prof.dr. J. (Hans) van Oosterhout

Hans van Oosterhout
Rotterdam School of Management (RSM)
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Fellow ERIM
Field: Strategy & Entrepreneurship
Affiliated since 2002

J. (Hans) van Oosterhout (MSc Leiden University 1993, PhD, Erasmus University 2002) is a professor of Corporate Governance at the Department of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM).



His expertise is on the ownership and governance strategies of different types of firms, such as firms with different types of owners at different stages of the firm life cycle, for example. Some of his current research streams include:

 

  • Making shareholder democracy work: The control strategies of minority shareholders in publicly listed firms around the world.
  • The ownership and governance strategies of family firms: Why, how, and on what terms do family owners exit their firms?
  • The early life-cycle ownership and governance strategies of new ventures and founder led firms.
  • The evolution of ownership and governance in professional partnerships.
  • Rethinking ownership for the twenty-first century: Developing novel conceptions of corporate ownership for a complex and rapidly changing world.

 

Hans has published extensively in journals including the Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, Journal of Management, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Management Studies, Human Relations, as well as various other academic and professional outlets. He has been a visiting professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and is a non-executive board member at RSM BV, the university-owned private company through which the Rotterdam School of Management offers its (Executive) MBA and Executive Education programs. Driven by his intellectual curiosity, Hans engages with managers, owners, as well as other stakeholders on strategic questions regarding the ownership and governance strategies of private enterprise organizations. He is especially interested in transitions in the ownership and governance of firms.

Publications

Article (35)

  • Academic (32)

    • Andrei, A. G., van Oosterhout, J. H., & Sauerwald, S. (2023). Symbolic Shareholder Democracy: Toward a Behavioral Understanding of the Role of Shareholder Voting in CEO Dismissals. Organization Science, 34(5), 1736-1758. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2022.1641

    • Criaco, G., van Oosterhout, J., & Nordqvist, M. (2021). Is blood always thicker than water? Family firm parents, kinship ties, and the survival of spawns. Journal of Business Venturing, 36(6), Article 106161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2021.106161, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2021.106161, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2021.106161

    • El Nayal, O., van Oosterhout, J., & van Essen, M. (2021). Ties That Bind and Grind? Investor Reactions to Politician Appointments to Corporate Boards. Journal of Management, 47(2), 456-487. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206319869440

    • El Nayal, O., Slangen, A., van Oosterhout, J., & van Essen, M. (2020). Towards a Democratic New Normal? Investor Reactions to Interim-Regime Dominance during Violent Events. Journal of Management Studies, 57(3), 505-536. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12553

    • Vishwanathan, P., Oosterhout, H., Heugens, P., Duran Solis, PA., & Essen, M. (2019). Strategic CSR: a concept building meta-analysis. Journal of Management Studies, 57(2), 314-350. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12514

    • Essen, M., Heugens, P., Duran, P., Saleh, SF., Sauerwald, S., Oosterhout, H., & Xie, E. (2019). How concentrated owners improve the performance of Asian firms: Filling voids or imposing effective governance? The Multinational Business Review, 28(1), 39-63. https://doi.org/10.1108/MBR-07-2019-0078

    • Lander, M., Oosterhout, H., Heugens, P., & Pruijssers, J. (2018). Career stage dependent effects of law firm governance: A multilevel study of professional-client misconduct. Human Relations, 72(9), 1497-1529. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726718796157

    • Pruijssers, J., Heugens, P., & Oosterhout, H. (2018). Winning at a losing game? Side-effects of perceived tournament promotion incentives in audit firms. Journal of Business Ethics, 162, 149-167. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-3991-2

    • Lander, M., Heugens, P., & van Oosterhout, H. (2017). Towards an integrated framework of professional partnership performance: The role of formal governance and strategic planning. Human Relations, 70(4), 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726717700697

    • Lander, M., Heugens, P., & van Oosterhout, H. (2017). Drift or alignment? A configurational analysis of law firms’ ability to combine profitability with professionalism. Journal of Professions and Organization, 4(2), 123-148. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpo/jow011

