What benefit does the private sector really have from the government? And what does it need? Johan Kerver (evofenedex) discusses these questions with Ingrid Faber, CEO at Faber Group, and Jan Nooitgedagt, member of several supervisory boards. Both see the value of government leadership and direction, but they feel the government is not fully embracing its role. Collaboration, too, is lacking. ‘The gap between the private sector and government is truly astonishing.’

The logistics sector experiences many challenges and an overarching problem: the public-private cooperation that should move the sector and the Netherlands forward is under strain due to a lack of decisiveness. According to Tjark Tjin-A-Tsoi, CEO at TNO, and Ronald Paul, figurehead of Top Sector Logistics, lack of innovation is a threat to Dutch prosperity. They call on government and industry to act more decisively. ‘We in the Netherlands seem unable to take decisive action. We need to substantially increase our execution power.’

Collaboration is a hot topic. But it is not easy. In a new series for Management Scope, Machiel van der Kuijl, Chairman of the entrepreneurs’ association evofenedex, delves into the world of public-private collaboration. What does it involve? What are the pitfalls? How do you ensure that collaboration yields results? This time, he talks to Brian Tjemkes, Professor of Strategy at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Tjemkes conducted extensive research on public-private collaboration and wrote a book about it. ‘Collaboration might be the most underestimated skill in the world.’

The supply chain is under more pressure than ever. Companies are struggling to organize the chain in a better and more future-oriented way. The Supervisory Board has their task cut out to assist with this. At our roundtable, we ask Supervisory Boards the question: is it succeeding at all? ‘The supply chain as a competitive field is too limited a picture: suppliers, partners and competitors should instead work together.’

Since the COVID-19 crisis, the notion that the world is controllable has steadily faded into the background. We have entered an era of scarcity, prompting a reevaluation of how businesses, governments, and knowledge institutions can best collaborate. Johan Kerver of evofenedex discusses the three principles underpinning a new model for successful public-private partnerships.

Chains that are transparent, resilient and actually manageable due to extensive digitalization, chains with chain partners that create concrete added value separately and jointly: at the moment this is a distant prospect, but companies are taking resolute action to get there. The need for supply chain transition is widely supported, write evofenedex directors Machiel van der Kuijl and Johan Kerver, who also have advice for setting up a sustainable supply chain.