We have already seen that excellent performance with regard to goals, globalization, and closeness to customer is a necessary requirement for becoming a hidden champion. However, in most cases innovation is the foundation for success. Achieving and maintaining world market leadership requires outstanding and continuously innovative performance. The innovations of the hidden champions are in no way restricted to technologies and products; these companies also demonstrate tremendous innovative drive in processes, systems, marketing, and services. Various indicators such as R&D intensity, number of patents, and revenues coming from new products prove that the hidden champions are extremely innovative. How do these midsize companies achieve such innovativeness in spite of their limited resources? In this chapter, we will see that the hidden champions differ from large corporations in the way they handle several key factors for success in innovation.
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Notes
- 1.
Günther Schuh, Thomas Friedli, Michael A. Kurr, Reengineering ist einfach nicht tot zu kriegen, Munich: Hanser 2006.
- 2.
See Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft, Forschung und Innovation, Panel Report 2/2006, Cologne: IdW-Verlag. See also Oliver Koppel, Das Innovationsverhalten der technikaffinen Branchen, Opinion for the VDI, Cologne: IdW-Verlag, April 2006.
- 3.
See Steffen Kinkel and Oliver Som, Strukturen und Treiber des Innovationserfolges im deutschen Maschinenbau, Karlsruhe: Fraunhofer-Institut für System- und Innovationsforschung ISI, No. 41, May 2007.
- 4.
Barry Jaruzelski, Kevin Dehoff, Rakesh Bordia, “Money Isn’t Everything,” Booz Allen Hamilton, Strategy + Business, Winter 2005, p. 54 ff.
- 5.
See Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, December 2, 1994, p. 15.
- 6.
See VDI News, February 16, 2007, p. 6.
- 7.
Oliver Koppel, Das Innovationsverhalten der technikaffinen Branchen, Cologne: IdW-Verlag, April 2006.
- 8.
See Annual Report 2005 of the German Patent and Trademark Office, Munich 2006. Four of the largest 6 German patent applicants are also among the 12 largest patent applicants worldwide. In a typical year, Siemens has the highest number of patents worldwide.
- 9.
Oliver Koppel, Das Innovationsverhalten der technikaffinen Branchen, Cologne: IdW-Verlag, April 2006, p. 22.
- 10.
Oliver Koppel, Das Innovationsverhalten der technikaffinen Branchen, Cologne: IdW-Verlag, April 2006.
- 11.
See Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft, Forschung und Innovation, Panel Report 2/2006, Cologne: IdW-Verlag. A study by Wirtschaftswoche magazine came to similar conclusions, see Wirtschaftswoche, March 26, 2007, p. 94.
- 12.
For a many-faceted description of competence-oriented strategies, see Robert Zaugg (ed.), Handbuch Kompetenzmanagement: Durch Kompetenz nachhaltig Werte schaffen. Bern: 2006.
- 13.
See Barry Johnson, Polarity Management: Identifying and Managing Unsolvable Problems, Amherst, MA: HRD Press 1992.
- 14.
In 1957, NSU owned the largest motorcycle factory in the world, but the market in Europe collapsed. Automobiles replaced motorbikes as the primary means of transport.
- 15.
See Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, January 27, 2007, p. C3.
- 16.
See VDI News, January 26, 2007, p. 20.
- 17.
Barry Jaruzelski, Kevin Dehoff, Rakesh Bordia, “Money Isn’t Everything,” Booz Allen Hamilton, Strategy + Business, Winter 2005, p. 54 ff.
- 18.
Thomas Ramge, Klingt gut!, brand eins, 7/2006.
- 19.
Barry Jaruzelski, Kevin Dehoff, Rakesh Bordia, “Money Isn’t Everything,” Booz Allen Hamilton, Strategy + Business, Winter 2005, p. 54 ff.
- 20.
Eric von Hippel, The Sources of Innovation, New York: Oxford University Press 1994; see also Stephan Thomke and Eric von Hippel, “Customers as Innovators: A New Way to Create Value,” Harvard Business Review, April 2002, p. 74–81.
- 21.
See Harvard Business Review, November-December 1994, p. 177.
- 22.
Thomas Ramge, Klingt gut!, brand eins, 7/2006.
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Simon, H. (2009). Innovation. In: Hidden Champions of the Twenty-First Century. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-98147-5_6
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