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 was coined by Hermann Simon. He first used the term in 1990 as a title of a publication in a scientific German management journal, describing the small, highly specialized world-market leaders in Germany.^[1] According to his definition, a company must meet three criteria to be considered a hidden champion:^[2]

Number one, two, or three in the global market, or number one on the company's continent, determined by market share
Revenue below $5 billion
Low level of public awareness

^ Simon, Hermann: Hidden Champions: Speerspitze der deutschen Wirtschaft. Wiesbaden: Zeitschrift für Betriebswirtschaft (ZfB) 60(1990)9, P. 876
^ Simon, Hermann: Hidden Champions of the 21st Century : Success Strategies of Unknown World Market Leaders. London: Springer, 2009.- ISBN 978-0-387-98147-5. P. 15.

[1] Simon, Hermann: Hidden Champions: Speerspitze der deutschen Wirtschaft. Wiesbaden: Zeitschrift für Betriebswirtschaft (ZfB) 60(1990)9, P. 876

[2] Simon, Hermann: Hidden Champions of the 21st Century : Success Strategies of Unknown World Market Leaders. London: Springer, 2009.- ISBN 978-0-387-98147-5. P. 15.

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