    • Sauerwald, S., Oosterhout, H., & Essen, M. (2016). Proxy advisors and shareholder dissent. A cross-country comparative study. Journal of Management, 44(8), 3364-3394. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206316675928

    • Sauerwald, S., van Oosterhout, H., & van Essen, M. (2016). Expressive Shareholder Democracy: A Multilevel Study of Shareholder Dissent in 15 Western European Countries. Journal of Management Studies, 53(4), 520-551. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12171

    • van Essen, M., van Oosterhout, H., & Heugens, P. (2013). Competition and cooperation in corporate governance: The effects of labor institutions on blockholder effectivess in 23 European countries. Organization Science, 24(2), 530-551. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1120.0742

    • van Essen, M., Heugens, P., van Oosterhout, H., & Otten, J. (2012). An institution-based view of executive compensation: A multilevel meta-analytic test. Journal of International Business Studies, 43(4), 396-423. https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2012.6

    • van Oosterhout, H., van Essen, M., & Carney, M. (2011). Corporate boards and the performance of Asian firms: A meta-analysis. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 29(4), 873-905. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-011-9269-1

    • Carney, M., Gedajlovic, ER., Heugens, P., van Essen, M., & van Oosterhout, H. (2011). Business group affiliation, performance, context, and strategy: A meta-analysis. Academy of Management Journal, 54(3), 437-460. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMJ.2011.61967812

    • van Oosterhout, H. (2010). The Role of Corporations in Shaping the Global Rules of the Game: In Search of New Foundations. Business Ethics Quarterly, 20(2), 253-264. https://doi.org/10.5840/beq201020218

    • Heugens, P., van Essen, M., & van Oosterhout, H. (2009). Meta-analyzing ownership concentration and firm performance in Asia: Towards a more fine-grained understanding. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 26(3), 481-512. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-008-9109-0

    • van Oosterhout, H., & Heugens, P. (2009). Extant social contracts in global business regulation: Outline of a research agenda. Journal of Business Ethics, 88(4), 729-740. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-009-0329-0

    • Heugens, P., Kaptein, M., & van Oosterhout, H. (2008). Contracts to communities: A processual model of organizational virtue. Journal of Management Studies, 45(1), 100-121. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2007.00738.x

    • van Oosterhout, H. (2008). Transcending the confines of political and Economic organization; The misguided metaphor of corporate citizenship. Business Ethics Quarterly, 18(1), 35-42. https://doi.org/10.5840/beq20081813

    • van Oosterhout, H., Heugens, P., & Kaptein, M. (2007). Contractualism vindicated; A response to Boatright. Academy of Management Review, 32(1), 295-297. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.2007.23467343

    • van Oosterhout, H. (2007). Authority and Democracy in Corporate Governance? Journal of Business Ethics, 71(4), 359-370. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9146-x

    • de Jong, A., Mertens, G., van Oosterhout, H., & Vletter - van Dort, H. (2007). How useful is shareholder intervention? Management Control en Accounting, 11(2), 8-15.

    • Heugens, P., Kaptein, M., & van Oosterhout, H. (2006). The ethics of the node versus the ethics of the dyad? Reconciling virtue ethics and contractualism. Organization Studies, 27(3), 391-411. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840606062428

    • van Oosterhout, H., Heugens, P., & Kaptein, M. (2006). The internal morality of contracting: Advancing the contractualist endeavor in business ethics. Academy of Management Review, 31(3), 521-539. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.2006.21318915

    • Heugens, P., van Oosterhout, H., & Kaptein, M. (2006). Foundations and applications for contractualist business ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 68(3), 211-228. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-006-9011-y

    • van Oosterhout, H. (2005). Corporate Citizenship; An idea whose time has not come. Academy of Management Review, 30(4), 677-681. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.2005.18378871

    • van Oosterhout, H., Wempe, B., & van Willigenburg, T. (2004). Rethinking Organizational ethics: a plea for pluralism. Journal of Business Ethics, 55(4), 387-395. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-004-1347-6

    • Heugens, P., Kaptein, M., & van Oosterhout, H. (2004). Ties that grind? Corroborating a typology of social contracting problems. Journal of Business Ethics, 49(3), 235-252. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:BUSI.0000017960.17747.56

