confident than ever that our vision of democratizing the carpet value chain, by eliminating the middlemen to empower both the weavers and the end consumers, has been recognized by the Business Ecosystem Alliance.”

Nand Kishore Chaudharyfounder and CEO of Jaipur Rugs

“Winning the Zero Distance Award means that our transformation is working. It was only four years ago when we read for the first time about Rendanheyi and its Zero Distance principle. In 2020, we confirmed the power of Zero Distance as a business driver that’s enabling our very successful performance. We have taken the Zero Distance concept to a totally new level, applying it to every single angle of our work.” 

Kevin NolanCEO, GE Appliances

“Winning the Zero Distance Award is a source of great pride. External recognition is always a boost for confidence and a sign that our organization is moving in the right direction. We have been pushing for a customer-obsessed mindset in our organization. Zero Distance means that we are putting the customer at the heart of our organization and that we are more agile and more responsive to the customer’s requests and needs.”

João Domingosvice president and head of Western Europe, Fujitsu Europe

“Government needs to improve the way it engages with citizens, taking the lead from business best practice. Ideas such as Zero Distance from customers, organizational agility and the lean start-up movement all have lessons for government. Taken to its logical conclusion this might even mean that every citizen has their own account manager – even if that account manager is an algorithm or AI-inspired bot or avatar.” 

Dr Ali JawadThink Tank Unit, at the Diwan the Royal Court of the Sultanate of Oman
NOMINATE FOR ZERO DISTANCE AWARDS 2022
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