Manufacturing strategy in the Netherlands: context and perspective

The purpose of this chapter is to present some of the context of the Dutch manufacturing industry and to use this background to put into perspective what we think are the most salient results of the Dutch part of the IMSS. Firstly, the chapter will address the macro-economic context and the structure of the Dutch industry, and put both into an international perspective. Next, some key sociocultural dimensions will be described and illustrated with reference to the organisation and functioning of politics, religion, industrial relations and education in the Netherlands. Then, the most interesting IMSS results are presented in the light of other observations on the Netherlands and its industry, and discussed in the perspective of the macro-economic, industrial and sociocultural context introduced before. The chapter concludes with some lessons for Dutch industry.