Hermann Simon

The world’s foremost expert on pricing strategy shows how this mysterious process works and how to maximize value through pricing to company and customer. In all walks of life, we constantly make decisions about whether something is worth our money or our time, or try to convince others to part with their money or their time. Price is the place where value and money meet. From the global release of the latest electronic gadget to the bewildering gyrations of oil futures to markdowns at the bargain store, price is the most powerful and pervasive economic force in our day-to-day lives and one of the least understood. The recipe for successful pricing often sounds like an exotic cocktail, with equal parts psychology, economics, strategy, tools and incentives stirred up together, usually with just enough math to sour the taste. That leads managers to water down the drink with hunches and rules of thumb, or leave out the parts with which they don’t feel comfortable. While this makes for a sweeter drink, it often lacks the punch to have an impact on the customer or on the business. It doesn’t have to be that way, though, as Hermann Simon illustrates through dozens of stories collected over four decades in the trenches and behind the scenes. A world-renowned speaker on pricing and a trusted advisor to Fortune 500 executives, Simon’s lifelong journey has taken him from rural farmers’ markets, to a distinguished academic career, to a long second career as a n entrepreneur and management consultant to companies large and small throughout the world. Along the way, he has learned from Nobel Prize winners and leading management gurus, and helped countless managers and executives use pricing as a way to create new markets, grow their businesses and gain a sustained competitive advantage. He also learned some tough personal lessons about value, how people perceive it, and how people profit from it. In this engaging and practical narrative, Simon leaves nothing out of the pricing cocktail, but still makes it go down smoothly and leaves you wanting to learn more and do more—as a consumer or as a business person. You will never look at pricing the same way again.

How Price Affects Everything

Confessions of the Pricing Man

Chapter 5: Customers, Products, Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Close Customer Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 Customer Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Dependence on the Customer and Risk Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Achieving Closeness to Customer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Product and Service Spectrum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Chapter 6: Innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 What Does Innovation Mean?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 High Level of Innovativeness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 Driving Forces of Innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 The Origin of Innovations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Leadership and Organizational Aspects of Innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Chapter 7: Competition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 Competitive Structure and Conduct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191 The Hidden Champions in the Light of Porter’s “Five Forces” . . . . . 195 Competitive Advantages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Sustainability of Competitive Advantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Demonstration of Competitive Superiority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 Competitive Edge and Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 Sparring Partners for Competitive Fitness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214 Excessive Competitive Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 Chapter 8: Financing, Organization, and Business Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 Financing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228 Contents ix Organization of the Value Chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Business Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 Entrepreneurial Clusters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 Chapter 9: Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Job Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 Corporate Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260 Quali?cations and Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 Creativity of Employees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278 Recruiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282 Chapter 10: The Leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285 Structures of Ownership and Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286 How Crucial Is Leadership? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 Leadership Continuity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 Young to the Top . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 Powerful Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294 Internationalization of Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298 Personalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300 Leadership Styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 Management Succession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310 Chapter 11: Hidden Champions: Audit and Strategy Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315 What Is Strategy? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316 Hidden Champion Strategy: For Whom? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316 Hidden Champions – Audits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317 Strategy Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325 Strategies for Value Propositions and Pricing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335 Organization and Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Success Strategies of Unknown World Market Leaders

Hidden Champions of the Twenty-First Century

Anthea Bell

Irene Stratenwerth

Marie Jalowicz-Simon

One Woman's Extraordinary Account of Survival in the Heart of Nazi Germany

Gone to Ground

Sæt prisen rigtigt

Real profit after taxes is the most important management target. Profits are the cost of survival and the creators of new value. In this book, celebrated management thinker Hermann Simon brings clarity to the jungle of profit concepts and balance sheets. He sheds light on the performance of numerous companies and industries in international comparison and looks at the key profit drivers: price, sales and costs. Hermann Simon derives practical consequences from his astute analysis and offers a convincing guide to profit-oriented and sustainable corporate management! The book pleads for a reconsideration of profit as the guiding concept of management and entrepreneurship, and it showcases how profitability can ensure the long term health of a business. Questioning the fact/dilemma, why more than 80 percent of companies in the US are going public have never turned a profit, this book is invaluable inspiration and a powerful guide for responsible and resilient managers and entrepreneurs.

