Hidden Champions: Lessons from 500 of the World's Best Unknown Companies: Amazon.co.uk: Hermann Simon: Books

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Offering a wide variety of industry examples, this book explores the dynamics of 500 largely unknown companies that dominate the global market for their products. It identifies the successful practices of these small, but highly-focused, niche players.

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8 Reviews

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4.8 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eliminate Stalled Thinking About World Business Leadership, 29 Jul 1999

By A Customer

Many of us become aware of a few models of how to prosper. Magazines like Fotune, Forbes, and Business Week are one example; and they help us understand the e-commerce start-ups and the really LARGE companies. Books about successful leaders help as well (Jack Welch and Warrren Buffett books abound). Enrepreneurs are featured in other magazines like INC. What we get very little of is information about outstanding small and medium sized companies around the world who do things according to other ways of succeeding. This very large information gap is greatly improved by reading THE HIDDEN CHAMPIONS. If you have read and liked BUILT TO LAST, CUSTOMERS.COM, THE INNOVATOR'S DILEMMA or MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY (all are excellent books: be sure to read them if you haven't yet), be sure to add THE HIDDEN CHAMPIONS. This book is the sort of superb research that will stimulate your thinking about new models for how to succeed and prosper. The book is easy to read and understand, and you will learn about a lot of very well run businesses that you currently do not know about. You have a real treat ahead of you!

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Study of Dominant World-Class Exporters, 28 Jan 1999

By A Customer

The main weakness of many business books is that they study the same companies over and over again and make the same points, until the companies start to do badly, and then new companies are found to describe in the same tired way. Peter Drucker told me about this book, and I am very glad that he did. By selecting very successful smaller companies with dominant world exporting positions, Hermann Simon gives us a totally different universe to consider. The lesons are very valuable, because these companies have found another path to success that most larger companies ignore. For an entrepreneur, this book is a better guide than 99% of the books about what entrepreneurs should do, because it points the way to large, lasting success. I have tried to do the same thing in my work, published annually in CHIEF EXECUTIVE magazine, by studying the most successful 100 CEOs in the country. These people also do things differently than what the business books suggest, and their model is quite different from what Hermann Simon found with these companies. The lesson seems to be that there are many paths to the top, and we should spend time finding them. This book is a "must" read for anyone who is serious about business success. I look forward to future books by Mr. Simon.

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5.0 out of 5 stars The ONLY useful book for small, niche businesses, 9 Jul 2008

By	J. Butler "montysdouble" (UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It's a tragedy that this book is out of print, as it is the only business book that I've ever read that is directly applicable to small businesses. The first thing to realise is that "small" doesn't refer to number of employess or turnover necessarily. Small businesses seek to DO ONE THING well, rather than do lots of things. These are the titular Hidden Champions.

The consequence of this is that almost everything you get taught on an MBA is worse than useless if you are in a small business. Look at your competitors? Why? As a Hidden Champion you are already the market leader, why look backwards? There is a wealth of useful material here, and the summary at the end provides a great "audit" - I pulled it apart and created an excel questionnaire in a couple of hours that we used as the basis for a senior management discussion.

Sad to hear Mr Simon's consultancy doesn't live up to the promises of the book.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Study of Dominant World-Class Exporters
The main weakness of many business books is that they study the same companies over and over again and make the same points, until the companies start to do badly, and then new... Read more

Published on 31 May 2004 by Professor Donald Mitchell

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Study of Dominant World-Class Exporters
The main weakness of many business books is that they study the same companies over and over again and make the same points, until the companies start to do badly, and then new... Read more

Published on 31 May 2004 by Professor Donald Mitchell

5.0 out of 5 stars Not only Fortune 500 companies deserve the spotlight
A nice change to the many many books and essays on how a Fortune 500 company did great. These small and medium sized companies are fantastic examples of what the core ingredients... Read more

Published on 18 Feb 1999

4.0 out of 5 stars Very usefull
this is a very practical guide to what are some of the best practices in medium sized businesses. Extremely usefull. Shows that family businesses are very healthfull.

Published on 10 Nov 1997

4.0 out of 5 stars A welcome change
This is a welcome change from books describing how Fortune 500 companies did it. Instead, we get a look at unknown companies that have done very well, for decades and even for... Read more

Published on 14 Jun 1997

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Hidden Champions: Lessons from 500 of the World's Best Unknown Companies (Hardcover)

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