Germany's "hidden champions" vs China's "single champions", what characteristics are similar and which are very different? This article is to make a comparison.
(1) Evaluation criteria
Germany's "hidden champions" and China's "individual champions" have criteria when judging.
Germany's definition of a "hidden champion" needs to meet 3 criteria:
1. The top three companies in the world's interbank market or at least the first company in a continent or country;
2. The annual turnover is less than 5 billion euros (this standard was 1 billion euros in 1995 and 3 billion euros in 2005, respectively, and increased to 5 billion euros in 2014, which is also the latest ceiling standard);
3, not known to the outside world, the public visibility is relatively low.
This evaluation criterion is a "simplified version" of the standard, but it is also sufficient to illustrate the problem. In layman's terms: the best among peers, relatively small in scale, very low-key.
China's definition of manufacturing "single champion" includes "single champion demonstration enterprise" and "single champion product". The following conditions must be met:
1. Adhere to professional development
Enterprises have long-term focus and deep ploughing in a certain link of the industrial chain or a certain product field. Engaged in related fields for 10 years or more, and new products should reach 3 years or more.
2. The market share is leading in the world
The market share of enterprise application products ranks among the top three in the world. In principle, the product categories are in accordance with the 8-digit or 10-digit code of the "Classification Catalogue of Products for Statistical Purposes", and those that are difficult to accurately classify should conform to the generally recognized practices of the industry.
3. Strong innovation ability
The company's production technology and technology are internationally leading, attach importance to R&D investment, have core independent intellectual property rights, and lead or participate in the formulation of technical standards in related fields.
4. High quality and efficiency
The product quality applied by the enterprise is excellent, and the key performance indicators are at the leading level of similar products in the world. Excellent operating performance, profitability exceeds the overall level of industry enterprises. Attach importance to and implement the international operation and brand strategy, the global market prospects are good, establish a sound brand cultivation management system and achieve good results.
5. Have independent legal personality, with sound financial, intellectual property rights, technical standards, quality assurance and safety production management system
In the past three years, there have been no illegal records of environment, quality, safety, etc., and the energy consumption of enterprises applying for products has reached the advanced value of energy consumption quota standards, and the level of safe production has reached the advanced level of the industry.
The "single champion" demonstration enterprise has strict requirements for "focus", and the sales revenue of the corresponding products reaches more than 70% of the main business income of the enterprise. If you can't achieve it, you can only apply for the "single champion" product.
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology attaches great importance to focus, share, innovation and quality, and does not care about the upper limit of corporate turnover, such as Guizhou Moutai is also on the list, and Moutai has a turnover of more than 15 billion euros. For enterprises to be high-profile or low-key, China's "single champion" does not care. Chinese companies like to use the capital market to achieve rapid expansion, and they cannot keep a low profile after listing.
(2) Comparison of the number of "hidden champions" and "single champions"
Although the book "The Hidden Champion" was published relatively early, Simon continued to track the changes in the data after its publication. According to Simon's 2016 study, there are 2734 "hidden champions" in the world, of which Germany has the most, with 1307, followed by the United States with 366, Japan with 220, and China with only 68, ranking eighth in the world. The number of "hidden champions" companies per million inhabitants in Germany is 16, and there are 13 to 14 in countries such as Austria and Switzerland, while China has only 0.1, ranking seventeenth.
In 2019, the number of "hidden champions" in China increased, reaching 98. Based on this statistic, we make a histogram:
As can be seen from this chart, China's "hidden champions" are far behind major manufacturing countries.
Professor Simon's data source is unofficial, there may be statistical problems, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in 2016 did the manufacturing "single champion" statistics, because it is reported by various provinces, so there are few omissions. So far, the mainland has selected a total of 596 manufacturing "single champions" in 5 batches, including 340 demonstration enterprises and 256 "single champion" products. Since the enterprises that produce "single champion" products are diversified enterprises and do not meet the criteria of "focusing" on the "hidden champion", so we only take the "single champion demonstration enterprise" 340 as China's "hidden champions", and the ranking situation becomes, the following chart:
Of course, here only the number of manufacturing "single champions" is compared, if the best of the "specialized, specialized and new" small giants are compared with other countries, China's "hidden champions" will be better.
