News & agenda
Published in FD 9 July 2009
In the discussion on part-time unemployment, the aspect of personnel development is receiving far too little attention. Investing in employees’ self-confidence and creative potential is more important now than ever. If the plan does not sufficiently address career development for employees, we will be throwing hundreds of millions into a bottomless pit.
Published in FD 26 November 2009
In the discussion on the retirement age, interests and costs for employers are not being sufficiently addressed. Consequently, whether or not the right decisions are being made is very much open to debate. Primarily, it is employees who are having their say (through the trade unions), although it is employers who will be bearing a significant portion of the costs. Here we summarise a few of the arguments that are being missed.
Published in FD 10 December 2009
As long as we see employees as a problem, we will not resolve the demotion issue, say Johan van Dam and Hans Dusseldorp.
Crisis management planning: a stack of unread paper or a useful tool in practice?
You see and have many plans for safety and crisis management. Some of them may have been drafted in anticipation of the Security Regions Act. A policy plan, crisis plan, disaster plan, response plan, operational plan, coordination plan, sub-plan, scenario, deployment plan, action plan... the list goes on. You also know how much time and energy making these plans involves. But research shows that most of these plans generally go unread on the shelf - even during crisis situations! Do you recognise the ‘planning fixation’ in the safety domain? Have you ever wondered whether practitioners know the plans - and use them in practice? And if they don’t, is that really so bad? TU Delft, the municipality of Amsterdam, the Nicis Institute and Berenschot went out to find the answers.
WICaNeM 2010 continues and builds upon the bi-annual international agrifood conference to share the latest insights in the management of chains and networks. The theme of the WICaNeM 2010 is Broadening the scope of chains and networks.
Berenschot and its Surinam partner NIKOS (NGO institute for societal development and research) implement the Twinning Facility Suriname – Netherlands on behalf of the Dutch minister of Development Cooperation.
Berenschot supports Dutch development organisations to prepare a subsidy proposal for the second cycle of the Medefinancieringsstelsel (MFS-II). About a hundred development NGOs compete for a total subsidy amount of 2,1 billion Euro for a period of 5 years. The Minister of Development Cooperation encourages the formation of alliances. Maximum 30 alliances will be invited to submit a full proposal, once they successfully pass the first round. Berenschot assists an alliance of 5 NGOs to obtain a multi-million grant from this programme, by means of coordinating the process of alliance building and defining a joint programme. Specifically, our assistance to this alliance included the identification of shared values and mission of the alliance members, analysing the added value of the collaboration, chairing meetings between alliance members and formulation of various parts of the subsidy proposal. For several other alliances, Berenschot has been requested to conduct an external check on the organisational capacity of the alliance members. In the second phase of application (December 2009 – July 2010), we will remain to strategically and operationally support various alliances of development NGOs to improve their chances of obtaining a MFS-II grant.
Communication issues are becoming increasingly complex causing managers and communications strategists to be confronted with increasingly greater challenges. This is why the Netherlands School for Public Administration (NSOB) and Berenschot are initiating an executive strategic communication training programme. This training initiative responds to the call for gaining insight into government communications at high levels.
An independent procedure for auditing Cradle to Cradle® certification is announced today by Prof. Michael Braungart, co-founder of the Cradle to Cradle® concept and head of EPEA Internationale Umweltforschung, and Theo Camps, Chairman of Berenschot.
Published in FD 12 June 2009
Wouter Bos would like bankers to take an exam to verify whether they are competent enough to exercise their profession. As long as top appointments within banks lack a professional approach, insisting bankers take an exam is an exercise in futility. Furthermore, bankers are smart enough to ensure they pass the exam. It would be better for Bos to focus his efforts on ensuring there is a decent system of appointment.
