• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.187-198
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• 2015

The purpose of this research is to explore the characteristics of Korean Global Hidden Champions focused on the success factors of foreign hidden champions. For this, we investigated the application process of these success factors of foreign hidden champions to Korean Global Hidden Champions and analyzed characteristics of Korean Global Hidden Champions with the cases of 11 companies. This research shows that there are the success factors of foreign hidden champions such as leadership and goals, self production, high-performance employees, market focus, continuous innovation, closeness to customer, globalization. This research also shows that there are some differences in the individual application process of success factors to each company. The Korean SME's trying to achieve the position of global hidden champions should know the success factors of foreign hidden champions clearly and investigate the application process of these success factors to Korean Global Hidden Champions carefully so that they may apply these lessons to their management processes and activities.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.221-234
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• 2015

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the differences between successful SMEs in Korea and German hidden champions, with respect to both strategic importance and performance of major competitive dimensions, and mode of technology development. Data were collected through survey and public databases, and the sample comprises successful SMEs located in regional area in Korea. The results show that Korean hidden champions are relatively low regarding specialization of business domain and globalization while German hidden champions have positioned in global niche market. It is also found that local firms utilize technology alliances actively for technology development while German hidden champions rely heavily on internal R&D as a primary source of innovation. Based upon these results, policy directions for fostering local hidden champions were suggested.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.21-33
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• 2016

This paper aims to investigate the relations among the entrepreneurship, SWOT factors, and performance in Korean hidden champion firms. 112 potential Korean hidden champions were drawn at random from the hidden champion candidates of Export-Import Bank of Korea. For analyzing the relationship of them, the entrepreneurship factors categorized with organizational risk taking, innovativeness, and proactiveness from previous researches(Khandwalla, 1977; Miller, 1983; Miller & Friesen, 1978, 1982). Also, four SWOT factors classified into strength, weakness, opportunities, and threat by confirmatory factor analysis. As a result, we found some statistically significant effects between the SWOT factors and entrepreneurship factors, and they sequentially affects to performance. That is, as a presented with previous research, there is verified that entrepreneurship is caused by organizational risk taking, innovativeness, and proactiveness. Also, SWOT factors significantly affect to business performance. Some guidelines for practicing potential Korea hidden champions as a result of this would include; first of all, it is important to support the potential hidden champions consulting approach in global perspectives; secondly, effective governmental support programs for hidden champions should be developed for positive impacts of according to these results.

• Korean small business review
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.73-88
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• 2009

This study examines the characteristics of 24 Korean hidden champions such as key success factors, core competences, strategic problems, and desirable future directions. The study categorized them into 8 types with Danny Miller's four trajectories and top manager's decision making style(rationality and passion). Danny Miller argued in his book, Icarus paradox, that outstanding firms will extend their orientations until they reach dangerous extremes and their momentum will result in common trajectories of decline. He suggested four very common success types: Craftsmen, Builders, Pioneers, Salesmen. He also suggested common trajectories of decline:Focusing(from Craftsmen to Tinkers), Venturing(from Builders to Imperialists), Inventing(from Pioneers to Escapists), Decoupling(from Salesmen to Drifts). In Korea, successful startups appear to possess three kinds of drive: Technology-drive, Vision-drive, Market-drive. Successful technology-driven firms tend to grow as craftsmen or pioneers. Successful vision-driven and market-driven ones tend to grow as builders and salesmen respectively. Korean top managers or founders seem to have two kinds of decision making style: Passion-based and Rationality-bases. Passion-based(passionate) entrepreneurs are biased towards action or proactiveness in competing and getting things done. Rationality- based ones tend to emphasis the effort devoted to scanning and analysing information to better understand a company's threats, opportunities and options. Consequently this study suggested 4*2 types of Korean hidden champions: (1) passionate craftsmen, (2) rational craftsmen, (3) passionate builders, (4) rational builders, (5) passionate pioneers, (6) rational pioneers, (7) passionate salesmen, (8) rational salesmen. These 8 type firms showed different success stories and appeared to possess different trajectories of decline. These hidden champions have acquired competitive advantage within domestic or globally niche markets in spite of the weak market power and lack of internal resources. They have maintained their sustainable competitiveness by utilizing three types of growth strategy; (1) penetrating into the global market, (2) exploring new service market, (3) occupying the domestic market. According to the types of growth strategy, these firms showed different financial outcomes and possessed different issues for maintaining their competitiveness. This study found that Korean hidden champions were facing serious challenges from the transforming economic structure these days and possessed the decline potential from their success momentum or self-complacence. It argues that they need to take a new growth engine not to decline in the turbulent environment. It also discusses how firms overcome the economic crisis and find a new business area in promising industries for the future. It summarized the recent policy of Korean government called as "Green Growth" and discussed how small firms utilize such benefits and supports from the government. Other implications for firm strategies and governmental policies were discussed.

