Review

From the reviews:

“Hermann Simon’s detailed study of Hidden Champions is phenomenal in its depth and rich coverage. These mid-size leaders carry lessons for large, medium, and small companies about the importance of focus, quality, service, innovation, and closeness to the customer, lessons that many of our largest Fortune 500 companies have forgotten.” (Philip Kotler, S. C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University)

“This book shows that the Hidden Champions of the 21st Century go their own ways. This exactly is their success secret.” (Hans Riegel, Managing Director and Co-Owner, Haribo)

“The Hidden Champions prove that even management in the 21^st Century should be based on healthy common sense. By improving upon the small things every day, a company can ascend to world market leadership.” (Reinhold Wuerth, Chairman of the Board, Wuerth Group, World Market Leader in Assembly Products)

“The Hidden Champions go their own way. The secret to their success is common sense, vision and flexibility – qualities that aren’t easy to find.” (The Wall Street Journal)

“In Simon’s viewpoint, resistance to management fads is a strength, not a weakness. For decades the best companies have been thriving by eschewing complexity, avoiding diversification and focusing on their core skills. The rest of the world is only beginning to catch up.” (The Economist)

“‘Hidden champions’ are virtually unknown to the public. … What is the secret to their success and uniqueness? Hermann Simon has been researching and dissecting these companies and their strategies for over 20 years. … The targets of hidden champions are aimed at growth and market leadership. … Hidden champions have created new competitive advantages in the form of advice and systems integration. … hidden champions of the 21st century follow their own path – and do so with more decisiveness and success than ever before.” (German American Trade, September-October, 2009)

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.

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