Brian Harris Email & Phone Number

Greater Chicago Area

Most recently, a Managing Director and Partner with Alvarez & Marsal with more than 30 years experience helping global retail, hospitality and leisure, and other consumer service industry companies transform their performance at pace, both as an executive and a consultant. Throughout career, have served dozens of Global 1000 clients in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. Co-Founder of and leader in the firm’s Corporate Transformation Services (CTS) Practice Leader in the firm’s Consumer & Retail Group (CRG) with distinctive expertise and experience leading broad scale enterprise transformations and turnarounds. Specialize in helping retail, hospitality and leisure, and other consumer service industry clients shape their strategy, strengthen their customer value proposition and brand positioning, and transform their customer experience, operational execution, organizational effectiveness and results at an accelerated pace. Possess deep expertise in enterprise transformation and turnarounds, strategy, brand positioning and brand delivery, customer centricity, omni-channel strategy and operations, application of Lean in service industries, SG&A strategy and cost reduction, store operations, supply chain, organizational effectiveness, and activist defense. Have advised over a third of the world’s 50 largest retailers and numerous other retail sector leaders spanning all formats and categories and half of the world’s 10 largest hospitality and leisure companies. Led transformations that have delivered cumulative multiple billions of dollars in both EBITDA impact and enterprise value

Greater Chicago Area

Partnered with and advised senior executives of industry leading public and privately held global retail, hospitality and leisure, and other consumer services companies to define strategic agenda, strengthen brand positioning and customer proposition, improve operational execution and organizational effectiveness, and design and execute performance transformation efforts.Led multiple broadscale performance transformation efforts for global 1000 retail; hospitality, leisure and gaming; and other consumer service business.

Based in both Chicago and London during 10 year career, consulted multinational clients in retail, hospitality and leisure, retail banking and personal financial services, consumer travel, transportation and distribution, healthcare, telecom and consumer products industries on strategy and growth, brand positioning and brand delivery, customer experience, operations effectiveness, supply chain, mergers and acquisitions, post merger management, marketing, organization, performance ethic and cultural transformation. Co-Leader of the Firm’s Global Service Strategy and Operations Practice and Co-founder and Co-Leader of the European Service Strategy and Operations Practice. Leader in the Firm’s Global Retail and Hospitality and Leisure Practices; led the Firm’s Lean Retailing and Lean Hospitality knowledge building and client service initiatives to apply the principles of lean manufacturing to operations strategy and execution in service industries. Recognized as a McKinsey firm-wide expert in service strategy and operations, brand positioning and delivery, customer experience, customer satisfaction and loyalty, store operations, operations effectiveness, supply chain management, call center operations, front line performance, operationalizing new retail and hospitality concepts, and continuous improvement and performance transformation in consumer service businesses. Led multiple firm-wide knowledge building and client service initiatives.

Following several years of operational leadership roles of increasing responsibility, appointed Director of Quality for 5-Diamond flagship corporate HQ hotel of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company while playing a dual Corporate-level role on the Senior Leadership team that drove The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company’s multi-year transformation to a total quality enterprise and led the successful pursuit of the first Malcolm Baldrige Award ever won by a pure service organization. Following the Baldrige award, emerged as one of the company’s primary ambassadors as they fulfilled their mentorship responsibility, speaking at worldwide business conferences. Served on The Ritz-Carlton’s corporate new hotel opening team as the company quadrupled its international property portfolio.

Mba, Strategy, Marketing, Organization, Operations

Activities and Societies: F.C. Austin Scholar - recipient of Kellogg’s most distinctive merit scholarship based on demonstrated leadership.

Bachelor Of Science, Hotel Administration, Concentration In Strategy, Finance And Marketing