Making the Leap from a Global Niche Top Company to a Global Mega Company: Comparative Analysis of Three Companies in the Pneumatic Equipment Market

抄録

If a Global Niche Top (GNT) Company can continue to grow with the growing niche market, it can become a Global Mega (GM) Company. However, the growing market is also attractive to other companies, which may increase the number of competitors and reduce the GNT company’s market share. This study compares and analyzes SMC Corporation from Japan, which has maintained high growth rates in the pneumatic equipment market and is on the verge of becoming a GM, with two competitors, Festo (Germany) and CKD (Japan), to identify what a company needs to grow faster than the growing market. Regarding hypothesis, we add “market expansion”, which Namba et al. (2016) state that the conditions driving the growth from being GNT companies, to concepts of hidden champion companies by Simon (2009, 2012). This study consists of comparison analyses and hypothesis verification by conducting case studies of; disclosures from SMC, Festo, and CKD; semi-structured interviews with these companies’ key persons, their competitors, customers, and securities analysts. Namba et al. (2016) states that conditions of GNT companies becoming GM companies is necessary for additional research. This study shows factors to the requirement from GNT companies to GM companies in the pneumatic equipment market. Concepts for hidden champion companies and previous research on GNT companies observe technological concentration and progress as “requirements” for growth but this study shows it is not absolutely necessary requirement. This study suggests to add the following factors to the requirement list for a leap forward to become a GM company: 1) acquiring “organizational capabilities” to respond to customer’s true-cause needs (customization), 2) standardizing the customized solution (standardization), and 3) having a “strategic cycle in practice”, standard products to customized upon customers’ request, back to standardized for anticipated larger demands, greatly contributes to sales growth with cost reduction, according to their business environmental change.