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

Hidden Champions reveals the strategies and practices of hundreds of low-profile high-performance German companies. How do these companies do it? They are all great innovators; many have created their own markets. They have expanded a narrow product focus to meet the needs of customers around the world. They avoid outsourcing, diversification, and strategic alliances, instead creating unmatchable internal competencies. They are extremely close to their customers but have no large marketing departments. They are led by executives who are both authoritarian and participative. Their hallmark is continuity, with almost no employee turnover and an average CEO tenure of 24 years. This groundbreaking and contrarian book lends extraordinary insights into building and defending market leadership. It is a compelling wake-up call for back-to-basics management.