Van Oord: Dutch Marine Ingenuity

"We originate from the Biesbosch region, an area where land and water meet. Many entrepreneurs come from there. So it's also a bit in our genes."

In an era dominated by multinational corporations, family-owned businesses find it increasingly hard to compete at a global level. Yet the Dutch dredging and marine engineering business Van Oord has managed to survive and prosper after expanding its operations from the Netherlands throughout the world. It has achieved this by a policy of judicious mergers, entrepreneurial ingenuity, technical innovation, long-term planning and a deep involvement by successive generations of the Van Oord family.

An extract from an interview with Jac. G. (Koos) van Oord in Van Oord: Dutch Marine Ingenuity by Robert Low in Breakthrough: From Innovation to Impact, Volume 2.

Continue reading...