Dutch Enterprise in the Twentieth Century: Business strategies in a Small Open Economy (review)

Keetie Sluyterman's book is a prominent synthesis of the twentieth-century economic history of the Netherlands from a business history perspective with a main focus on the varying business strategies applied by Dutch businesses. Sluyterman demonstrates how business history can add the essential elements to our understanding.

Sluyterman organizes the book chronologically in four periods. The first period covers the years from 1895 to 1914, where the world economy expanded greatly. Dutch enterprises were very internationally oriented and were able to withstand international competition on the unprotected Dutch market. Philips, Royal Dutch Petroleum Company, and a few additional large enterprises emerged, but they remained managed by their owner families. Their international involvement was stimulated by business opportunities in the Dutch East Asian colony, now Indonesia.

The second period encompasses the economically volatile years from 1914 to 1945. This period started with a war, where the Netherlands managed to stay neutral, but the government came to regulate foreign trade. Dutch enterprises answered the situation by seeking state protection and closer corroboration with the government, workers and colleague enterprises. An outcome was vertical and horizontal integration of enterprises, and in the 1920s, large scale became a prominent feature in manufacturing industry. The collaboration between the government and enterprises became more distanced in the 1920s and competition became more prominent. However, the recession became urgent in Europe when the United Kingdom abandoned sterling's gold standard in 1931, which again forced the Dutch enterprises to cooperate with each other and with the government and workers. From 1940 to 1945, Nazi Germany occupied the Netherlands and Dutch business became a cog in the German war machine, while the whole population became impoverished.

Sluyterman's third period is the recovery after the Second World War and the subsequent economic expansion until 1975. The Netherlands had a managed economy and Dutch enterprises continued their close and constructive relationship with the government, carried on their cartel agreements as far as possible, avoided conflict in labor relations, and used protective corporate governance structures. Dutch companies became larger and were managed more systematically. The United States was the main inspiration for ideas on management and business strategies. Though the Netherlands lost its main colony just after the war, Dutch enterprises resumed their place in the international economy and profited from the expansion of world trade through exports and foreign direct investment.

The years since 1975 of competition in an increasingly global economy is the book's last time period. The period started with an economic decline that the government had hoped could be avoided through management. As a consequence, managed economy lost its attraction, a spirit of free enterprise returned in full force and markets became increasingly global. Parts of the service sector also developed into large integrated and internationally operating companies. In manufacturing, however, the trend was the reverse with less integration, more alliances, and outsourcing. Both large and smaller companies participated in regional and national, as well as, international networks. The shaping of business in this period found international inspiration, particularly from the United States, though Dutch collaborative traditions remained strong in the field of labor relations.

Throughout the sections, spanning the twentieth century, Sluyterman addresses central themes in current business history discourse, such as the rise of the managerial company, the survival of family firms, the success and failure of mergers, tensions in labor relations, business–government relations, and globalization of industry. Her application of these themes and concepts on the development of Dutch enterprise contributes to our understanding of their potentials. Furthermore, this comprehensive history of Dutch enterprises complements comparable histories on enterprises in the large Western countries published in English, French, or German. We need more books like this on the histories of business in the smaller countries to improve understanding of the transformation of enterprises and society in the twentieth century.

Sluyterman's fascinating story is...