The Evolution of Hidden Champions as Niche Entrepreneurs

A stream of research has begun to examine other forms of entrepreneurship, one of them being niche entrepreneurship with hidden champions being a prime example of these. Many economies are powered by rather small and medium sizes companies and some of these companies have become world-market leaders in highly specific niche markets and had been termed "hidden champions". Hidden champions are small to midsized companies that are often technology leaders within their niche market yet they are not commonly known to the public given their specialized markets. They are often located in rural areas and serve B2B markets so that they are only known by customers and the local community.

The Evolution of Hidden Champions as Niche Entrepreneurs portrays hidden champions as an important vehicle in shaping a country's technological and economic competitiveness, revealing their key business strategies and investigating their evolution over space (geographical distribution) and time (technological change). Finally, the authors illustrate the subsequent growth in academic research which show that economies differ in providing hidden champions with an institutional environment that complementarily fits their individual strategic choices. The second part of this work analyses the evolution of hidden champions over time.

The monograph starts by introducing a fundamental concept of hidden champions. Section 2 defines the concept and distinguishes it from similar concepts. Section 3 presents the key characteristics of hidden champions and provides empirical evidence from research on hidden champions. Section 4 presents the evolution of hidden champions, both geographically and historically. Section 5 outlines the development of the hidden champions' research field and its main milestones. Section 6 then presents the key contemporary discussions around hidden champions. Section 7 concludes and provides an outlook into future research.