New books by Hermann Simon
(Springer, New York, 2009)
.png)
Newspaper columns blare the news daily. There is no doubt that we are struggling through a worldwide economic and financial crisis of a magnitude not witnessed since the Great Depression.
In this environment, fraught with danger, no company can afford to take a wait-and-see attitude. One hesitation or misstep can result in the rapid demise of a once stalwart enterprise. Even small miscalculations can topple mighty empires. The severity of the crisis demands that your company understand its causes, diagnose carefully, implement decisively and monitor constantly.
In Beat the Crisis, Hermann Simon offers 33 practical actions that any company can take immediately. Organized into broad categories (Changing Customer Needs, Sales and the Sales Force, Managing Offers and Prices and Services), Simon shows companies how to focus on the areas where emphatic action can have quick and maximum impact on corporate performance. Drawing from dozens of successful cases around the world, Simon helps readers learn to read the market signals, develop quick solutions, and stay a step ahead of their competitors, while avoiding the pitfalls looming in the crisis. A concluding chapter looks beyond the crisis and considers the longer-term socio-political and business consequences. Simon argues: "The 33 quick solutions won't rid the world of the crisis, but they can certainly contain the damage. And this can make all the difference between a company's death and survival." Can your company afford to ignore this advice?
Hidden Champions are typically no. 1, 2 or 3 in the global market, or no.1 on their continent. Revenues are below $4 billion and, despite the outstanding market performance, public awareness is low.
Hermann Simon’s new book describes the success stories of these little-known companies and what can be learned from them.
(Springer, New York, 2009)
What do Tetra aquarium supplies, Elector-Nite sensors, and Nissha touch panels have in common? They are typical “hidden champions,” medium-sized, unknown companies 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.
On top of the high-performance culture of all hidden champions, the ultimate secret of their success lies in their leaders. Continuity and long-term orientation are key features of their leadership style. 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, especially during the economic crisis of 2008–2010. In his book, Simon describes in detail why hidden champions are true role models for leadership and management beyond the crisis.
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.
What the readers say:
"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 do not follow management fads. This exactly is their success secret.”
Hans Riegel Managing Director and Co-Owner, Haribo
“The Hidden Champions prove that even management in the 21st 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
“The ‘lessons learned’ from your book can be of valuable use even to a large company like Siemens.”
Dr. Horst-J. Kayser, Chief Executive Officer, KUKA AG
“Your latest book deals with a highly current topic.”
Prof. Dr. Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum
“I am not surprised about your book’s success. Many may refer to mid-sized companies but few truly know about it; your data alone is impressive.”
Dr. Horst M. Teltschik, Former Foreign and Security Political Advisor of Chancellor Helmut Kohl
“You are completely right with your tenet on the innovation process with the Hidden Champions. You cannot always wait for the major breakthrough. In this context, I have said that for Nestlé I am equally interested in renovations as I am in innovations and the important role that speed plays. He who sees something ahead of others and then implements this effectively creates a partial advantage that, as everyone knows, proves a major competitive advantage.”
Dr. Helmut O. Maucher, PhD, Honorary President, Nestlé AG
“Focus on the fundamentals and on the customer is a key thread that runs through Hidden Champions and something I will rededicate myself and the company to.”
Roy Dunbar,Chief Executive Officer, Network Solutions
