About Jim
Expertise
Jim Harris is a partner based in Bain & Company's Washington, D.C. office. He co-leads the firm's Global Aerospace, Defense & Government Services practice.
Jim's A&D work has covered commercial and defense OEMs, Tier I/II suppliers, MRO providers and major airlines, as well as several government services players.
He has led engagements across strategy, M&A, organization and performance improvement. He brings deep functional expertise across the value stream, including product development, engineering, planning, procurement/supply chain and manufacturing.
Jim joined Bain in 1997. Earlier in his career, he worked in marketing for Dell.
Jim received an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, where he graduated as a Tuck Scholar. He also earned a BA from Rice University in biochemistry, chemistry and economics.
Cost reduction is a challenging topic for many companies, but especially for those in aerospace and defense. Jim Harris describes the benefits of using zero-based redesign and zero-based budgeting to focus on the real requirements to running a business as efficiently as possible.
Recent Insights
- “Inconvenient Truths Behind Sustainable Aviation Fuel,” Aviation Week, July 2022, Article
- “The Engineering Talent Crunch: A Solution Is Closer than You Think ,” Brief, March 2022
- “Decarbonizing Commercial Aviation,” Video, March 2022
- “Reducing Carbon Emissions from Propulsion in Commercial Aviation,” Infographic, August 2021
- “Jim Harris: Zero-Based Cost Reduction in Aerospace and Defense,” Video, December 2018
In the News
- “Demand-Based Measures May Quickly Curb Aviation’s CO2 Emissions,” Aviation Week, March 2022, Aviation
- “Melrose’s bid for GKN raises questions about Britain’s defense industry,” The Economist, January 2018, Aviation
- “Uber's lofty plan: Flying taxis in L.A. ,” Los Angeles Times, November 2017, Aviation
- “We won't be flying in electric planes for at least 15 years, says industry expert,” CNBC, October 2017, Aerospace, Defense & Government Services
- “Boeing buys company that's developing flying taxis for Uber,” Chicago Tribune, October 2017, Aviation