Thesis Argues for a Radical Change in the Way Multinational Corporations Prepare Their Decisions, Both on a Strategic Level and on a Day-To-Day Operational Level
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UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Associative corporate governance: the steel industry case Joustra, P.K. Publication date 2011 Document Version Final published version Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Joustra, P. K. (2011). Associative corporate governance: the steel industry case. Vossiuspers - Amsterdam University Press. http://nl.aup.nl/books/9789056296964-associative-corporate- governance.html General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:26 Sep 2021 AUP-Joustra:AUP/Voorbij 06-10-2011 11:08 Pagina 1 UvA Dissertation Associative CorporateGovernance Associative Faculty of Economics and Business Corporate Governance This thesis argues for a radical change in the way multinational corporations prepare their decisions, both on a strategic level and on a day-to-day operational level. It proposes and details a new perspective of corporate The Steel Industry Case governance based on the principles of associative democracy as a pre- condition for a truly sustainable company policy. The author has chosen the steel industry as the breeding ground for this new perspective. As a former managing director of one of the Business Units of the Hoogovens/Corus group, he has 36 years of experience in the steel industry. He uses this p.k. joustra expertise to shape the new concept of corporate governance under the Joustra P.K. specific conditions of this industry. The combination of his initial technical background (MSc from the Technological University Delft) and a recent philosophical orientation (MSc degree in Philosophy from the University of Amsterdam) results in his approach as an “engineer-philosopher”. That means a philosophical stand translated into practical solutions. By looking at corporations from this point of view, he creates new insights and ideas, following Isaiah Berlin’s statement that the task of philosophy is ‘to subvert, break through, destroy, deliberate, let air in from outside’. 9 789056 296964 Associative Corporate Governance: The Steel Industry Case Lay out: Bureau Kennedy, Rotterdam Cover design: René Staelenberg, Amsterdam ISBN 978 90 5629 696 4 NUR 978 90 4851 556 1 © P.K. Joustra/Vossiuspers UvA – Amsterdam University Press, 2011 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book. Associative Corporate Governance: The Steel Industry Case ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof. dr. D.C. van den Boom ten overstaan van een door het college voor promoties ingestelde commissie, in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Aula der Universiteit op vrijdag 25 november 2011, te 13:00 uur door Pieter Karel Joustra geboren te Leeuwarderadeel Promotiecommissie Promotor: Prof. dr. W.L. Buitelaar Co-promotor: Prof.dr.ir. G.H. de Vries Overige Leden: Prof.dr. J.E.M. Kolk Prof.dr. A.W.A.Boot Prof.dr. J.H. Zeitlin Prof.dr. R.Boom Prof.dr. A.J.M. Roobeek Faculteit der Economie en Bedrijfskunde To the memory of my grandfather Pieter van der Meer Table of contents List of abbreviations ................................................................................9 Preface .......................................................................................................11 Introduction ..............................................................................................13 Part 1: The Steel Industry 1. History and background of the steel industry ...................................35 1.1. The growth of the steel industry in the 20th century ......................35 1.2 The steel industry in the 21st century ..............................................41 1.3. The consolidation of the steel industry ...........................................41 2. The steel industry and the internationalisation and globalisation of the world economy ....................................................47 2.1. General and specific aspects of globalisation .................................47 2.2. Actors, principles and mechanisms ................................................49 2.3 The coming into existence of multinational companies ..................54 2.4. The Varieties of Capitalism ............................................................60 3. The steel industry and its corporate governance .............................65 3.1. History and trends ...........................................................................65 3.2 Marketisation of corporate control: the power shift ........................78 3.3 The financial crisis of 2008 .............................................................80 3.4. Why the steel industry as breeding ground for ACG? ....................81 Part 2: Associative Corporate Governance 4. Associative Corporate governance ....................................................91 4.1 Associative democracy ....................................................................94 4.2 Industrial Democracy ......................................................................100 4.2.1 The first steps ..........................................................................101 4.2.2 Break through .........................................................................102 4.2.3 Experimentalism .....................................................................108 4.3 The dialogue between stakeholders .................................................111 4.3.1 Mutual trust .............................................................................111 4.3.2 Company values ......................................................................117 4.3.3 Sustainability of the discourse process ...................................120 4.4. ACG as a new step in Industrial Democracy ..................................127 4.5 Critical questions and objections to ACG........................................134 6 Part 3: The Road to a new perspective 5. The creation of ASC .............................................................................143 5.2 Learning by Monitoring...................................................................146 5.3 ASC and labour ................................................................................148 5.4 Main starting features of ASC .........................................................151 6. Development of ACG via the main activities of ASC ........................153 6.1 Corporate Strategy ...........................................................................156 6.1.1. Corporate Strategy as a process .............................................159 6.1.2 The organisation of the practical framework of the discourse .................................................................................165 6.1.3 The organisation of the information flow to all participants...174 6.1.4 The monitoring of quantity and quality of the process ...........177 6.1.5 Recent trends on Corporate Strategy within the steel industry ...................................................................................179 6.1.6 Summary of policies and actions ............................................180 6.2 Finance.............................................................................................181 6.2.1 Blockholding model ................................................................182 6.2.2. Sustainable investors .............................................................185 6.2.3 Other funds .............................................................................189 6.2.4 Summary of policies and actions ............................................192 6.3. Supplies ..........................................................................................193 6.3.1 Raw materials supply ..............................................................193 6.3.2. The broader institutional aspect of raw material supplies .....196 6.3.3. Other supplies ........................................................................198 6.3.4. Summary of policies and actions ...........................................202 6.4. R&D................................................................................................203 6.4.1 The innovative character .........................................................203 6.4.2 The organisation......................................................................205 6.4.3 The ASC answer .....................................................................209