Swiss Made: The Untold Story Behind Switzerland's Success

Front Cover
Profile Books, Jan 10, 2013 - Business & Economics - 437 pages
Why has Switzerland - a tiny, land-locked country with few natural advantages - become so successful for so long at so many things? In banking, pharmaceuticals, machinery, even textiles, Swiss companies rank alongside the biggest and most powerful global competitors. How did they get there? How do they continue to refresh themselves? Does the Swiss 'Sonderfall' (special case) provide lessons others can learn and benefit from? Can the Swiss continue to perform in a hyper-competitive global economy? Swiss Made offers answers to these and many other questions about the country as it describes the origins, structures and characteristics of the most important Swiss companies. The authors suggest success is due to a large degree to sound entrepreneurial thinking and an openness to new ideas. And they venture a surprising forecast on the country's ability to keep pace in an age of globalisation.
 

Contents

Foreword
Introduction
It all started with milk
good timing
or how to sell snow and
Switzerlands silent traders
countless profits
Spinning and weaving profits
From supercomputers to mice
Swiss achievement in art and architecture
why multinationals love Switzerland
getting to Switzerland
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgements

the wonders of medical technology
Switzerlands mighty industrial machines
knowledge for sale
mastering mobility
Picture credits
Index
Copyright

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About the author (2013)

James Breiding is author of Swiss Made - the untold story behind Switzerland's success. Available in 7 languages, the book has become the most authoritative work on 'Swissness'. His writing on Swiss issues appear in The Economist, Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal. He was elected a fellow at Harvard's Centre for International Development, and is the founder and owner of Naissance Capital, a Zurich investment firm.

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