No Company Ever Went Broke Turning a Profit

True Profit!

A Remarkable Journey from Farmhouse to the Global Stage

Many Worlds, One Life

»Die Hauptakteurin in den Geschichten aus dem alten Paderborn ist historisch. Im Familienkreis wurde sie Tante Elsie genannt, zur Unterscheidung von den anderen Namensträgerinnen der Maria. Ich erinnere Tante Elsie als eine lebendige Erzählerin von Döneken, die auch einen unwilligen Zuhörer zum Lachen anstifteten.« Tante Elsies Geschichten hat Hermann Simon aus der Erinnerung nacherzählt und zu diesem Buch zusammengetragen.

Geschichten aus dem alten Paderborn

Erzähl es trotzdem, Tante Elsie!

Auswahl englischer Gedichte

“Hidden Champions” are medium-sized, unknown companies with annual revenues under $5 billion that have quietly, under the radar, become world market leaders in their respective industries. In this new instalment to his worldwide bestselling Hidden Champions volumes, Hermann Simon takes readers on in-depth exploration of the ever changing operating conditions and the greater uncertainty and volatility that defines the global business sphere over the next ten years. In particular, in this book he focuses on China’s continued impact on the business world since its rise in the global business and economic sphere over recent decades. In this regard, Dr. Simon shows the reader how the current status evolved, and then offers concrete and actionable recommendations. New driving forces such as digitalization, business ecosystems and sustainability receive special attention. While the main focus is on companies in German-speaking countries as they comprise 56 percent of the world’s Hidden Champions, the success factors mentioned in this book can be applied globally to mid-sized companies in other regions as they strive to become global market leaders. Whether a company is a “Hidden Champion”, aspires to be one, or wants to emulate their success model, Dr. Simon’s new book provides essential food for thought as executives and managers chart their course into the future.

Ascent and Transformation

Hidden Champions in the Chinese Century

Lisa Appignanesi

Marie Simon

Thrilling and terrifying by turns, this is the gripping account of a young Jewish woman who survived World War Two by going to ground in Berlin. All around her Jews are being rounded up for deportation. Marie decides to survive. She takes off the yellow star, turns her back on the Jewish community, and vanishes into the city.

Eckhard Kucher

theory, empir. evidence and managerial implications

A new price-advertising-interaction model

Being a hidden champion is like playing sports as Simon illustrates good and innovative basic work win the right instincts and enough courage to take risks but the book also shous that one player alone is rarely successful jit is the team that makes a champion.

