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Courageous Bets for Growth

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• Finally, as this book went to print, all companies found themselves in the midst of the economic impact due to the global COVID-19 Pandemic that began in early 2020. Since the company pro fi les and documentation were concluded by the end of 2019, the decision was taken not to reinterview all fi rms on how they were dealing with the impact of the pandemic. Past history would suggest, however, that these companies having stood the test of time will, by and large, also master this crisis, although the lasting impact might well leave bigger scars in their industrial fabric than the previous two crises of 2008 and 2015. Although the most recent crises are more likely to be remembered by our readers, there were major wars that shaped the economic environment in some very restric- tive ways and were often of longer duration than the more recent crises, however impactful they might have been. • World War I (1914 – 1918) was experienced by eight of the fi rms, all founded still in the nineteenth Century, resulting in loss of market access or dif fi culty in sourcing materials for production. The pro fi les of Felchlin and Caran d ’ Ache touch on the impact on those companies. • The Great Depression of the 1930s was experienced by 14 of the fi rms, at times requiring adaptations due to loss of customers ( Plumettaz ). Despite the dif fi cult economic circumstances at that time, three companies were founded ( Ricola , Jura , Fraisa ), thriving and growing to this day. • The period of World War II (1939 – 1945) was particularly dif fi cult for any export- oriented fi rm because all borders around Switzerland closed, export markets were lost, and companies had to retrench to the Swiss market. The market closure gave the impetus for founding Pilatus and Filtrox , and three more entrepreneurs saw an opportunity to open up during the war ( DC Swiss , Oetiker , Rüeger ). • The post-World War II period was a time of rapid and sustained economic growth that bene fi ted the exporting SMEs in particular. Several fi rms were founded during this period, a boom ending with the Oil Crisis 1973 . By the end of this period, all but fi ve of the 36 companies were operating. Re fl ecting on the experience of these fi rms over decades indicates that they were not simply one-hit wonders or fl ash-in-the-pans but represented sustained practices over time. It can therefore be claimed that the practices described in this book have stood the test of time. Of course, it is also true that many fi rms were not able to make it through such upheavals, but the focus here is on the survivors .

Courageous Bets for Growth

A number of our companies wagered signi fi cant bets on new markets, technologies, or processes that had to be considered daring in relation to the size of the companies. These are not the initial investments, or risks, assumed by the company founders, or