theme control leadership
Nyenrode’s broad canvas
in an in-depth interview, maurits van rooijen discusses his plans for nyenrode and its relevance for education, business and society at large.
by terri j. kester
The end of your first 100 days as Rector Magnificus and CEO coincided with the beginning of the New Year. Have you formulated a vision?
match what I’ve seen in the worlds of business and education with Nyenrode’s historical and current strengths, image and branding.
One can easily get too excited about vision and get to a point where there’s too much vision and not enough work. It’s not my personal vision that matters, but the institutional vision. What I can do is
What do you see as Nyenrode’s main strength?
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nyenrode now • issue 1, spring 2010
Nyenrode is the only universiteit which is recognized by the Dutch state and yet financially independent. Don’t get me wrong; we should
not adopt an arrogant attitude toward the public universities. Every university has its own voice. There clearly is a need for diversity, and I want to stress that there’s nothing wrong with the purely academic education offered by other universities. However, Nyenrode is a different kind of animal. While we too are committed to a high level of academic rigor, we have to combine this with relevance to society. I realize that relevance is an ambiguous concept. I mean that, in order to remain relevant, we should not just respond to the demands and desires of our stakeholders but keep ahead of what happens in society. We must focus on our impact on society, through our graduates and our consultancy work. That is the exciting challenge facing us. Nyenrode
is important for this country and rooted in society. If we don’t stay firmly focused on what society needs, we will lose our raison d’être.
Can you give an example of areas where business and society are intertwined? Sustainability is a good example. Leaving the ideological aspect aside, we see sustainability as a business case and we study the role of leadership in it. Another example is spirituality. Professor Paul de Blot spoke about this recently, when he received a royal decoration. These are business discussions as well as ideological ones. The study of the business angles of such fields is what makes Nyenrode relevant and innovative.
issue 1, spring 2010 • nyenrode now
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