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Name Michael SieberCompany Simba Dickie GroupPosition CEOHQ Fürth, Germany; Hong Kong, China; Lavans, FranceEmployees 2,900

EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW

Toy storyIt hasn’t always been a fairytale, but the Simba Dickie Group’s journey has been a huge success.

IMAGES SIMBA DICKIE GROUP

Toy business Simba Dickie began after something of a mini disaster that was a source of important lessons for the company. In the 70s, Michael Sieber — along with his father Fritz — decided to raise some capital by selling 60 per cent of their then business to a Dutch stock-listed holding company. In the changes that followed, there

was a clash in the boardroom. “My father was used to deciding everything by himself and was a real self-starter — very strong and independent,” Michael says. “After the Second World War he started a business by himself and created and developed a wooden toy factory. This didn’t sit well with an international stock-listed company with all the regulations and meetings and everything else. His international vision of a common European market was a good idea — and we did need some support from big companies to create that, and to build up the network — but in the end it didn’t work.”

Michael and his father off loaded their remaining 40-per-cent stake to start a new business on their own as equal partners. “In May 1982 we started Simba Toys from scratch, with a strong network of connections with partners that we knew we could rely on, particularly in Germany, but also internationally. And we also had the knowledge gained from many years of toy manufacturing and toy development.”

Slightly scarred from the Dutch experience, Michael’s father insisted that the new company remain a small, independent, family-run entity. In the first year, the business did well. It was developing product in Germany and then

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EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW

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EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW

“Working with Simba Dickie Group is full of great humanity, absolutely fair, and trustworthy. They treat us not just as a vendor, but more like a partner with mutual and long-term commitment.” – Mr. Kenny Pui, Executive Director, Kidztech Toys

having it made in Eastern Europe through its established relationships in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria. However, Michael’s entrepreneurial spirit meant he couldn’t rest. He knew that businesses that stand still eventually go backwards, and that controlled and measured growth was a necessity.

The company expanded into Asia and saw a period of rapid growth. “We opened an office in Hong Kong in 1984,”

Michael says. “Then everything moved to China and our production costs went down — they were the golden years in China and Hong Kong, in the 90s. Then in 1993, our first big opportunity came: somebody contacted us to ask if we wanted to take over Dickie Toys and Tamiya Germany. The owner had died and his wife couldn’t run the business, so she approached us to take it over.”

Michael was very excited by the idea — Simba was manufacturing toys mostly for babies and lots of dolls for girls, whereas Dickie and Tamiya were strong in the boys market, with cars and hobby items. Not only would there be no overlap, but also the two businesses complemented each other perfectly. His father, however, was not convinced. “He told me I was crazy and that we didn’t have the management power or capacity to run a company

that big. I was disappointed, but I was going to go ahead with or without him. I begged him to think about it, and even two days before we were due to sign the documents, he was saying that it couldn’t work.”

Sure enough though, Fritz turned up on the day, they signed the papers, and Simba Dickie was born. Since then, the Group has made many acquisitions and now comprises fifteen different brands offering more than 4,000 products. It’s been an extraordinary story of growth, and one that has seen many long-term relationships f lourish. “I was quite proud last September in Hong Kong when we had a function to celebrate our new offices,” says Michael. “We invited all our major suppliers, our partners, to say welcome, have some cocktails and listen to some speeches. I chatted with most of our old partners

and subcontractors and it really hit me that for twenty, even thirty years, we have been partners. It hit me how much they support us, and how we support each other. I think that is a huge asset. It made me really proud to see the value of such long-term relationships where you can really rely on each other, not just a supplier–customer relationship, but as true partners. And it is not a one-way role — we helped them as well, in difficult situations.”

It’s not just suppliers either — staff at Simba Dickie stay with the company for a long time too. Michael’s COO has been with the company for twenty-three years, and his CFO for twenty-seven. “One thing that’s very important, not only for me but also for my management, is the idea that ‘business is people’. I am very proud of our colleagues, and our management, and this is something I live as well — our

management is not sitting in an office, in a tower with closed doors. We have open doors and we are happy to have any discussion with colleagues or with employees, no matter how serious — and we are always open to criticism.

“We are clearly team players. I am a soccer fan, and I am also a soccer player. Business is not tennis or golf where you play by yourself. We are a team. You have to have a good coach of course, but we are teamwork-oriented and we are very much focused on our customers as well.”

“It made me really proud to see the value of such long-term relationships where you can really rely on each other, not just a supplier–customer relationship, but as true partners.” - Michael Sieber

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