Hermann Simon (born 10 February 1947) is a German author and businessperson. He is
chairman
The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
of
Simon-Kucher & Partners, a strategy and marketing consultancy. He is a
strategy
Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "art of troop leader; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the "art ...
,
marketing and
pricing
Pricing is the process whereby a business sets the price at which it will sell its products and services, and may be part of the business's marketing plan. In setting prices, the business will take into account the price at which it could acqui ...
consultant. An ongoing online German-language survey voted him the second-most influential management thinker. Simon has authored numerous books and writes articles for international newspapers and business magazines.
Short biography
* 1947 Born in
Hasborn/
Eifel
The Eifel (; lb, Äifel, ) is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Community of ...
, Germany
* 1966 High School leaving A-levels certificate, Cusanus High School, Wittlich
* 1967-1969 German Air Force, fighter bomber squadron 33, reserve officer
* 1969-1973 Studies of economics and business administration in Cologne and Bonn
* 1974-1979 Ph.D. and qualification as a university professor under Horst Albach in Bonn
* 1979-1989 Professor at the University of Bielefeld
* 1989-1995 Professor at the University of Mainz
* 1983-2002 Various guest professorships and visiting researcher positions: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1978/79), Vienna Institute for Advanced Studies (1979), Keio University in Tokyo (1983), Stanford University (1984), INSEAD in Fontainebleau (1980–1985), Harvard Business School (1988/89), London Business School (1991–2002)
* 1985-1988 Director, USW The German Management Institute, Schloss Gracht/Cologne
* 1985 Founded the company Simon - Kucher & Partners Strategy & Marketing Consultants
* 1995-2009 CEO of Simon - Kucher & Partners Strategy & Marketing Consultants
* Since 2009 Chairman of Simon - Kucher & Partners Strategy & Marketing Consultants
Career
Simon's career spans three professions in his work as a management consultant,
business
Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...
professor, and author. His books have been translated into 25 languages and are widely read among managers. An ongoing online survey votes him a most-influential management thinker, second only to
Peter Drucker. Simon was inducted into the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame in 2019.
Management consultant
He was CEO of
Simon-Kucher & Partners strategy and marketing consultants from 1995 until 2009. His consulting firm focuses on strategy, marketing, pricing and sales. ''
Bloomberg BusinessWeek'' described Simon-Kucher & Partners as a "world leader in giving advice to companies on how to price their products", and ''
The Economist'' wrote that "Simon-Kucher is the world's leading pricing consultancy".
Author
Simon's books are widely read among managers and have been translated into 25 languages. In March 2011, Simon and co-author
Martin Fassnacht
Martin Fassnacht (born 1965, in Freiburg in Breisgau) is a German economist, professor and director of the Chair of Strategy and Marketing at the WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Managementin Düsseldorf.
Early life and education
Fassnacht was b ...
were awarded the
2010 Georg-Bergler-Prize for ''Preismanagement''. Carrying with it a €20000 prize, this is the most highly endowed award for European marketing textbooks.
In 2006, Simon published ''Manage for Profit, Not for Market Share'', which takes a critical look at the widespread focus on volume and market share and calls for a conscious shift of focus towards
profit
Profit may refer to:
Business and law
* Profit (accounting), the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market
* Profit (economics), normal profit and economic profit
* Profit (real property), a nonpossessory intere ...
.
Simon's most well-known publications include ''Think'' (2004), ''Power Pricing'' (1997), ''
Hidden Champions'' (1996), ''Hidden Champions of the 21st Century'' (2009) and ''Preismanagement'' (3rd edition 2009). Additional publications include ''Das große Handbuch der Strategieinstrumente'' (2002), ''Das große Handbuch der Strategiekonzepte'' (2000) and ''Simon for Managers'' (2000).
Simon has coined a number of phrases which are commonly used in management theory and practice, including "price management", "
hidden champions", "Servicewüste" and "investor marketing".
Since 1988, Simon has regularly authored a column for the German monthly ''Manager Magazin''.
He is a member of the editorial boards of numerous business journals, including the ''International Journal of Research in Marketing'', ''
Management Science'', ''Recherche et Applications en Marketing, Décisions Marketing'', ''
European Management Journal'' and several German journals.
Works
Books
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* (published in 15 languages)
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Selected articles
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Other
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References
External links
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Simon-Kucher & Partners official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, Hermann
Living people
1947 births
Academics of London Business School
University of Cologne alumni
University of Bonn alumni
Bielefeld University faculty
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz faculty
Harvard Business School faculty
Stanford University faculty
German non-fiction writers
German business theorists
German economists
German male non-fiction writers