    • Heugens, P., & van Oosterhout, H. (2002). The Confines of Stakeholder Management: Evidence from the Dutch Manufacturing Sector. Journal of Business Ethics, 40(4), 387-404. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020807101387

    • Heugens, P., & van Oosterhout, H. (2001). To boldly go where no man has gone before: integrating cognitive and physical features in scenario studies. Futures, 33(10), 861-872. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0016-3287(01)00023-4

  • Professional (3)

    • van Oosterhout, H. (2016). Does shareholder voting matter in Europe? RSM Discovery - Management Knowledge, 28(4), 8-10. http://hdl.handle.net/1765/94704

    • van Oosterhout, H., Heugens, P., & van Essen, M. (2013). The effect of blockholders in corporate governance. RSM Insight, 13(1), 18-19. http://hdl.handle.net/1765/40134

    • Otten, J., & van Oosterhout, H. (2008). Bestuurdersbeloning: Ideologie, Symboliek of Instrument van Corporate Governance? Ondernemingsrecht, (8), 290-296.

Book (1)

  • Academic (1)

    • Heugens, P., van Oosterhout, H., & Vromen, J. (2004). The Social Institutions of Capitalism: Evolution and Design of Social Contracts. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Chapter (8)

  • Academic (8)

    • van Oosterhout, J. (2010). Comment – Can the Firm be Seen to Emerge out of a Pincer Movement of Efficiency Pressures? In The Law and Economics of Corporate Governance: Changing Perspectives (pp. 290-297). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781849807081.00017

    • Heugens, P., & van Oosterhout, H. (2008). Much ado about nothing: A conceptual critique of corporate social responsibility. In D. S. Siegel, D. Matten, A. McWilliams, & A. Crane (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility (pp. 197-223). Oxford University Press.

    • Heugens, P., van Oosterhout, H., & Vromen, J. (2004). Social Contract Theories: E Pluribus Unum? In P. P. M. A. R. Heugens, & J. Van Oosterhout (Eds.), The Social Institutions of capitalism: Evolution and Design of Social Contracts (pp. 1-19). Edward Elgar Publishing.

    • van Oosterhout, H., Wempe, B., & van Willigenburg, T. (2002). A Critique of Monistic Organizational Ethics. In Proceedings Ninth Annual International Conference Promoting Business Ethics

    • Heugens, P., Kaptein, M., van Oosterhout, H., & Wempe, JFDB. (2002). Ethical Criteria for Corporations. In S. P. Kaptein, & J. Wempe (Eds.), The Balanced Company: a Theory of Corporate Integrity (pp. 227-262). Oxford University Press.

    • van Rutte, KL., & van Oosterhout, H. (2002). Standard Argumentative Strategies in Conceptualizing Business Ethics. In D. Windsor, & S. Welcomer (Eds.), 2002 Proceedings Thirteenth Anual Conference Victoria (B.C.) June 27-30 2002 of the International Association for Business and Society (pp. 61-65)

    • van Oosterhout, H., Heugens, P., & Kaptein, M. (2000). Normative documents, the contract model, and stakeholder management. In K. A. Getz, & D. Windsor (Eds.), Proceedings Eleventh Annual Conference Essex Junction, March 16-19, 2000 of the International Association for Business and Society (pp. 276-281). International Association for Business /Society.

    • Essers, J., & van Oosterhout, H. (2000). Het analyseren en schrijven van een betoog. In P. van Engeldorp Gastelaars (Ed.), Elementen van bedrijfskundig onderzoek (pp. 175-209). ServicePost.