• Electronics and Telecommunications Trends
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.79-86
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• 2015

국내 중소기업은 양적인 증가가 지속되고 있으나 중견기업 또는 대기업으로 성장 잠재력은 미흡하다. R&D 투자부족에 따른 기술경쟁력 미흡이 성장 장애의 주된 요인으로 부각되고 있는데 우리나라 국가경제의 경쟁력과 창조경제 산업구조를 강화하기 위해서는 글로벌 역량을 확보한 히든 챔피언의 육성이 필요한 실정이다. ICT 중소기업을 대상으로 사례분석과 설문조사를 실시한 결과, 한국형 글로벌 히든 챔피언을 육성하기 위해서는 기업의 기술역량 강화가 가장 핵심이며 특히 원천기술 개발, 융합기술 역량강화를 위해 출연연을 비롯하여 산학연 협력 또는 개방형 혁신을 통한 맞춤형 개발지원과 공동 R&D 프로그램 개발이 필요한 것으로 나타났다.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.97-111
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• 2013

This study reviews preceding research for detailed factors to establish development strategies for Korean Hidden Champion firms and classifies strategy factors into internal ones and external ones through specialists' opinions to draw strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of each factor. It also sets hierarchical model to draw up a survey, distributes the survey to groups of specialists and enterprises respectively and then examines consistency ratio. Fifty-four copies of survey whose reliability on responses is secured through examining the consistency ratio are evaluated with their relative importance in factors by using SWOT/AHP technique and their order of priority is determined. Based on their results, development strategies for Korean Hidden Champion firms are established. SWOT/AHP analyses results show that external factors are with the opportunity of industry growth and the threat of intensified competition and market uncertainty and internal factors are with the strength in order of technological competence, construction competence in customer relation and marketing competence. The weakness in the lack of funds, lack of brand awareness in order. This result suggests that external environments of enterprises that more emphasis should be put on the industry growth and aggressive strategies cannot help but be adopted even in a global competition getting fiercer every day are seen more important. Then, it also seems to be thought that the technological competence including R&D and specialization, construction competence in customer relation and marketing competence should internally chosen for strategies to support strategies. The order of priority in development strategies for Korean Hidden Champion firms is drawn as; (i) aggressive S/O strategy which utilizes opportunities by taking advantage of strengths, (ii) W/O strategy which utilizes opportunities by supplementing weaknesses, (iii) diversified S/T strategy which utilizes strengths to make up for threats and (iv) defensive W/T strategy which supplements weaknesses to overcome threats.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.341-366
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• 2013

The term, Mittelstand, has no exact english translation for the definition, but, today, Mittelstand refers to small and medium-sized enterprises(SME), mostly family-owned firms in Germany. The Mittelstand is called the backbone of the German economy because it drove the economic miracle after World War II. During the global recession and the euro zone's debt crisis in recent years, in which european businesses have faced the near-collapse of competitiveness particularly in manufacturing, the German exports are booming and exceeded exports of China in 2012. Most importantly, the Germany economic performance has been widely attributed to the strength of the Mittelstand. Many of countries, even some leading public companies are seeking to emulate the success of the Mittelstand. Investors evaluate that many of Germany's investable "hidden champions" are Mittelstand companies. The purpose of this study is to present some of answers to the following questions: Firstly, what makes the German Mittelstand so successful? Secondly, what does the success of the German Mittelstand mean for the Korean SMEs in global competitiveness? Thirdly, what Korean government has to do improve the global competitiveness of the Korean SMEs? Some discussions in this study mention the managerial implications for Korean exporting SMEs particularly in manufacturing. Several factors that account for the success of the German Mittelstand are technological excellence and the tradition of family-owned management, concentration on niche market and globalization, and institutional supports. There are some of important lessons to be learned from the German Mittelstand. If the purposes of Korean SMEs want to remain in the sustainable competitive advantage and withstand unforeseen economic turbulences in the future, they must be able to meet the followings: 1) Technology that meets the global standard or exceeding it 2) Competitiveness in price in the global market 3) Active involvement in the globalization process, utilizing various entry modes Innovative products at globally competitive price are a crucial point for Korean exporting SMEs to achieve their competitive edge over others in the target markets abroad. It is time for Korean SMEs to cultivate a core competence in manufacturing in order to position Korea as a global manufacturing hub with SMEs leading.