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Hidden Champions of the Twenty-First Century: The Success Strategies of Unknown World Market Leaders

Hidden Champions of the Twenty-First Century: The Success Strategies of Unknown World Market LeadersAuthor: Hermann Simon
Publisher: Springer
Category: Book

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Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars 7 reviews

Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 402
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.1

ISBN: 0387981462
Dewey Decimal Number: 338.74
EAN: 9780387981468

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description

What do Tetra aquarium supplies, Elector-Nite sensors, and Nissha touch panels have in common? They are typical "hidden champions," medium-sized, unknown companies (with annual revenues under $4 billion) that have quietly, under the radar, become world market leaders in their respective industries. Hermann Simon has been studying these hidden champions for over 20 years, and in this sequel to his worldwide bestseller, Hidden Champions, he explores the dramatic impact of globalization on these companies and their outstanding international success. Going deep inside more than a thousand hidden champions around the world, Simon reveals the common patterns, behaviors, and approaches that make these companies successful, and, in many cases, able to sustain world market leadership for generations, despite intense competition, financial pressures, and constantly evolving market dynamics. In the tradition of In Search of Excellence, Built to Last, and Good to Great, Simon identifies the factors in business operations, customer service and marketing, innovation, human resources management, organizational design, leadership, and strategy that separate these outstanding performers from the rest of the pack – and from the large corporations of the day. In the process, he provides a glimpse behind the curtains of many secretive companies who buck today’s management fads, and succeed instead through such common-sense strategies as focusing on core capabilities, delivering real value to the customer, establishing long-term relationships, innovating continuously, rewarding employees for performance, decentralized operations, and developing an unparalleled global presence. Hidden champions teach us that good management means doing many small things better than the competition—quietly, with determination, commitment, and never-ending stamina. And in turbulent economic times, the hidden champions represent an antidote to the short-sighted and excessive practices that have brought many corporate giants crashing down. The hidden champions provide invaluable lessons for all stakeholders in the business community, from entrepreneurs to corporate managers, investors to employees, union organizers to regulators, advanced and emerging countries and may well serve as the new role models for sustainable economic growth in the globalized world of the future.




Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7



5 out of 5 stars Fantastic read with great insights   September 16, 2009
Steve Roberts (Boston)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

Hermann Simon's new book on "Hidden Champions of the 21st Century" is a truly fascinating account of how some relatively unknown companies have managed to become world market leaders while defying many of the rules and principles that large corporations live by. The corporate world can learn a great deal from these examples of global entrepreneurial leadership. The book is a must for anyone who is trying to gain an edge over competition. The style of the book is also great fun, it's simply a highly enjoyable read and in my mind comparable to other business best sellers such as "Built to Last" or "Blue Ocean Strategy".


5 out of 5 stars You won't learn this stuff in business school   November 3, 2009
Shiva Thiagarajan
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

Meticulously researched and lucidly presented, Hermann Simon's latest builds on and extends his previous body of work to uncover and explore demonstrably successful management practices that allow companies of all shapes, sizes, geographies and industries to rise above their peers. This is a fascinating read for managers, consultants, MBA students and anyone else with an interest in business theory or history.


5 out of 5 stars Excellent   November 16, 2009
C. Wernz (VA, USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Hidden Champions, which are companies like Bobcat, play a key role in our flat, i.e., globalized world. The are market leaders, innovators, employers. Simon explores and studies hidden champions, which drive innovation and represent the reliable core of our economies.
The book is an excellent study, entertaining to read and great introduction to anybody in industry and/or academia.



5 out of 5 stars A systematic and insightful analysis   November 26, 2009
Todd A. Orenstein
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Hermann Simon dissects in "Hidden Champions" the strategies, operations, and leadership of some of the world's most successful companies-- the majority of which are likely unknown to most readers. Meticulous in his analysis, Simon's presentation is marked by clarity and order. "Hidden Champions" would be an eye-opener for academics and business leaders, and a stimulating foray into business analysis for students, consultants, and other stakeholders with an interest in the field.


5 out of 5 stars Focus, Quality, Customer, Value, Global - Learn from the world   November 21, 2009
Steven Forth (Cambridge MA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

One of my learning goals for the past few years has been to get a deeper understanding of successful businesses from around the world and to see what I can learn from these companies that I can apply to my own companies. Something of a nomad in my youth, I first engaged in business while living in Japan, so my early models of successful businesses were all Japanese. But I moved back to North America more than 20 years ago and for the past three-years I have worked at a leading strategy consulting firm in Cambridge MA. Working at this company I realized that American models, frameworks and assumptions guided most of the work on business models and practices and that it takes a conscious effort to seek out models from other countries. This was the context for my decision to read Hermann Simon's book.

I was richly rewarded. Dr. Simon provides a distinctly German perspective on what makes for a successful company, and he does this by studying what he calls "hidden champions", relatively small companies (say $250 million to $4 billion in revenues) that dominate their markets globally. Many of these companies come from Northern Europe where they leverage deep traditions of superb engineering, but there are examples from around the world. These companies seem to share some common characteristics: a narrow focus on a global market, technical leadership, close customer relationships, quality and value leadership (not the same thing as price leadership), strong internal cultures, long-term orientation. I personally was only aware of about 20% of the companies he discusses, and reading this book introduced me to many gems that are doing very interesting things: fabric company JAB Anstoetz (several members of my family are textile geeks so this was a good one for me), the lightening company Zumtobel, Burton Snowboards (OK, I know lots of people that ride the boards, but I knew little about the company), Enercon in wind energy (surprised I did not know this company), Givaudan and Fermenich in scents ... there are many fascinating companies discussed in this book.

As I grow my own company (we are less than a year old as I write this) I will put in practice many of the ideas in this book: define a narrow market that we will grow and dominate, stay close to customers, go global early, strive for value leadership (value being the differentiated economic benefit we bring our customers), and build a strong company culture.

If you are looking for a tonic to the stream of US-centric management books, this is an excellent place to begin.


Showing reviews 1-5 of 7




entrepreneurship  germany  global perspectives  management  management science