Alessa Witt has studied Business Administration at the Munich Business School in Germany as well as Economics & Ethics. Her research focus is on Internationalisation Strategies of Hidden Champions.

Hidden Champtions are smaller but highly successful companies, concealed behind a curtain of inconspicuousness, invisibility and sometimes secrecy are called Hidden Champions. According to a definition by Hermann Simon, who claims to be the founder of this concept, a company must meet three criteria to be listed as a Hidden Champion; two or three in the global market, or number one on its continent, determined by market share. The revenue must be below $4 billion, and they must have a low level of public awareness.

Mrs. Alessa Witt articles and her book are higly recommended and have been sold around the world.

About Alessa Witt’s book:

Internationalisation of Hidden Champions: Market Entry and Timing Strategies with International Management and Business Ethics Cases

• Paperback: 318 pages
• Publisher: Management Laboratory Press (April 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3981216245
• ISBN-13: 978-3981216240
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces

The Hidden Champions are the unknown market leaders. Almost like a secret society, we don’t know them, have never heard of them, but their products are present all the time and worldwide. Only a few academics, journalists or consultants know their names or their products. The term ‘hidden’ tells us that they stay in the background of our marketing and public relations-driven economy, but they are strong forces in their market segment. They don’t seem to be too much concerned about newhypes in management science, about media and fame and they don’t seem to be affected strongly by economic crises either. These companies and their strong businesses overseas are one reason why industrial production in the euro zone is showing surprising resilience in the face of the soaring strength of the euro. These contained business athletes representa main force in Germanys sustainable export success. Big global players can be found in every country and it is quite normal that they are market leaders in one or even several markets. But who would expect the little company in our backyard to be a market leader which has enduredeconomic crises and often been in operation for decades? Their CEOs are small and medium-sized ship captains that steer their vessel with a steady hand through the wildest storms and often stay on board for decades. These champions don’t follow every trend and hype, they move slowly but thoughtfully unlike big companies, who with their wide range of products need to adopt quickly to market changes in order to stay competitive. Their big marketing budgets, Harvard CEOs and world-leading consultants cannot protect them from hitting a crisis every couple years. Often they cannot even survive short downturns, they get caught up in turmoil once the demand breaks in for a couple of percent, and once they do, the next captain takes over for a couple of months or a few years. The Hidden Champions however shine through their outstanding sustainable leadership and clear strategy, more professionally managed finances, superior customer service, and higher investment in research and development than their poorer-performing peers. A lot of them have market shares of 60 to 90 percent and are in terms of turnover multiple times as big as their closest competitors. Not many big multinationals have reached what is just business as usual to the Hidden Champions. These hidden companies, due to their amount and trading volumes, are the true forces behind globalization. Of about 100,000 midsize industrial companies in Germany, an estimate of 8% are in a class of excellence by themselves by virtue of their superior growth, financial strength, global reach, and consistent innovation . From my point of view, these peculiar companies have not gotten the amount of attention from academics they deserve, which is why their strategies and success stories stay mainly hidden. Hermann Simon has initially drawn attention to the Hidden Champions and Alessa Witt has now investigated how these firms become effective internationally, how they go abroad and through their chosen market entry strategies become even more successful. Often by their chosen mode of entry they donot only carry their products and services to other countries but also their proven strategies and knowledge. The Hidden Champions are role models and examples because they are normal companies in their core, but companies that have made it to reach top positions in their markets.