The Encyclopedia of german World Market Leaders on DDW

The world envies Germany for the breadth of its market leaders in the global markets: Over 1,400 companies can be assigned to this status. The standard work in the collection of these companies is the “Encyclopedia of World Market Leaders”, which will appear on DDW in the future.

The term „World Market Leader“ is often mentioned and quickly used. But who is world market leader and who is not is clearly defined. It is partly thanks to Professor Dr. Bernd Venohr that a scientifically based standard has been set regarding the definition of the term and at the same time those companies that meet these criteria have been identified. His work is not only used as expert opinions in court proceedings, but also forms the basis of the “Lexikon der Weltmarktführer” (LWMF), which was published in book form by Florian Langenscheidt’s Deutsche Standards Editionen until 2015.

The way into the digital age for “Lexikon der Weltmarktführer” (Encyclopedia of World Market Leaders)

The LWMF is now moving into the digital age: From spring 2019 it will appear in the Entrepreneurial Network Die Deutsche Wirtschaft (DDW), which will continue and expand the encyclopedia in a completely revised form and accompany it with comprehensive, also international, measures to promote the German economy and its companies. The seal “Deutscher Weltmarktführer” (German World Market Leader) will stand for technological and market leadership as a sign of quality and trust.

Professor Dr. Bernd Venohr, who continues to act as editor of the LWMF: “For the journey into the future of the encyclopaedia, there could practically only be this one partner, because DDW is unique in the market with its renowned company rankings covering all aspects of family businesses and medium-sized companies”.

Impressive “Who is Who” of the German economy

The list of world market leaders in the LWMF is impressive and indeed unique worldwide: over 1,400 German companies can be identified as global leaders in relevant and high-turnover markets. Most of them are family businesses and medium-sized companies. An additional more than 1,000 German companies are considered “micro world market leaders” with sales below about 25 million euros – especially start-ups.

The list thus represents a veritable “Who’s Who” of well-sounding names, and at the same time offers a veritable pool of rather little-known, yet highly successful companies. All of them are listed in the LWMF according to turnover, business activity, market share, number of countries in which the company is active, as well as other comprehensive company information.

Who can call themselves “World Market Leader”?
Inclusion within the lexicon of world market leaders is based on an in-depth analysis. Professor Venohr: “Both a global market for a product must exist at all, as well as a competition from which one can distinguish oneself. Market pioneers are an exception. Following that, a quantitative determination of world market leadership must be made – either by market share by sales compared to competitors in the same segment, or by market share by number of units. Typical average values for World Market Leaders are 50 to 60 percent foreign share of sales, 60 and more countries supplied, and the existence of own sales offices and/or production facilities on more than three continents.
However, even these verifiable the market figures are still not a sufficient definition of the term “World Market Leader”. Professor Venohr: “Ultimately, a qualitative assessment must also be made, because a company can be the quality or technology leader for a product in a market segment or market niche without having the highest sales in the overall market”. Important qualitative criteria here are customer relations with international renowned customers, which in turn occupy a leading position in the world market, participation in international lighthouse projects or a far above-average R&D quota in comparison with competitors, as well as the dominant number of patents or special awards from internationally leading suppliers and customers.

Ranking based on purely editorial data

In future, the DDW ranking editors will ensure the latest data quality and editorial work in the proven close exchange with the companies themselves as well as through their own ongoing market observations. Professor Dr. Bernd Venohr will continue to lead the final decision on the admission of a company.

As with all other DDW rankings, the inclusion is carried out on a purely editorial, neutral data level and is free of charge for the companies. Bernd Venohr: “The scientific basis of the inclusion is important, since the characteristic of being the world market leader has a significant impact on the public perception of companies and their products.“

Perfect addition

The top rankings as well as informative industry and regional analyses are published on this portal alongside selected other renowned business media. As per usual, the DDW reader service will offer high-quality full versions in Excel format, which can be purchased by companies and research institutions. Companies that are world market leaders can use the seal as a quality mark in consultation with the publisher.

In addition, the LWMF will in future be used as a further criterion for assessing the companies included in the ranking of Germany’s 10,000 most important SMEs (see article on the changes in 2019). DDW-Publisher Michael Oelmann: “The LWMF perfectly complements our claim to capture the really relevant market players in the German economy in their entirety according to different segments. We are looking forward to the cooperation!“

If you have any questions regarding or are interested in the LWMF in list form, the DDW ranking editors are at your disposal via telephone 02131 / 77 687 -20 oder via Email at weltmarkt@die-deutsche-wirtschaft.de  Companies wishing to have their inclusion in the LWMF reviewed can also request a review questionnaire via this address.