BIO
A graduate from Ecole Polytechnique, Stephan Guinchard also holds an MBA from the London Business School. He was a strategy consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) until May 2014. He is the founder and CEO of Heraxis, a consulting company that contributes to the emergence, development and sustainability of hidden champions in France. In September 2014, Stefan Guinchard joined the Ixens firm as a partner.
His book Les Champions cachés du XXIe siècle. Stratégies à succès (Economica‚ 2012), co-authored with German professor Hermann Simon, has won several awards. He is co-host, with Michel Berry, of the seminar “Aventures Industrielles” de l’École de Paris du management (Industrial Adventures, Paris School of Management).
Les champions cachés sont des leaders de marché méconnus du grand public. Ces petites et moyennes entreprises sont focalisées sur des niches qu'elles dominent à une échelle nationale, régionale, voire mondiale, avec des parts de marché pouvant dépasser 70%. Particulièrement nombreuses en Allemagne, où elles forment la colonne vertébrale du Mittelstand, elles expliquent à la fois la puissance exportatrice et la résilience face aux crises.
Hidden champions are market leaders that are often not well known by the general public. These small and medium size businesses focus on niche markets that they dominate at a national, regional or even global scale, with a market share often exceeding 70%. Exceptionally numerous in Germany, where they form the backbone of the Mittelstand, they explain both this country's exporting power and its resilience to crises.