Hein Schreuder (24 December 1951 – 28 May 2023) was a Dutch economist and business executive, executive vice-president corporate strategy & acquisitions atDSM and professor at theUniversity of Maastricht,[1] especially known for his work on "Economic approaches to organizations" withSytse Douma[2][3] and for his role in the (second) transformation of DSM.[4]
Born inJakarta, Schreuder graduated inBusiness Economics in 1976 at theErasmus University Rotterdam. In 1981 he obtained his Ph.D. at the Vrije Universiteit on his thesis "Maatschappelijke Verantwoordelijkheid en Maatschappelijke Berichtgeving van Ondernemingen" ("Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Social Reporting").[5]
Schreuder started work in 1975 as a business researcher at theNetherlands Economic Institute. From 1976 to 1981 he worked as head of business economic research at the Economic and Social Institute of theFree University of Amsterdam, of which he was subsequently the director from 1981 to 1984. After a sabbatical at theUniversity of Washington inSeattle he was appointed one of the first professors at the newly established Faculty of Economics at theUniversity of Maastricht.[6] In 1991 Schreuder went into business life when he was recruited byRoyal DSM as member of the management team of the division Polymers. In 1994 he became deputy director of Corporate Planning & Development of DSM and in 1996 director. Schreuder had acted as corporate strategist of DSM for 15 years, most recently as executive vice-president corporate strategy & acquisitions (until 2012).[7] He was labelled as the "Architect of the new DSM".[8][9]
Schreuder was Fellow at theEuropean Institute for Advanced Studies in Management (EIASM)[10] and at theNetherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS),[11] visiting professor at theHarvard Business School as well as distinguished visiting professor at theChina Europe International Business School (CEIBS). He was the director at theVlerick Business School, chairman of the supervisory boards ofEcorys andLVO, chairman ofUnited World College Maastricht as well as board Advisor and Coach. In 2016 he was invested as a Knight of theOrder of Orange-Nassau.[12][13]
Schreuder died on 28 May 2023, at the age of 71.[14]
Schreuder published eight books and many articles in the fields ofbusiness economics,strategic management and (economic)organization theory.[15] Recently, he published (with J.P. Jeannet) "From Coal to Biotech", a strategic perspective on the transformation ofDSM from a commodity chemicals company to a Life Science & Materials Science company.
Schreuder's best-known book "Economic Approaches to Organizations" (withSytse Douma) was first published in 1991 (6th edition in 2017) and is translated into six languages.[16]
Schreuder and Douma believe, that "economics has an important contribution to make to the understanding of organizations." In their opinion "economic approaches to organization focus specially on the economic problem of optimal allocation of scarce resources." and "the economic contribution to our understanding of an organizational problem increases when the economic problem forms a greater part of the organizational problem that we are trying to understand."[17] The book systemically compares markets and organizations as coordination mechanisms for conducting transactions. It covers the behavioraltheory of the firm,game theory,agency theory,transaction cost economics,the economics of strategy,evolutionary approaches to organizations andcomplexity economics in a non-technical way. In the sixth edition (2017) the authors explain the impact ofdigitization on organizations and the business model ofdigital platforms (like Amazon, Airbnb, Uber). There is now also a separate chapter onBehavioral Economics.
With Jean-Pierre Jeannet, Schreuder published "From Coal to Biotech: The transformation of DSM with business school support". The book provides a strategic perspective on the remarkable transformation of DSM, first from a coal mining company to a commodity chemicals company, then to a life sciences and materials sciences firm with a strong biotechnology focus. The authors use the concept of 'strategic learning cycles' to discuss how DSM achieved this double transformation in an evolutionary way. It also discusses the company traits that have contributed to its ability to adapt, grow and prosper. Renowned business schools such as IMD and Babson have accompanied the second transformation of DSM through their executive education programs. The book documents this support and draws lessons for long-term collaboration between companies and the business school world.[18][19]
In this essay Schreuder takes the reader along his journey of the past 45 years seeking answers to the questions (a) what the role is of business in society, (b) which responsibility the business firm has and (c) how a corporation may account for the way it has discharged this responsibility. His journey started in the academic world with a PhD titled 'Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Social Reporting' in a quest for theoretically sound standpoints. These are the starting points of this essay. After 15 years in academia Schreuder's journey was continued for 20 years in the world of practice. He became responsible for corporate strategy atDSM, a large Dutch multinational. As such he was involved in formulating the specific answers that DSM has given to these questions in the course of two decades. During this time the answers have evolved and it is interesting to read how and why, because DSM is often regarded as a frontrunner in this respect. Schreuder's more recent perspective is that CSR / Do No Harm has become the minimum we expect of the business firm. A Net Positive or, preferably, a Max Positive societal contribution has become the new aspiration. To achieve this the firm has to clearly articulate its purpose and set in motion 'positive welfare spirals', using its capabilities to make the highest possible contribution to fulfill a societal need, alone or (preferably) in an ‘ecosystem’ in collaboration with other entities. Companies like DSM that are able to achieve this exemplify that it is possible to combine Doing Well with Doing Good. It is Schreuder's expectation that this will increasingly become the new societal norm(al).[20]
Schreuder authored an co-authored many publications.[21] Books, a selection:
