This study explores how non-executive directors are challenged by management while they seek to improve the effectiveness of supervisory boards in the Netherlands. A combination of semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire among non-executive directors indicates that supervisory board members mainly experience boardroom challenges in three core areas: the ability of non-executive directors to ask management critical questions, information asymmetries between the management and supervisory boards and the management of the relationship between individual executive and non-executive directors. The qualitative in-depth analysis reveals the complexity of the main contributing factors to problems in the boardroom as well as the range of process and social interventions non-executive directors use to address boardroom issues. The findings highlight the need to better understand boardroom processes and the need of non-executive directors to carefully manage relationships in and around the boardroom.
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Triggered by highly publicised corporate scandals, changing societal expectations and the collapse of financial markets, the roles of boards of directors have changed significantly in safeguarding the interest of shareholders and other stakeholders. Yet, relatively little is known about contemporary challenges non–executive directors face and whether their boards are well–equipped for their new tasks. Based on self–assessment reports by supervisory boards, a survey and interviews with supervisory board members, this paper investigates the challenges non–executive directors face in the Netherlands, particularly after a decade of corporate governance reform. Non–executive directors' inadequate role in scrutinising executive directors' performance, information asymmetries and dysfunctional working relationships between executive and non–executive directors are among the greatest challenges indicated by non–executive directors on Dutch supervisory boards. The paper discusses several implications for scholars and practitioners and provides a unique insight in boardroom dynamics.
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Purpose – This study seeks to explore how non-executive directors address governance problems on Dutch two-tier boards. Within this board model, challenges might be particularly difficult to address due to the formal separation of management boards' decision-management from supervisory boards' decision-control roles. Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire among non-executive directors provide unique insights into three major challenges in the boardrooms of two-tier boards in The Netherlands. Findings – The study indicates that non-executive directors mainly experience challenges in three areas: the ability to ask management critical questions, information asymmetries between the management and supervisory boards and the management of the relationship between individual executive and non-executive directors. The qualitative in-depth analysis reveals the complexity of the contributing factors to problems in the boardroom and the range of process and social interventions non-executive directors use to address boardroom issues with management and the organization of the board. Practical implications – While policy makers have been largely occupied with the “right” board composition, the results highlight the importance of adequately addressing operational challenges in the boardroom. The results emphasize the importance of a better understanding of board processes and the need of non-executive directors to carefully manage relationships in and around the boardroom. Originality/value – Whereas most studies have focussed on regulatory initiatives to improve the functioning of boards (e.g. the independence of the board), this study explores how non-executive directors attempt to enhance the effectiveness of boards on which they serve.
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Interview met Stefan Peij in SC Online
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Background: To be accountable to laws and regulations, healthcare professionals spend more than 40% of their time on administrative tasks. The Compulsory Mental Healthcare Act (CMHA) was introduced in Dutch mental healthcare in 2020. It was hypothesized that this legislative amendment would raise the administrative burden for some care professionals. Pilot studies in 2020 and 2021 visualized the exponentially rise of the administrative burden for care professionals, especially psychiatrists due to the transition. However the total response was too small and not generalizable. Aim: gain more nationwide insight in the hypothesized raise of administrative burden of psychiatrists due to the implementation of the CMHA. Method: Under the leadership of an advisory board of three medical director psychiatrists, a Likert scale questionnaire was further developed to investigate the administrative burden of psychiatrists in the Netherlands before and after transition. Open-ended questions provided the opportunity for feedback from the psychiatrists. The study was supported by the Department of Medical Directors (DMD) of The Netherlands Psychiatric Association (NPA). Results: all mental health institutions members of the DMD of the NPA received an invitation to participate. 14 institutions (total N=158) responded. The data show a significant change in the time spent on administrative tasks, the usefulness of the administrative actions, the fit for use and ease of use of supporting systems. The forementioned all decreased significantly after the implementation. Conclusion and discussion: Psychiatrists spend more time on administration than before the legislative amendment instead of helping vulnerable patients. None of the institutions has been able to use the transition to its advantage given the time spent on administrative tasks and the usefulness of these tasks. This is an unacceptable development in the field of mental health in the Netherlands and should be addressed to those who are responsible for the decision making, especially policy makers. These results show that the introduction of the CMHA have made the field of Dutch mental health an impossible area to work for. , Administrative burden, Legislative amendment, Public governance, Information Management
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The Research Group International Cooperation investigates the acquisition of international competencies by internships or study abroad, the international competencies of lecturers, the needs and demands for international competencies of alumni and employers and which factors are important to attract international students to stay and work in the Netherlands. Sending students abroad is, by itself, not enough to develop international competencies, just as bringing students of different nationalities together in an international classroom is, by itself, not enough. The Research Group International Cooperation has therefore developed a training module to prepare students for the purposeful acquisition of international competencies (PREFLEX, Preparation for your Foreign Learning Experience). The Hague University of Applied Sciences wishes to be and to present itself as an international institute of higher education. That requires both a whole package of interventions to strengthen its international character and a clear message to Dutch and foreign partners and to prospective international and Dutch students. In order to bring policy, implementation, profiling and research together, The Hague University of Applied Sciences organized on 15 March 2013 an international conference for team leaders and directors, for internationalization and internship coordinators, for researchers and foreign partners and for international Dutch and foreign students. The aim was to sharpen the vision and the profile of The Hague University of Applied Sciences and to equip the participants with the ideas and the tools to engage all lecturers and students in international cooperation. After the introduction by Susana Menéndez and the keynote lecture by Lisa Childress, the workshops gave the participants an opportunity to go deeper into various aspects of internationalization and to engage actively in discussions with the workshop chairs, who introduced the topics. I hope that these proceedings will give all participants an insight in all workshops and also that non-participants can taste the fruits of this most inspiring and informative gathering.
