Dutch Business Structures

A deep-rooted system of industrial democracy has been developed in the Netherlands and has been in existence for more than thirty years.

The key institution in this system is the Works Council which has elected members, rights of discussion, recommendation, and crucially, access to information.

Although the Works Council meets in private, the meetings are always followed up with a meeting with senior management. Industrial relations have been historically good with emphasis placed on co-operation and conciliation, resulting in low levels of days lost through industrial action.

Larger companies in the Netherlands (NV or NaamlozeVennootsschap) have a supervisory board, in addition to a management board and managing director. This supervisory board is made up of members who are not employed by the company and whose job it is to oversee the direction of the company, appoint the management board and finalise the annual accounts. The Supervisory board seems to have many of the powers that might be vested in shareholders in some other countries, which possibly safeguards senior management from excessive shareholder interference. (For example, questions of merger and take-over are determined by the Supervisory board and not by shareholders.)

Author

This country-specific business culture profile was written by Keith Warburton who is the founder of the cultural awareness training consultancy Global Business Culture. 

Global Business culture is a leading training provider in the fields of cross-cultural communication and global virtual team working.  We provide training to global corporations in live classroom-based formats, through webinars and also through our cultural awareness digital learning hub, Global Business Compass.

This World Business Culture profile is designed as an introduction to business culture in The Netherlands only and a more detailed understanding needs a more in-depth exploration which we can provide through our training and consultancy services.