Hidden Champions

In this engaging, insightful, and inspiring narrative, Hermann Simon, the world-renowned management thinker, consultant, pricing expert, entrepreneur, and leading authority on the “hidden champions” business model, highlights the influences on his remarkable journey from humble origins on a German farm to advising and sharing the stage with global leaders in industry, academia, and politics. Born in 1947 in the rural Eifel region of Western Germany, Simon’s coming of age parallels that of a country struggling to come to terms with the legacy of World War II and reinvent itself as a new world power. His colorful anecdotes of a youth spent in an agricultural community that in many ways operated as it had since the Middle Ages, reflect the establishment of core values, such as trust, focus, quality, and commitment that served as an anchor against the accelerating pace of technological, economic, political, social, and cultural change in the subsequent decades. Simon takes readers on a journey through time and space, as his—and our—world transformed from isolated to connected, local to global, revealing lessons learned from the extraordinary people (from Peter Drucker to Henry Kissinger) and places he has encountered along the way, through a career that has evolved from research and education to management consulting to leadership and strategy development on a broad scale. His particular interest in the Mittelstand, or “hidden champions,” the small and medium-sized companies that exemplify the German business philosophy and served as the engine of its economic revival, becomes a powerful metaphor of his own experiences in blazing new trails while staying true to one’s roots. For anyone familiar with Simon’s work and contributions, Many Worlds, One Life reveals unique insights into the man himself and the origins of his ideas on successful leadership and business strategy. But more generally, readers in any field or discipline will recognize how their own stories reflect their ties to the past, their accomplishments in an increasingly complex environment, and, ultimately, their roads to the stars. “Hermann Simon is one of the very few people who combine a truly global mindset with strong local roots. This rare combination makes him a superb bridge-builder at a time of increasing friction in our global trading system. World-renowned management scholar, successful entrepreneur, engaged citizen - this book tells his life’s amazing story in a compelling way.” U. Mark Schneider, CEO, Nestlé “From the moment I met Hermann Simon, through each successive encounter, I have enjoyed increasing returns which are rare in most relationships. Hermann, please continue to open further fields of inquiry in business theory and practice, always with an eye to aligning profit, high purpose, and passion.” Philip Kotler, Professor Emeritus of Marketing, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University “Among the politicians, officials, scholars, and entrepreneurs that Hermann Simon has close acquaintance with, it is a great honor that I am writing a letter of recommendation for this book and Dr. Simon. As a worldly renowned business manager and scholar, his wise words have always inspired and awakened business leaders (and engineers) like me. I bought the book and finished it on the spot before I left the bookstore. This book is about his life rather than his studies. This book also proves that he is a good essayist as much as he is a scholar. As you navigate into his youth in a German farmhouse, you will notice that he has always captured the details of daily life and social surroundings. It is the encounter of such details and awakening of his senses that have led him to become the pride of modern Europe’s business management studies. My favorite part in his book is the chapter, ‘The School of Life’. He has listed the things he has learned throughout his life and said they are ‘subjective and incomplete.’ As I read through his book, it felt as if I were having a cup of tea with him over family, future, health, management, leadership, time management, and other lifetime subjects. His value and love for humanity is truly special. In this book, he acknowledges that his life is divided in two: one from his Eifel village and one from the globalized word. The division of the old and the present, or the division of time and space, which usually starts from village and ends in a city, was unavoidable to anyone our age who has gone through rapid urbanization and industrialization. Such sense of separation, however, does not always lead to enlightenment. The enlightenment that he is sharing with us is the fruit of his lifetime effort. When you read his stories from his childhood to recent research and studies, you will learn the never-changing truth that ‘Great discernment is cultivated rather than is born.’ I also think this book will be a milestone for the younger generations who still have more road to travel.” Dr. Chang Gyu Hwang, former CEO, Samsung Electronics and KT Korea Telecom "In his autobiography, Professor Hermann Simon narrates his experience of growing from the countryside to the international stage and becoming a common friend in Chinese and German economic circles. It can be said that with the impetus of globalization, his Hidden Champion Theory has been widely practiced in both Germany and China. The combination of the Hidden Champion Theory and the pragmatic development of small and medium-sized enterprises has promoted the craftsmanship, deepened international cooperation, and enriched the connotation of Sino-German economic and trade cooperation. In recent years, Sino-German pragmatic economic and trade cooperation has maintained a continuous development momentum. Both the industrial chain and the supply chain cooperation are safe and stable. In the future, we will look forward to collaborating more with the German business community to uphold multilateralism, promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, assist cooperation in various fields to achieve positive results, push the continuous expansion of two-way opening forward." 刘殿勋Mr. LIU Dianxun 中华人民共和国商务部投资促进事务局局长 Director General of Investment Promotion Agency of Ministry of Commerce. P.R.China

