From Initiator to Consumer The Changing Role of Government in the Field of Dutch Management in the Period 1945-95

The Dutch government has played a significant role in the dissemination of management knowledge to the Dutch business community and as such in the professionalization of management since the mid-1940s. After the Second World War, the Dutch government initiated and stimulated the development of an institutionalized network to transfer management knowledge. In the 1980s, however, the government’s position changed dramatically. Its directive role as stimulator and distributor of knowledge diminished and was taken over by actors such as consulting agencies, gurus and commercial publishers. As well as decreasing its role as distributor, the government also changed its own position. Governmental bodies themselves increasingly began to use management knowledge and in doing so became one of the largest consumers in the Netherlands.