22
SPEZIAL
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CONTROLLING INTERNATIONAL
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ISSUE 12
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SEPTEMBER 2015
CONTROLLER
HIDDEN CHAMPIONS:
A PERSPECTIVE FROM CENTRAL
AND EASTERN EUROPE
Pavel Lebedev
ACCA, MBA, researcher
at IEDC-Bled School of
Management
HIDDEN CHAMPIONS:
OVERVIEW OF THE CONCEPT
Hidden champions are companies holding an international
market leadership position in product categories and busi-
ness models. Hermann Simon in his 1996 study performed
on the German economy initially identified such companies
and suggested the concept. The 2009 study extended from
Germany also to Austria and Switzerland. Simon showed
that hidden champion type of companies, being described
by higher resilience to economic recessions, ability to cre-
ate new employment above the average rates and exhibit-
ing much better chances of survival, present an important
pillar of the advanced economies of the above-mentioned
countries.
A CEE HIDDEN CHAMPIONS
RESEARCH PROJECT
Inspired by Simon’s research, a group of over 30 research-
ers from 18 countries of CEE extended the research project
to the context of their respective countries. The project was
initiated and coordinated by CEEMAN – International Asso-
ciation for Management Development and IEDC-Bled School
of Management. The completion of the research project was
marked with the publishing of the first book on globally lead-
ing, niche market SMEs in CEE and Turkey. The book, named
“Hidden Champions in CEE and Turkey: Carving Out a Global
Niche” and consisting of meta-level chapters followed by
country-specific chapters, was published by Springer in late
2013. Meta-level cross-study chapters provide insights into
a range of themes such as leadership, culture and govern-
ance. As my area of interest is controlling, I was researching
the financial aspects of hidden champions’ business models
and in the next section key findings of the chapter are pre-
sented.
FINANCIAL ASPECTS OF HIDDEN
CHAMPIONS’ BUSINESS MODELS
The study focused on two main questions – “How did hidden
champions from CEE initially obtain funds?” and “How did
they nance their growth afterwards?”. Interesting by itself,
the findings allowed the formulation of what I called a
“Financial Strategy Dilemma of Hidden Champions”.
Figure 1 demonstrates that initial financing strategies of
hidden champions have a clear pattern of a shift from pri-
vatisation of undervalued assets to monetising know-how
depending on the period of their origination.
EUROPE
