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Gerarda Westerhuis


Conquering the American market
ABN AMRO, Rabobank and Nationale-Nederlanden working in a different business environment, 1965-2005

The organization of business at the national level differs between countries. This book studies the question on how multinationals cope with these differences and to what extent they reduce these differences between countries. An in-depth analysis has been made of the expansion of Dutch banks and insurance companies in the American market.It aims to explain why success was achieved with some activities and why expansion in other fields failed. Three important Dutch companies were studied: ABN AMRO, Rabobank and Nationale-Nederlanden, and five activities were distinguished: retail, corporate and investment banking, and life and non-life insurance. Important topics such as motives for expansion, the impact of legislation, strategy and structure, human resource management, corporate culture, market share and profitability pass in review. The book with its long term view adds important and profound knowledge to our understanding of the internationalization process of companies.

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Over de auteur(s):
Gerarda Westerhuis studied at the University of Groningen where she got her masters degree in economic and social history. Starting her career in banking, she switched back to the academic world by becoming a PhD student in business history at Utrecht University. Nowadays she works as a researcher studying corporate governance in the Netherlands during the 20th century.