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The literature on how organizations respond to institutional pressure has shown that the individual decision-makers’ interpretation of institutional pressure played an important role in developing organizational responses. However, it has paid less attention to how this interpretation ultimately contributes to their range of organizational decisions when responding to the same institutional pressure. We address this gap by interviewing board members of U.S. and Dutch hospitals involved in adopting best practices regarding board evaluation. We found four qualitatively different cognitive frames that board members relied on to interpret institutional pressure, and which shaped their organizational response. We contribute to the literature on organizational response to institutional pressure by empirically investigating how decision-makers interpret institutional pressure, by suggesting prior experience and role definition as moderating factors of multidimensional cognitive frames, and by showing how these cognitive frames influence board members’ response to the same institutional pressure.
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Planning of transport through inland shipping is complex, highly dynamic and very specific. Existing software support is focusing on road transport planning and/or is merely a visual representation of shipments to be manually assigned to particular vessels. As a result inland shipment planning is time-consuming and highly relies on the personal skills of the planner. In this paper we present a business rules based model that aims to further support inland shipping organizations in their shipment planning by identifying the characteristics and constraints that are of interest and the related explicated business rules. The model is derived from transport-related literature, explorative expert interviews and transport management software vendors. The usability and applicability of the model is subsequently successfully empirically tested using identified performance measures through a case study at a major European inland shipping broker
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Aim To provide insight into the basic characteristics of decision making in the treatment of symptomatic severe aortic stenosis (SSAS) in Dutch heart centres with specific emphasis on the evaluation of frailty, cognition, nutritional status and physical functioning/functionality in (instrumental) activities of daily living [(I)ADL]. Methods A questionnaire was used that is based on the European and American guidelines for SSAS treatment. The survey was administered to physicians and non-physicians in Dutch heart centres involved in the decision-making pathway for SSAS treatment. Results All 16 Dutch heart centres participated. Before a patient case is discussed by the heart team, heart centres rarely request data from the referring hospital regarding patients’ functionality (n = 5), frailty scores (n = 0) and geriatric consultation (n = 1) as a standard procedure. Most heart centres ‘often to always’ do their own screening for frailty (n = 10), cognition/mood (n = 9), nutritional status (n = 10) and physical functioning/functionality in (I)ADL (n = 10). During heart team meetings data are ‘sometimes to regularly’ available regarding frailty (n = 5), cognition/mood (n = 11), nutritional status (n = 8) and physical functioning/functionality in (I)ADL (n = 10). After assessment in the outpatient clinic patient cases are re-discussed ‘sometimes to regularly’ in heart team meetings (n = 10). Conclusions Dutch heart centres make an effort to evaluate frailty, cognition, nutritional status and physical functioning/functionality in (I)ADL for decision making regarding SSAS treatment. However, these patient data are not routinely requested from the referring hospital and are not always available for heart team meetings. Incorporation of these important data in a structured manner early in the decision-making process may provide additional useful information for decision making in the heart team meeting.
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This feasibility report aims to create a solid background for Savings Groups programming in Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands where partner organisations of the LETS SAVEE1 project are based. This Erasmus+ funded project aims at exploring the potential of saving groups in the European countries’ context, by improving entrepreneurial skills and access to financial services and social networks of diverse target groups. This particular report provides the partner organisation as well as other interested implementing organisations with a better understanding of how the different contexts influences the setting up and/or scale up of saving groups. This report is set up as follows: The market potential is based on literature of societal developments and how they can be linked to the emergence of saving groups in the respective countries and what kind of target groups have potential for benefitting the services offered by savings groups. By mapping partner organisations, the feasibility study identifies present and potential partners and stakeholders which could play an essential role reaching out to target groups. Then, the study will inform partner organisations and other implementers about the legal framework in each country that allows them to set up Savings Groups accordingly and identify issues that might need advocacy actions. Finally, this report provides a mapping of risk factors and ways to mitigate risks for savings groups members that were applicable for all partner organizations.
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