Three historical reforms blew through the company when I worked there before I could go for university studies. But they were far from the idealistic flower power, democratization, decolonization and anti-racism movements of those revolutionary 1960s. Sure, the sixties brought revolution, but in the world of business revolution had other faces.
Most conspicuous for us, workers at Spaarnestad, leading magazine and book publishers, was the invasion of the computer. Reliable, respected bookkeepers were swept under the table or disappeared with heart diseases and stomach ulcers when the new wind demanded to adjust or perish, while others relished about the new opportunities provided by the dynamic computer department headed by Mr. Tuinman. I can still see him before me.
The second trend that emerged was the shift of emphasis from technical leaders to financial managers. Mr. De Goeij, a sophisticated printing engineer, got the smart economist Mr Emondts at his side, if not above him. Emondts rapidly transformed the company of technicians, writers and artists into a machinery geared towards pleasing the shareholders and paying bonuses.
The third change came when a series of mergers with other printing and publishing companies took place, Geïllustreerde Pers, headed by Mr Charles De Roy van Zuydewijn, being the largest partner. The new company came to be called United Dutch Publishers (VNU). The aim was to get bigger and bigger, with higher and higher positions for the managers, a not unattractive prospect for the leading negotiators. The managers physically cut the ties with the workers by leaving their buildings and settling as the central board of directors in a luxurious villa.
Predictably, the leaders shifted their interest from content matter to the selling and buying of companies at the international market. In fact, their focus moved from Holland to Wall Street. They sold the magazines for € 1.25 billion to the Finnish company Sanoma in 2001. For € 5.8 billion they bought IMS Health, a company that sells data for the sales of medicines to companies in the pharmaceutical and medical sector, if you can still follow me.
Sometimes I think back of those days in the sixties, when I did research on behalf of advertisers in VNU publications, clients that provided 80% of all income. The three new trends were introduced to us as refreshing and promising innovations, while many of us understood they might bring more alienation, uncertainty and income loss for workers and consumers than for managers.
Spaarnestad directors Lucas, De Goeij and Emondts
VNU head quarters in the rich village of Aerdenhout
Most conspicuous for us, workers at Spaarnestad, leading magazine and book publishers, was the invasion of the computer. Reliable, respected bookkeepers were swept under the table or disappeared with heart diseases and stomach ulcers when the new wind demanded to adjust or perish, while others relished about the new opportunities provided by the dynamic computer department headed by Mr. Tuinman. I can still see him before me.
The second trend that emerged was the shift of emphasis from technical leaders to financial managers. Mr. De Goeij, a sophisticated printing engineer, got the smart economist Mr Emondts at his side, if not above him. Emondts rapidly transformed the company of technicians, writers and artists into a machinery geared towards pleasing the shareholders and paying bonuses.
The third change came when a series of mergers with other printing and publishing companies took place, Geïllustreerde Pers, headed by Mr Charles De Roy van Zuydewijn, being the largest partner. The new company came to be called United Dutch Publishers (VNU). The aim was to get bigger and bigger, with higher and higher positions for the managers, a not unattractive prospect for the leading negotiators. The managers physically cut the ties with the workers by leaving their buildings and settling as the central board of directors in a luxurious villa.
Predictably, the leaders shifted their interest from content matter to the selling and buying of companies at the international market. In fact, their focus moved from Holland to Wall Street. They sold the magazines for € 1.25 billion to the Finnish company Sanoma in 2001. For € 5.8 billion they bought IMS Health, a company that sells data for the sales of medicines to companies in the pharmaceutical and medical sector, if you can still follow me.
Sometimes I think back of those days in the sixties, when I did research on behalf of advertisers in VNU publications, clients that provided 80% of all income. The three new trends were introduced to us as refreshing and promising innovations, while many of us understood they might bring more alienation, uncertainty and income loss for workers and consumers than for managers.
Spaarnestad directors Lucas, De Goeij and Emondts
The Spaarnestad office building where I worked
VNU head quarters in the rich village of Aerdenhout
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