Hidden Champions Symposium Organized in China
»Hidden Champions in the Connected World“ was a joint symposium that took place from October 22-23 at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou. This academic gathering explored the factors which induce companies to be Hidden Champions and how they develop in the connected world.
The symposium was chaired by Prof. Xiaobo Wu, Director of NIIM and former Dean of School of Management, Zhejiang University and Prof. Danica Purg, President of CEEMAN and Dean of IEDC-Bled School of Management. The symposium was also attended by Prof. Hermann Simon, a German author and business leader, who developed the concept of Hidden Champions.
Hidden Champions are highly successful and innovative, but not very well-known small and medium-sized companies. They are among the global top three in terms of market share in their respective niche or the leader on their continent. Furthermore, the survival rate of Hidden Champions is often significantly higher than the average in their respective sector. Hidden Champions also boast the tendency to be very competitive in their markets and exhibit a consistent growth trajectory as well as an above-average innovation rate. It is because of these fascinating and compelling traits that academia strives to determine why these businesses in particular are thriving.
Prof. Simon’s methodology on Hidden Champions was used in the research project coordinated by CEEMAN and IEDC-Bled School of Management, Postgraduate Studies in the period 2010-2013 when, with the support of 15 research teams, 165 Hidden Champions companies in CEE and Turkey were identified. The second research on Hidden Champions, led by Dr. Alenka Braček Lalić, CEEMAN IQA Director and Vice-Dean for Research at IEDC-Bled School of Management, Postgraduate Studies, is currently conducted in 24 countries and explores the characteristics of innovative companies operating in Central Europe and South-Eastern Europe, Turkey, Russia and China. The preliminary results of the study were presented by seven research partners from CEE/SEE representing CEEMAN institutional members at the symposium in China.
Read more about the symposium and the Hidden Champions research here.
