Hidden Champions (HCs) are firms unknown to the wider public, but global leaders in the niche markets they serve. This paper looks at distinctive features of these firms, focusing on their dynamic capabilities. Employing a unique data base on German firms, we identify a representative sample of...

Global Recession to Global Recovery: It is well known fact that all good things, as also bad things, come to an end and business cycles pass through good and bad economic times. Economically 2010 was a year of transition from economic recession to recovery. Economies were improving in some...

Managers usually associate ergonomics with occupational health and safety and related legislation, not with business performance. In many companies, these decision makers seem not to be positively motivated to apply ergonomics for reasons of improving health and safety. In order to strengthen...

This paper analyzes the growth and evolution of Knauf CIS Group from 1992 to 2012. The study defines the features and characteristics of the firm’s corporate policies including production and operations, marketing, HR management, and societal engagement. These policies have enabled Russian...

The liberalization of economic policies in the last two decades and intensifying market competition tend to be a cause of policy concern for the survival of SMEs in emerging economies like India. These SMEs account for the largest chunk of industrial units and employment in the national economy....

This paper explores various strategic options available to Japanese firms faced with the increasing market pressures in the global economy. Whether Japanese firms are able to retain the competitive edge will depend on the continuing gains in their manufacturing capability, their capacity to...

Unsolicited ideas, the non-contractual and voluntary submission of innovation-related information from external sources to the firm, hold the promise of becoming an almost costless and limitless font for firms’ innovative efforts. In contrast, in this paper, we analyze the difficulties...

Business Intelligence is currently the keyword for business. BI platforms or software, allow manager to extract proficiency insight, KPI and indicator – or visualize data and reports – not only to conduct expost analysis but especially in order to predict future. Adopting a process-based...

This paper analyzes whether firms conducting internal R&D and acquiring external high-tech equipment experience a complementarity effect. For German CIS data we conduct a complete set of indirect and direct complementarity tests refining the analysis by looking at various types of innovations...

SMEs play an important role in the world economy and contribute substantially to income, output and employment. Reaching global markets is a dream for every. Opening new markets enables firms to increase their sales and hence enabling growth, through increased customer base. Risk is spread by...