Case Study: Dutch Marine Ingenuity
Read this chapter to learn about a family-owned dredging and marine engineering business that has managed to survive and prosper over 150 years due to entrepreneurial ingenuity and continued commitment to its people and environmental sustainability. It takes you through the company's evolution and the challenges of being profitable and responsible while aiming to achieve four SDGs.
As a marine dredging and engineering company, what challenges does Van Oord face in attempting to be profitable and protect the environment? How does the company leadership and culture inspire entrepreneurial ingenuity?
Long-term Thinking
Another key priority for Van Oord is long-term thinking. "That is particularly important in a family business like ours," says Koos van Oord, "with an increasing number of family shareholders and the objective to hand over the ownership from one generation to the next. However, without our many very committed and loyal employees, that would not even have been possible. Basically the Van Oord employees are the backbone of the family company.
"For decades now, we have not been not the sole owner of Van Oord. We are happy to have capable minority shareholders on board who help in preventing us becoming complacent. NPM Capital was our external minority shareholder for more than thirty years. A few years ago, four other investment advisors took their place. Most family-owned businesses don't like external influences, but we do. It leads to better decision-making. In a family-owned business, probably more than in any other business, you have to think about and anticipate the changes which might occur in the future and be ready for them.
"In the 1990s 'the three-pillar strategy', a strategic concept, was developed. The three pillars were dredging, marine construction, and offshore. The reason behind this strategy was that three legs - or activities - give more stability than two legs, let alone one leg. So if one activity has a slow or negative growth for a couple of years, the other one can hopefully balance it out. And this strategy, which is now more than 20 years old, is still the basis of our thinking.
"The other important element of our business model is focus. There are companies with limited size but multiple areas of activities, some five, six, or even more. I wonder whether they are able to oversee all these activities and develop them properly. Van Oord has never had the ambition to spread its activity base too widely and become a general contractor. Not because this would have been impossible, but because we want to stay focused. You need to concentrate. And if you do that, you can stay on top of events.