Hidden Champions

Hidden champions are relatively small but highly successful companies that are concealed behind a curtain of inconspicuousness, invisibility, and sometimes secrecy. The term "Hidden Champions" was coined by Hermann Simon. He first used the term as a title of a publication in a scientific German management journal, describing the small, highly specialized world-market leaders in Germany. According to his definition, a company must meet three criteria to be considered a hidden champion:

The first English book about hidden champions was Hermann Simon's Hidden champions : lessons from 500 of the world's best unknown companies. In this book, the question is discussed of how Germany, a relatively small European country, has for many years sustained the position of number one exporter in the world. Germany's few giant, highly visible corporations like Volkswagen, Siemens, BASF, Bosch, and others are not substantially different from organisations like Ford, GE, DuPont, or Visteon. Germany's export strength is clearly not wholly determined by these companies so there must be a large number of midsize firms who are strong exporters. These smaller companies are however normally known only in their own area, by customers and suppliers, but not to the wider public or business community. When these companies are very successful on the international markets, they are hidden champions.

It was believed at first that such companies were mainly only to be found in German speaking countries. Hermann Simon concentrated detailed research on 500 of them and established a framework to describe them. With this framework in hand it was also found that there are hidden champions everywhere around the world, but they are the most frequent in German speaking countries.

The framework was also able to identify the main differences and traits common to hidden champions. Simon declares the common traits as the success factors of these companies.

Hidden champions are small and medium enterprises (SME). Most of them produce inconspicuous products, but in the market for these products they are ranked top in the world. Often, but not always, they are family owned. They export most of their products, and so contribute significantly to the current account of their countries, and are more successful than the average.

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