Based on his wide experiences and insights of all types of foreign views on the Dutch, Jacob Vossestein is called an interculturalist. He wrote this as a guide book for companies and people wanting to do business with the Dutch.
However, this is also very helpful if you just live in the Netherlands and have to "deal" with them on a normal every day business. This guy knows what he's talking about. He studied human geography and social anthropology and he observed his fellow countrymen very well.
I wish someone had given this book to me before I moved to the Netherlands. I probably might have thought it can't be that bad or I might have never moved here.
In any case, this work gives a very good account of Dutch culture and behaviour, what you should or shouldn't do when working with Dutch people. Great insight.
From the back cover:
"People from all corners of the world involved in government, business and culture come into contact with Dutch colleagues and counterparts, either in the Netherlands or in their own countries. No matter whether you are coming to the Netherlands for a business trip or to work here for a while, or have regular contact with Dutch people in your own country, being prepared for Dutch culture will make your working and social contacts more effective and therefore more satisfactory. Like the very successful first edition published in 1997, and the updated version published in 2001, this 14th revised and updated edition of Dealing with the Dutch focuses on Dutch values and norms, but it also takes into account the economic, social and cultural changes the Netherlands is undergoing. Many new quotes by people from all over the world who have already 'dealt with the Dutch' have also been added."
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