Comment/Letter to the editor (1)

  • Academic (1)

    • Pruijssers, J. L., Heugens, P. P. M. A. R., & van Oosterhout, J. (2020). Correction to: Winning at a Losing Game? Side-Effects of Perceived Tournament Promotion Incentives in Audit Firms (Journal of Business Ethics, (2020), 162, 1, (149-167), 10.1007/s10551-018-3991-2). Journal of Business Ethics, 162(1), 169. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-018-4016-x

Conference contribution (2)

  • Academic (2)

    • van Oosterhout, H., Wempe, B., & van Willigenburg, T. (2004). Contractualism and the Project for an Integrative Organizational Ethics. IABS Fifteenth Annual Conference, Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

    • van Oosterhout, H., Wempe, B., & van Willigenburg, T. (2004). ISCT and the Call for Practical Guidance. IABS Annual Conference, Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Conference proceeding (1)

  • Academic (1)

    • van Oosterhout, H. (2010). Can the Firm Be Seen to Emerge out of a Pincer Movement of Efficiency Pressures? In A. M. Pacces (Ed.), The Law and Economics of Corporate Governance (pp. 290-296). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Doctoral Thesis (1)

  • Internal (1)

    • van Oosterhout, H. (2002). The Quest for Legitimacy; On Authority and Responsibility in Governance. [Doctoral Thesis, Erasmus University Rotterdam]. Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam (EUR).

Inaugural speech (1)

  • Popular (1)

    • van Oosterhout, H. (2008). Het disciplineringsmodel voorbij; over autoriteit en legitimiteit in Corporate Governance. Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM). http://hdl.handle.net/1765/13229

Paper (1)

  • Academic (1)

    • Sauerwald, S., Van Essen, M., & Van Oosterhout, H. (2013). Shareholder activism in Europe: Evidence from shareholder dissent in France, Germany, and the U.K.. 552-557. Paper presented at 73rd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, AOM 2013, Orlando, United States. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2013.153

Report (1)

  • Academic (1)

    • de Jong, A., Mertens, G., van Oosterhout, H., & Vletter - van Dort, H. (2007). Corporate governance practices of institutional investors: substance or symbolism? Eumedion and Nederlandse Corporate Governance Stichting.

Additional activities (1)

  • Reviving Shareholder Democracy: The Role of Social Media in Shareholder Voting

    Oral presentation (Academic)

PhD Tracks (23)

  • Role: Promotor
Seeing the Shadow of the Self: Studies on Workplace Deviance
  • Role: Member Doctoral Committee
  • PhD Candidate: Niki den Nieuwenboer
  • Time frame: 2003 - 2008
Typical Atypicality: Formal and Informal Institutional Conformity, Deviance, and Dynamics
  • Role: Member Doctoral Committee
  • PhD Candidate: Nathan Betancourt
  • Time frame: 2008 - 2012
An Institution-Based View of Ownership
  • Role: Promotor
  • PhD Candidate: Marc van Essen
  • Time frame: 2007 - 2011
Profits or Professionalism? On designing professional service firms
  • Role: Promotor
  • PhD Candidate: Michel Lander
  • Time frame: 2007 - 2012
The Dynamics of Formal Organization: Essays on Bureaucracy and Formal Rules
  • Role: Member Doctoral Committee
  • PhD Candidate: Sergey Osadchiy
  • Time frame: 2007 - 2011
Steering Through: How Organizations Negotiate Permanent Uncertainty and Unresolvable Choices
  • Role: Member Doctoral Committee
  • PhD Candidate: Prabhir Vishnu
  • Time frame: 2007 - 2011
Governing for Stakeholders: How Organizations May Create or Destroy Value for their Stakeholders
  • Role: Promotor
  • PhD Candidate: Pushpika Vishwanathan
  • Time frame: 2009 - 2016
An Organizational Perspective on Auditor Conduct
  • Role: Promotor
  • PhD Candidate: Jorien Pruijssers
  • Time frame: 2010 - 2015
Strengthening corporate leadership research: The relevance of biological explanations
  • Role: Promotor
  • PhD Candidate: Krishnan Nair
  • Time frame: 2013 - 2019
  • Role: Promotor
Firms and the State: An Examination of Corporate Political Activity and the Business-Government Interface
  • Role: Promotor
  • PhD Candidate: Omar El Nayal
  • Time frame: 2014 - 2019
  • Role: Promotor
Corporate governance and non-market strategy
  • Role: Promotor
  • PhD Candidate: Yanze Zhang
  • Time frame: 2018 -
  • Role: Promotor
  • Role: Promotor
Corporate Divestments and Shareholder Activism
  • Role: Promotor
  • PhD Candidate: Ruud Kuijpers
  • Time frame: 2020 - 2024
Parttime PhD programme
  • Role: Promotor
  • PhD Candidate: Dan Raghoonundon
  • Time frame: 2020 -
PERFORMANCE PREDICATORS AND THE EVOLVING ROLE OF IN-HOUSE LEGAL FUNCTIONS AND GENERAL COUNSELS
PERFORMANCE PREDICATORS AND THE EVOLVING ROLE OF IN-HOUSE LEGAL FUNCTIONS AND GENERAL COUNSELS
  • Role: Promotor
  • PhD Candidate: Roland Kemper
  • Time frame: 2019 -
THE MOVEMENT TOWARD FIRM-SPECIFIC CORPORATE GOVERNANCE RULES
THE MOVEMENT TOWARD FIRM-SPECIFIC CORPORATE GOVERNANCE RULES
  • Role: Promotor
  • PhD Candidate: Leon Yehuda Anidjar
  • Time frame: 2019 -
PhD in Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship
  • Role: Promotor
  • PhD Candidate: Alexandra Claudia Mariëlle Bul
  • Time frame: 2024 -
PhD in Strategic Management & Entrepreneurship
  • Role: Promotor
  • PhD Candidate: Dana Hanouni
  • Time frame: 2024 -
PhD in Strategic Management & Entrepreneurship
  • Role: Promotor
  • PhD Candidate: Klementine Klein
  • Time frame: 2024 -

