Dr. Berend van der Kolk included on Thinkers50 RADAR 2020

IE Business School is pleased to announce that Dr. Berend van der Kolk, an assistant professor in the department of Accounting and Management Control, has been included on Thinkers50 Radar 2020, which once again identifies 30 emerging thinkers with the aim of bringing them to the attention of a wider audience of managers and leaders in organizations worldwide.

Dr. van der Kolk’s research focus is on the social and ethical implications of performance measurement. He and his co-authors have found that while performance measurement can motivate employees, it can also create cognitive dissonance and evoke opportunistic behavior. Similarly, they have highlighted how supervisors play an important role in managing the tensions that may arise from using combinations of management tools.

“Dr. van der Kolk offers a unique take on the implications of how we measure performance,” explain Thinkers50 founders Stuart Crainer and Des Dearlove. In class, Dr. van der Kolk encourages students to critically reflect on the assumptions and ideas taken for granted in management and economics, so as to provide them with a better understanding of the ethical dimensions of economic decisions.

His research is regularly published in international academic journals such as The European Accounting Review, Health Care Management Review, Accounting Education and Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, and has also been featured in media such as Holland Management Review, IE Insights, and The Guardian. In addition, together with IE Business School colleagues Martina Pasquini and Maya Kumar he has written teaching cases on the ethical implications of strategic business decisions, for example, There Is No Planet B: The Case of ECOALF.

“I am very grateful for Thinkers50’s acknowledgement, but I also would like to stress that most of my work is a team effort.”

“I am very grateful for Thinkers50’s acknowledgement, but I also would like to stress that most of my work is a team effort. I consider myself very lucky for all the opportunities I have been given and thank my co-authors, in particular Paula van Veen-Dirks and Henk ter Bogt, as well as my current and former colleagues, students and those who have provided feedback on my work, which has been inspiring, challenging, and helped me to carry out my job as a researcher and teacher. I am looking forward to continuing my work on performance measurement and ethics in the years to come, and I thank Thinkers50 for their encouragement,” says Dr van der Kolk.

“The 30 thinkers we pick each year for our Thinker50 Radar sare truly global in reach and aspiration, and they are tackling the big issues of our times with rigor and energy,” say Stuart Crainer and Des Dearlove. “We salute them, look forward to watching their ideas develop, and hope that they succeed in putting a dent in the universe.”

In the past, Thinkers50 has recognized IE Business School faculty members Fabrizio Salvador (2019), Kriti Jain (2018), Margarita Mayo (2017), and Jose Esteves (2016) who have all been included on the Radar list.