In Zeiten der Krise sind konkrete, schnell wirkende Sofortmaßnahmen notwendig. Kostensenkung allein ist nicht das Allheilmittel. Hermann Simon liefert ein Buch von höchster Priorität: Er benennt 33 Sofortmaßnahmen, die Manager ergreifen sollten, um ihr Unternehmen durch die Krise zu führen. Simon bietet Sofortprogramme für veränderte Kundenbedürfnisse, Vertrieb und Außendienst, Angebots- und Preismanagement sowie Service und Dienstleistungen an. Er schlägt unter anderem vor: • Innendienstler als Verkäufer einzusetzen • Probezeit für Maschinen zu vereinbaren • Natural- statt Preisrabatte einzuräumen • stärker auf After-Selling-Dienstleistungen zu setzen und • Kunden der angeschlagenen Konkurrenz abzuwerben

Wege für Ihr Unternehmen

33 Sofortmaßnahmen gegen die Krise

Frank F. Bilstein

Frank Luby

How do companies in mature markets--where savings from cost-cutting have been exhausted and breakthrough innovations are hard to come by--achieve sustainable increases in profits? For decades, managers have been told the answer lies in pursuing high market share. But Hermann Simon, Frank F. Bilstein, and Frank Luby argue that this misguided advice has destroyed, rather than created, an additional profit potential. In Manage for Profit, Not for Share, the authors contend that companies can extract a profit potential of 1%-3 % of revenue by pursuing a profit, rather than a market share, orientation. Based on their extensive consulting work, the authors lay out a practical, proven program for making significantly more money by reconfiguring the marketing mix to sell existing products and services in different ways. The book offers practical strategies managers can use to differentiate mature products, raise prices effectively, time promotional activities properly, better understand consumer preferences, and more. A convincing counterargument to the reigning market share dogma, this book outlines the new mind-set and tools managers will need to bring their companies closer to peak profit performance.

A Guide to Greater Profits in Highly Contested Markets

Manage for Profit, Not for Market Share

This is a book which has contributions from entrepreneurs, managers, professors, management gurus and consultants from all over the world. The readers can derive benefit from the book which spread light on a multitude of aspects that deals with building and applying winning strategies for business. The individual articles are very succinct and effective knowledge can be acquired or the existing knowledge can be refreshed. Its for those who plan the strategy to reach their goals. The book addresses to top managers and executives and researcher workers who are interested in practical strategy will also find wealth of information in this book.

Strategy for Competition

Describes the management techniques followed by lesser-known companies that have, nonetheless, attained global market shares of seventy percent

Lessons from 500 of the World's Best Unknown Companies

Newspaper columns blare the news daily. There is no doubt that we are struggling through a worldwide economic and financial crisis of a magnitude not witnessed since the Great Depression. In this environment, fraught with danger, no company can afford to take a wait-and-see attitude. One hesitation or misstep can result in the rapid demise of a once stalwart enterprise. Even small miscalculations can topple mighty empires; consider the U.S. auto industry, for example. The severity of the crisis demands that your company understand its causes, diagnose carefully, implement decisively and monitor constantly. However, the crisis also creates chances for companies that learn to assess risk, recognize opportunity and take action quickly. This book is an antidote to the chorus of doom-and-gloom, a manual for business leaders and employees who are ready to fight. In Beat the Crisis, international strategy guru, Hermann Simon, offers 33 practical actions that any company can take immediately. Organized into broad categories—"Changing Customer Needs," "Sales and the Sales Force," "Managing Offers and Prices" and "Services"—Simon shows companies how to focus on the areas where emphatic action can have quick and maximum impact on corporate performance. Drawing from dozens of successful cases around the world, Simon helps readers learn to read the market signals, develop quick solutions, and stay a step ahead of their competitors, while avoiding the pitfalls looming in the crisis. A concluding chapter looks beyond the crisis and considers the longer-term socio-political and business consequences, in which Simon foresees a new era of restraint.

Hermann Simon

About

Books

Join the club