Course (1)

Past
  • Organisation Theory (2023/2024)

Events (17)

2015
May
26
Next Generation Diner
Research Seminar
As: Speaker
2015
May
26
Family Businesses Invited to ECFB Dinner Discussion
Conference
As: Speaker
2013
June
20
R&D Investment in Family and Non-Family Sart-ups: A Behavioral Perspective
Research Seminar
As: Coordinator
2013
May
14
Organizational and Institutional Contingencies behind the Utilization of Proxy Advice in Shareholder Dissent
Research Seminar
As: Coordinator
2012
November
30
Academic Symposium on Family Business
Research Seminar
As: Coordinator
2012
October
04
SMS Extension: Strategy & Institutions
Conference
As: Speaker
2011
January
10
ERIM Research Clinic: Competing Perspectives on Comparative Corporate Governance
ERIM Research Clinic
As: Speaker
2010
April
14
"Going beyond a long-lasting debate: What is behind the relationship between corporate social and financial performance?"
Research Seminar
As: Coordinator
2010
March
22
ERIM Research Clinic: Foundations of corporate governance
ERIM Research Clinic
As: Speaker
2009
November
11
The New Political Role of Business in a Globalized World: A Review of the Paradigm Shift in CSR and its Implications for the Firm, Governance, and Democracy
Research Seminar
As: Coordinator
2008
September
12
Het disciplineringsmodel voorbij: over autoriteit en legitimiteit in corporate governance
Inaugural Address
As: Speaker
2008
June
10
Moral Partiality and the Economic Theory of the Firm
Research Seminar
As: Coordinator
2008
June
09
EITC Symposium 'Reputational Penalties in Business Regulation: The Business Case for Business Ethics?'
Research Seminar
As: Coordinator
2007
March
05
The Allocation of Ownership Rights in Consulting Firms
Research Seminar
As: Coordinator
2005
May
17
Individual Responsibility in the American Corporate System:
Research Seminar
As: Coordinator
2005
March
02
Corporate Citizenship Fact, fad or fiction?
Research Seminar
As: Coordinator, Speaker
2002
May
02
The Quest for Legitimacy: On Authority and Responsibility in Governance
PhD Defence
As: Speaker

Award (1)

Address

Visiting address

Office: Mandeville Building T07-53
Burgemeester Oudlaan 50
3062 PA Rotterdam

Postal address

Postbus 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam
Netherlands

Research Initiatives

Latest publication

Article

Andrei, A. G., van Oosterhout, J. H., & Sauerwald, S. (2023). Symbolic Shareholder Democracy: Toward a Behavioral Understanding of the Role of Shareholder Voting in CEO Dismissals. Organization Science, 34(5), 1736-1758. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2022.1641