Hermann Simon is the founder and honorary chairman of Simon-Kucher, the world’s leading pricing and growth strategy consultancy. A former professor at the universities of Mainz and Bielefeld, he has held visiting professorships at Harvard, Stanford, and MIT. Simon is the only German in the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame and is consistently ranked as the most influential management thinker in the German-speaking world after Peter Drucker. He is best known for coining the term "Hidden Champions" to describe mid-sized, specialized global market leaders. Over a 50-year career, he has authored more than 40 books in 30 languages, including the bestsellers Hidden Champions, Confessions of the Pricing Man, and his autobiography, Many Worlds, One Life.
Key Takeaways
(00:13 - 01:15) Professor Herman Simon Introduction
(01:15 - 08:07) Simon Kutcher pioneered the concept of competitive pricing in the consulting industry
(08:07 - 10:34) One word that can get lost in AI and communications is perceived value
(10:34 - 19:54) What do you see as biggest divide between B2B and consumer worlds
(19:54 - 22:34) Simon Kutcher has almost two businesses right like the primary consulting business
(22:34 - 30:28) AI can help customers experience value faster, but it increases complexity
(30:28 - 38:58) Simon: B2B organizations need to change how they communicate value
(38:58 - 46:05) There's still a big divide between improving content and improving insights
(46:05 - 50:52) Many of our customers are in regulated industries with strong regulations
(50:52 - 53:16) Bureaucracy is right now the hottest issue in Germany
(53:16 - 55:29) For Europe to accelerate is that kind of market pressure
(55:29 - 58:59) You've seen every management trend over a few decades