Morris Tabaksblat was a true captain of industry and it is right that the Dutch corporate governance code bears his name, writes Jan Maarten Slagter.

In 1978 Morris Tabaksblat, who died last week aged 74, lived in Brazil. After watching the World Cup final which – who can forget – the Dutch lost to host country Argentina, the young Unilever manager decided to go out on the town.
It wasn’t much fun. The Dutch were mourning their loss and the Brazilians weren’t happy either. The ‘divine canaries’ were the only ones who had not conceded a single match during the whole of the tournament and had no more than a bronze medal to show for it – less than a consolation prize in a football mad country such as Brazil.
In the end Tabaksblat managed to find the one place he was guaranteed a good time. He spent a memorable evening at the Argentinean club in Sao Paulo.
This story typifies the former Unilever ceo and initiator of the Dutch code for responsible corporate governance which bears his name.

Differences
Tabaksblat was a man who was able to bring together people from widely different backgrounds. During his time at Dutch-British firms Unilever and Reed Elsevier, where he fulfilled the post of chairman and managing director for six years, Tabaksblat developed a keen eye for the cultural differences between ‘Anglo-Saxons’ and ‘Rhinelanders’.
It made him the perfect chairman of the Tabaksblat Committee set up to produce a list of guidelines on ‘etiquette’ among blue chip companies. The committee was made up of members of such disparate organisations as the employers organisation VNO NCW, listed company lobby group VEUO and shareholders lobby group VEB.
The code had to be both broadly supported and have enough clout to make a difference – the last list of forty recommendations made by the Peters Commission was so general as to be ineffective.
Code
Tabaksblat managed it in less than a year. By the end of 2003 the Tabaksblat Code was ready to be brought into effect in the following financial year.
After having experienced this melange of interests for the last four years I’m beginning to realise the magnitude of Tabaksblat’s effort. His code is self regulation at its best: authoritative, clear and flexible enough to be easily adapted to changing circumstances.
Although the VEB thinks companies still have some way to go when it comes to abiding by the rules, the code has modernised Dutch corporate governance, setting clear guidelines for staff appointment policy and remuneration to name but two.
Morris Tabaksblat was a true captain of industry. Not only did he hold top positions at Unilever and Reed Elsevier, he was also chairman and managing director at Aegon and TNT and employed in an advisory capacity by Renault and Citigroup.
His services to society were many, for instance through his work as chairman of the supervisory board of the University of Leiden and the Mauritshuis in The Hague. It is only fitting that his name should live on in the code he worked so hard to achieve.
Jan Maarten Slagter is head of the Dutch shareholders lobby association VEB