Simon, H. (2009) Hidden Champions of the 21st Century: Success strategies of unknown world market...
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Books for Managers Simon, H. (2009) Hidden Champions of the 21st Century: Success strategies of unknown world market leaders. Springer. €34.95, $34.95, £29.99, ISBN 978-0-387-98146-8 This is a book that comes across as a well re- searched case study based insight into the workings of many of the world’s least know successful compa- nies. These are companies that have for a number of years successfully maintained pole position within their respective industries with market share ranging from 60% to 100%. With this in mind this book should be of interest to anyone engaged in the process of developing a flexible, responsive business within a global market place. This book differs from so many ‘under-the-covers’ management books in that it steers clear of the more obvious organizations such as GM, Microsoft, and Goo- gle, and focuses on a range of organizations most readers will not have heard off. Believe me, this is a good thing. Simon covers many organizations, from all over the world, which range across many different industries, and vary significantly in both size and turn- over. This makes the feel of the book truly global, which in turn makes a refreshing change from the more common ‘US-centric’ perspective. Considering the diversity of the organizations selected Simon has come up with three common identifiers that link these different companies and highlight them as truly ‘Hid- den-Champions’. These being: the company must be placed in the top 3 of their respective market, their revenue is below $4 billion, and they have a low level of public awareness. The book covers all the pertinent management themes currently impacting today’s modern organiza- tion; market growth and focus, the impact of global- ization, the need for customer focus and innovation, leadership trends, managing and motivating employ- ees. Most of the lessons learnt are not new, but where Simon succeeds is in showing how successful ‘hidden- champion’ organizations approach these issues in a holistic manner. The author has managed to identify eight basic lessons that can be learnt from the best practices of these ‘hidden-champions’. The lessons can be viewed as a three-tiered circle with ‘leader- ship and ambitious goals’ being the central lesson around which all other lessons hang. Around this les- sons comes the next three key lessons: depth of understanding of one’s business, the need for decen- tralization, and the need for high performance employees. The outer level of the circle then contains the final four lessons: maintaining overall business focus, driving innovation, globalisation, and the need to develop long-term customer relationships. ‘‘Noth- ing new here’’ many readers will say. However, the range of company cases used to highlight these lessons helps the reader more easily identify with, and relate to, these companies and the operating challenges they face. These examples also bring into stark relief the fact that any organization can aspire to being a ‘hidden-champion’ without having the financial muscle, or the first-mover advantage of the Google’s and Microsoft’s of this world. However, some management students may find the message and focus of this book a little disconcerting. The reason being that the success of the hidden cham- pions is not down to the following of any prescriptive management theory, and the author goes to some length to drive home the point that there are no ‘sil- ver bullet’ management concepts or theories that will ensure success. In fact, the hidden champions success is based on a more fluid, intuitive approach. In essence Simon’s distils the success of the hidden- champion companies down to straight forward com- mon sense when it comes to maintaining focus on your customer needs in terms of providing real value and developing long-term relationships. These organiza- tions are also acutely aware of the need for continual innovation across all strata of their respective busi- nesses, as this helps maintain their competitive advantage. In short, this book is about ‘good manage- ment’ practice. It is not about selling the latest man- agement theory of concepts, as these can be faddish and short lived in their usefulness, but more about doi:10.1016/j.emj.2009.08.001 European Management Journal (2010) 28, 168– 169 journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/emj
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Transcript of Simon, H. (2009) Hidden Champions of the 21st Century: Success strategies of unknown world market...
European Management Journal (2010) 28, 168– 169
journal homepage: www.elsevier .com/ locate /emj
Books for Managers
Simon, H. (2009) Hidden Champions of the 21stCentury: Success strategies of unknown worldmarket leaders. Springer. €34.95, $34.95, £29.99,
ISBN 978-0-387-98146-8
This is a book that comes across as a well re-searched case study based insight into the workingsof many of the world’s least know successful compa-nies. These are companies that have for a numberof years successfully maintained pole position withintheir respective industries with market share rangingfrom 60% to 100%. With this in mind this book shouldbe of interest to anyone engaged in the process ofdeveloping a flexible, responsive business within aglobal market place.
