This book presents hidden champions in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Turkey that have been studied as a joint project between CEEMAN and IEDC-Bled School of Management, Slovenia. This is an outcome of extensive research undertaken by over 30 researchers and covers 15 countries from Russia to Albania; covering many contexts, political systems, cultures and infrastructures. The reader is provided with a detailed introduction to the concept of hidden champions and describes the cases studied in this project. This book is an invaluable resource providing a culmination of interdisciplinary, cross-study chapters ranging from leadership to performance drivers; from organization to culture and governance; from innovativeness to sustainability and further to the financial aspects of hidden champions business models. These meta level chapters are followed by 15 country-specific chapters which provide an overview of each country’s history, economic indicators and vignettes of the cases involved in this study. ​

Hidden champions are highly successful small and medium-sized companies that are global leaders in terms of market share in their respective niches. Presenting the outcomes of an in-depth, multinational study on hidden champions in Central, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Russia, China, Mongolia and Turkey, this book provides essential insights into the critical drivers of success, market leadership positions, competitive advantage, and core lessons learned on the road to business prosperity. It also addresses development needs in connection with management, financing and the regulatory environment, which can in turn be used to create recommendations for various stakeholders (e.g. governments, financial institutions, management development institutions) in order to support hidden champions in their further growth and business success.

“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.

This book presents peer-reviewed, state-of-the-art conceptual and empirical papers devoted to changes in the international competitive position of the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region, its countries and businesses. While the unprecedented scale of transformation in the CEE region has provided a distinct research setting for international business and economics scholars for more than two decades, there have also been recent discussions about the extent to which the region continues to have a unique business environment. The region's economies have reached different levels of market development and modern business practice adoption, with some of them now frequently classified as advanced economies. Consequently, the same level of heterogeneity among CEE countries can also be observed at the sector and business level. The contributions in this book highlight possible sources of competitive advantage for CEE countries and firms, in light of recent intensive debates about the danger of the middle-income trap and the potential solutions to it.

Introduction to managing in emerging markets / Klaus E. Meyer, Robert Grosse -- Conceptual approaches to managing in emerging markets / Robert Grosse, Klaus E. Meyer -- International business and emerging markets in historical perspective / Geoffrey Jones -- Economics, transitions, and traps in emerging markets / John M. Luiz -- Institutional theory perspectives on emerging economies / Tatiana Kostova, Valentina Marano -- Emerging markets and the international investment law and policy regime / Karl P. Sauvant -- Financial decisions, behavioral biases, and governance in emerging markets / Emir Hrnjic, David M. Reeb, Bernard Yeung -- Corporate governance in emerging markets / Ruth V. Aguilera, Ilir Haxhi -- Consumer behavior in emerging markets / Raquel Castano, David Flores -- Examining base of the pyramid (BoP) venture success through the mutual value card approach / Krzysztof Dembek, Nagaraj Sivasubramaniam -- Regulatory institutions and multinational companies in emerging markets / Farok Contractor -- Corporate political ties in emerging markets / Pei Sun -- Adjustment of mne geographic market strategy in responding to the rise of local competitors in an emerging market / J.T. Li, Zhenzhen Xie -- Global production networks, territoriality, and political authority / Stephen J. Kobrin -- Innovation in emerging markets / George S. Yip, Shameeen Prashantham -- Human rights, emerging economies, and international business / Florian Wettstein -- Spillovers from FDI in emerging market economies / Sumon Kumar Bhaumik, Nigel Driffield, Meng Song, Priit Vahter -- Risk management for companies operating in emerging markets / Donald Lessard -- Entrepreneurship in emerging markets / Saul Estrin, Tomasz Mickiewicz, Ute Stephan, Mike Wright -- Innovation and internationalization of SMEs in emerging economies / John Child -- Family business in emerging economies / Rodrigo Basco -- The economic and sociological approaches to research on business groups in emerging economies / Chi-Nien Chung, Rose Xiaowei Luo -- State-owned multinationals in international competition / Aldo Musacchio, Felipe Monteiro, Sergio G. Lazzarini -- Local firms within global value chains : from local assembler to value partner / Shameen Prashantham, George S. Yip -- Emerging economy multinationals in advanced economies / Lin Cui, Preet S. Aulakh -- Investments by emerging-economy multinationals in other emerging economies / Jing Li, Daniel Shapiro -- Human resource management in emerging markets / Dana Minbaeva -- Managing multinationals in Brazil : opportunities and challenges / Jorge Carneiro -- Managing emerging markets in Russia / Sheila M. Puffer, Daniel J. McCarthy, Ruth C. May, Galina V. Shirokova, Andrei Panibratov -- India / S Raghunath, Jaykumar Padmanabhan -- How real are the opportunities for multinationals in China? / Peter J. Williamson, Feng Wan -- Managing in emerging markets in Central and Eastern Europe / Kalman Kalotay, Magdolna Sass -- Operating across levels in the global economic hierarchy : insights from South Africa's setting in wider Africa and the world / Helena Barnard, Tessy Onaji-Benson -- Management in Southeast Asia : a business systems perspective / Michael A. Witt

This book focuses on digital innovation and sustainability in the Asian region in the context of business and management. Managers and policy makers rely on digital technologies to face the region’s sustainability challenges and solve sustainability problems. From business perspective, sustainability is defined as the adoption of business strategies, activities, and operations that meet the needs of the firm and its stakeholder today while protecting, sustaining, and enhancing the human and natural resources that will be needed in the future. Digital innovation refers to the application of digital technologies to existing business problems as well as the development of the firm’s strategy, culture, and human resources talent to deal and use digital technologies to solve sustainability issues. There is a consensus among scholars and practitioners that organizations need digital innovation to stay competitive. Businesses that are digital innovators consider new ways to solve old and new sustainability problems facing the Asian region. This book, with its practical examples, gives the reader impulses for new Asian’s approaches and encourages the readers to dare to think and act in new ways. This book is the first annual compilation of innovative ideas and valuable managerial solutions produced by the region’s managers and decision-makers who think and act creatively, helmed by Tobias Endress and Yuosre F. Badir from the School of Management at the Asian Institute of Technology.