期刊名称：South East European Journal of Economics and Business
印刷版ISSN：1840-118X
出版年度：2017
卷号：12
期号：1
页码：89-103
DOI：10.1515/jeb-2017-0008
语种：English
出版社：Walter de Gruyter GmbH
摘要：This paper sheds light on factors that support SMEs becoming market leaders on an international scale. Specifically, it studies the hidden champion type of companies, defined as SMEs that hold market leadership in narrow business segments on a regional or wider international scale. The market positioning of hidden champions is defined subjectively by CEOs in such a way that they create a high level of business attractiveness. This explorative study reveals that product leadership and customer intimacy are two blocks that build the business attractiveness of hidden champions. More specifically, the study on data from 93 niche leaders from Central and Eastern Europe showed that product leadership negatively moderates the business attractiveness-performance relationship, while the impact of the combination of product leadership and customer intimacy on the business attractiveness-firm performance relationship is not straightforward and depends on different combinations of these values.
关键词：strategy ; value proposition ; industry attractiveness ; product leadership ; customer intimacy
