Eelke M. Heemskerk
Decline of the Corporate Community
Network Dynamics of the Dutch Business Elite
From its inception, big business in the western industrialised world has been organised in national business communities. Central elements of these business communities are corporate board interlocks that constitute the notorious ‘Old Boys Network’. This corporate elite connects the centres of corporate governance.
In recent times, these networks of the corporate elite show signs of decline. Heemskerk investigates how the decline of the old boys network in the Netherlands has affected Dutch capitalism. Combining formal network analysis with insights from interviews with key corporate elite members, he shows how during the last quarter of the 20th century the Dutch business community has disappeared. This is interpreted as a drift towards a liberal market economy.
However, as the study shows, even in a liberal market economy corporate directors need social networks to communicate and coordinate their strategic decisions. Hence, the corporate elite shift its meeting network to private and informal circles.
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Eelke M. Heemskerk is affiliated with the Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam, and is a consultant for the Galan Group.
Reviews
Amid the many discussions of the impact of globalization on national
economies and corporate networks, there are surprisingly few studies
that provide detailed empirical analyses. This well-written book by
Eelke Heemskerk is remarkable in providing a longitudinal study of the
ties among Dutch corporations and their managers and the relation of
these ties to important social questions regarding governance and
compensation. Heemskerk looks at the grain of sand of Holland and
arrives thoughtfully at a diagnosis of the corporate changes found today
in many advanced and emerging economies. The care to position Holland
relative to the studies of other countries makes the book an excellent
reference.
Bruce Kogut
Eli Lilly Professor of Innovation, Business, and Society
INSEAD
In the late 1960s, many believed the Dutch corporate system to be overseen by an elite group of 200 mutually-acquainted businessmen and aristocrats who served on the most important corporate boards together--a view that was not far wrong. Yet during the late 1990s, as globalization pushed the Netherlands moved more in the direction of the Anglo-American 'shareholder value' corporate regime, this old boys network began to give way. By the early years of the 21st century, the evident cohesion among elites had largely disappeared. Through comprehensive analyses of the Dutch corporate board network over time, as well as interviews with many of the key players, Heemskerk explains how the old community fell apart, and along the way provides an insightful account of how economic elite structures evolve due to internal and external pressures.
Jerry Davis
Wilbur K. Pierpont Collegiate Professor of Management
Stephen M. Ross School of Business
University of Michigan
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