(3) The age of the "hidden champion" and the "single champion"
According to the book "The Pioneers of Future Globalization of Hidden Champions", the median age of "hidden champions" companies around the world is 66 years old. Germany's "hidden champions" are generally "older", for example, founded in 1745, the world's leading manufacturer of hydraulic lifting equipment, J. D. Neuhaus, nearly 280 years old.
Compared with Europe's century-old "hidden champions" companies, China's "hidden champions" companies are much younger.
Taking the 104 enterprises in Jiangsu Province as an example, the average age is 19.6 years old, of which the largest is 40 years old, and this time is just in line with the rapid development of China's reform and opening up economy. From the late 1970s to the beginning of the 21st century, with China's active integration into the wave of economic globalization, many Of China's "hidden champions" took advantage of the time difference, cost difference, industrial gap and huge untapped market to cooperate with market insight, seize opportunities, occupy the market, and achieve foothold and rapid growth.
The vast majority of Germany's "hidden champions" are family-owned businesses.
"Some family businesses, although very small, may have spent more than two generations studying customer needs, which is one of the advantages of family businesses. When a family business focuses on a distinctive area, it accumulates very deep expertise and experience, and the longer it lives, the deeper the accumulation of knowledge and brand. This is a great advantage that family businesses can take advantage of to develop another niche. They will continue to live longer. A German expert introduced.
The "single champion" in Chinese enterprises, due to the relatively large volume, in the process of development, many have realized the shareholding system, the equity has begun to disperse, and the control of the family is not strong. After many companies are listed, the equity is more dispersed, and the family inheritance is further diluted. Therefore, how long these companies can survive and how long they can adhere to specialization will form a lot of unknowns.
(4) The international level of "hidden champions" and "single champions"
The long-term focus on a certain segment has made the domestic market capacity of the German "hidden champion" enterprises become narrow, and the business, resources, etc. are too concentrated, but the "hidden champions" enterprises have perfectly overcome this drawback by taking advantage of the development of globalization.
Increasing the number of effective customers globally within a limited niche market offers huge growth opportunities for "hidden champions" companies. The data shows that the current "hidden champion" enterprises have an average of 30 overseas subsidiaries. For example, The World's largest wine and spirits transportation company, Highlander, has 73 overseas branches covering all important countries around the world. Karcher, the world's leading company for high-pressure cleaners, has been entering overseas markets since the 1970s, setting up one or two overseas branches every year to carry out international business. Today, Kach has 129 subsidiaries in 23 countries. The CEO of Kach once said: "My goal is to open branches all over the United Nations member states." ”
Comparison of the globalization level of some "hidden champions" in China and Germany
Compared with European "hidden champions" companies, China's "hidden champions" companies are generally less globalized, with fewer overseas branches and smaller global reputations. In order to make up for this disadvantage, the mainland's "hidden champions" enterprises are striving to benchmark the most advanced international technologies, compete with international enterprises, and enter the international market. For example, Jiangsu Hengli Hydraulics has carried out a global strategic layout, acquired Hawey InLine Hydraulics in Germany, established a factory in Chicago, usa, and gradually built an international manufacturing and sales network in China, the United States, Germany and Japan.
(4) Differences in advanced manufacturing segments
In the field of advanced manufacturing segments, Germany's "hidden champions" occupy the high-end, mainly core materials and components, while China's "single champion" enterprises are still in the low-end or as consumer goods in comparison, for example, the first batch of manufacturing "single champions" released in 2017 include Guizhou Moutai and Pearl River Piano, for consumer products such as liquor and piano, far from core materials and components.
However, the number of "single champion" consumer products in China is not large, from the perspective of the industry, taking Jiangsu as an example, the "single champion" enterprises in Jiangsu Province are mainly concentrated in 17 industries and 104 fields such as general equipment manufacturing and special equipment manufacturing. However, from the perspective of subdivisions, most of them are traditional manufacturing products such as road rollers, children's carts, rail transit interior decoration products, oxygen generators, grinding and polishing equipment, and lack of "hidden champions" enterprises in key advanced manufacturing fields, as well as some cutting-edge cutting-edge technology products such as new material products, advanced machinery and equipment products, and biomedical products. Therefore, China's "single champion" enterprises still need to break through innovation and strive to open up the world's advanced manufacturing field. #Finance ##企业 #