Brothers Adi and Rudi Dassler were partners in Gebruder Dassler, a Herzogenaurach (Germany) specialist manufacturer of sports footwear. Famously falling out after WW2 and starting Adidas (Adi) and Puma (Rudi), the brothers fought hard for market share with each other and the world – utilizing very different management styles in the process.
Although giving a full history to the current day of the many and varied contests endured by Adidas and Puma, Pitch Invasion introduces the reader to the innovative thinking and entrepreneurship of Adi’s son, Horst Dassler. When aged merely 20, Horst was Adidas’ “man on the spot” for the Melbourne Olympics in 1956 and singlehandedly ensured that most of the track athletes wore the ‘Three Stripes’.
Groomed to take over the sporting behemoth that Adidas was quickly becoming, Horst tried to involve himself in more of the business than his father was comfortable with. As a result, his parents set him up in Adidas France by buying him a disused clothing factory and supplying him with a small amount of seed money. From here, Horst used all of his skills to develop Adidas into what we know today.
Although supposed to be merely a subsidiary of the German parent, Adidas France innovated like no other sporting goods manufacturer had before. It is clear that Horst understood the value of branding, utilizing the Adidas logo and developing lines of clothing, bags, footballs and swimwear that all capitalised on the perceived quality that Adidas enjoyed. Soon, the French son would be dictating terms to the German father as money exploded into the world sporting scene.
In DISC terms, Horst could be categorised as a ‘High D’. According to one of his senior managers, Alain Ronc “He just didn’t care about consultation, weighing problems and costs. He took bold decisions, then it was up to us to find the means to implement them.”
This high D behavioural characteristic is further backed by evidence that Horst was himself a workaholic, with single working stints lasting two days at a time.
Knowing how to get the best out of his employees was probably the key achievement of Horst’s behavioural style. No matter where on the Adidas France foodchain, Horst Dassler’s employees were all a part of the family. Horst infrequently called in favours with the local law enforcement when it was required (staff drink-driving charges) and even lent some staff money. These small gestures were more than enough to ensure staff loyalty for years afterwards, especially in a time when poaching was rife.
The top-down, dictatorial managerial style was common during this period in business and Adidas had a ‘Manufacturing Focus’. The strength of the brand was so good that distributors the world over wanted whatever Adidas made, with lead times stretching out to two years for most products. This obviously made product development and life-cycling key.
Horst’s firm style and ‘win at all costs’ mentality knew no bounds. After his cousin (Rudi’s son) at Puma reneged on a deal to stay clear of football great Pele, Horst did what it took to secure the contracts of the world’s best – in every sport and by any means.
In showing that innovative thinking requires more than being a futurist but coupling this with the ability to know how to exploit the weaknesses of your competitors, Pitch Invasion is compulsory reading for any aspiring manager looking to develop the thought processes of success. It is filled with anecdotes about how Horst went about building one of the world’s biggest brands, then rested on his laurels at exactly the wrong time.
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Allen Lane (25 May 2006)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0713998881
ISBN-13: 978-0713998887
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