Welcome to my academic website and thank you for your interest in my work.

My name is Berend van der Kolk and I work as an associate professor at the Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam, School of Business and Economics, department of Accounting. I am interested in how people behave in organizations and the role of management practices such as performance measurement in shaping this behavior.

With my co-authors, I address research questions such as “What is the impact of management practices on employee motivation (link) and trust (link)?, “Which role should ethics play in business education?” (link), and “What are the social and ethical implications of performance measurement?” (link) I research and teach topics related to accounting, psychology, organization studies and philosophy, and make use of both qualitative (e.g. interviews) and quantitative (e.g. surveys) research methods.

My research is published in international academic journals, and also featured in outlets for more general audiences, including national and international newspapers (e.g., Volkskrant, AD, Financial Times, The Guardian), radio, tv, and various popular podcasts.

I hold degrees in Accounting (BSc, MSc), Business Administration (MSc), Philosophy of Social Sciences (BA), and Management Accounting (PhD) from the University of Groningen. From 2016 to 2021 I worked as an assistant professor at IE Business School Madrid, and I also held visiting positions at the University of Sydney and the London School of Economics.

I am an editorial board member of the European Accounting Review and Financial Accountability and Management, and a fellow of the Amsterdam Young Academy. I published The Quantified Society in 2024 at Business Contact (Amsterdam), which deals with the impact of performance measurement on individuals, organizations and societies.

If you have any questions regarding my work, feel free to contact me via this form, or to connect via LinkedIn.