This book differs from so many ‘under-the-covers’management books in that it steers clear of the moreobvious organizations such as GM, Microsoft, and Goo-gle, and focuses on a range of organizations mostreaders will not have heard off. Believe me, this is agood thing. Simon covers many organizations, fromall over the world, which range across many differentindustries, and vary significantly in both size and turn-over. This makes the feel of the book truly global,which in turn makes a refreshing change from themore common ‘US-centric’ perspective. Consideringthe diversity of the organizations selected Simon hascome up with three common identifiers that link thesedifferent companies and highlight them as truly ‘Hid-den-Champions’. These being: the company must beplaced in the top 3 of their respective market, theirrevenue is below $4 billion, and they have a low levelof public awareness.
The book covers all the pertinent managementthemes currently impacting today’s modern organiza-tion; market growth and focus, the impact of global-ization, the need for customer focus and innovation,leadership trends, managing and motivating employ-ees. Most of the lessons learnt are not new, but whereSimon succeeds is in showing how successful ‘hidden-champion’ organizations approach these issues in aholistic manner. The author has managed to identify
doi:10.1016/j.emj.2009.08.001
eight basic lessons that can be learnt from the bestpractices of these ‘hidden-champions’. The lessonscan be viewed as a three-tiered circle with ‘leader-ship and ambitious goals’ being the central lessonaround which all other lessons hang. Around this les-sons comes the next three key lessons: depth ofunderstanding of one’s business, the need for decen-tralization, and the need for high performanceemployees. The outer level of the circle then containsthe final four lessons: maintaining overall businessfocus, driving innovation, globalisation, and the needto develop long-term customer relationships. ‘‘Noth-ing new here’’ many readers will say. However, therange of company cases used to highlight theselessons helps the reader more easily identify with,and relate to, these companies and the operatingchallenges they face. These examples also bring intostark relief the fact that any organization can aspireto being a ‘hidden-champion’ without having thefinancial muscle, or the first-mover advantage of theGoogle’s and Microsoft’s of this world.
However, some management students may find themessage and focus of this book a little disconcerting.The reason being that the success of the hidden cham-pions is not down to the following of any prescriptivemanagement theory, and the author goes to somelength to drive home the point that there are no ‘sil-ver bullet’ management concepts or theories that willensure success. In fact, the hidden champions successis based on a more fluid, intuitive approach. Inessence Simon’s distils the success of the hidden-champion companies down to straight forward com-mon sense when it comes to maintaining focus on yourcustomer needs in terms of providing real value anddeveloping long-term relationships. These organiza-tions are also acutely aware of the need for continualinnovation across all strata of their respective busi-nesses, as this helps maintain their competitiveadvantage. In short, this book is about ‘good manage-ment’ practice. It is not about selling the latest man-agement theory of concepts, as these can be faddishand short lived in their usefulness, but more about
Hidden Champions of the 21st Century: Success strategies of unknown world market leaders 169
simply identifying those aspects of your business youare good at and focusing on making them better thanyour competitors.
What makes this book really worth reading is seeinghow so many small, medium, and large businesseshave taken these lessons and applied them in a waythat makes them market leaders in their own field.What is also worth noting, particularly, in today’s glo-bal economy is how these same businesses are build-ing flexibility and resilience into their current andfuture business plans – an aspect that many of themore commonly perceived global leaders are strug-gling to do.
Overall, this book should appeal to anyone who hasa real desire to develop and grow their business, andanyone interested in the practical application of man-agement theory, or more importantly understandingwhat happens when management theory and success-ful management practice meet.
Stephen McLaughlinDepartment of Management,
University of Glasgow,Glasgow G12 8QQUnited Kingdom
E-mail address: [email protected]
