As far as the Netherlands (and Belgium) is concerned, the figures from the business practice differ from the statement of Ricardo Semler that large companies will die. Anno 2016 and 2017, large companies are more adaptable than smaller companies.

1. Large Companies Will Die?
The provisional wrong of Ricardo Semler
Leon Dohmen
November 2017
“Large companies will die.” June 2014, Ricardo Semler made this firm statement according
to an article published in the Dutch medium Sprout. He referred to Polaroid as an example.

2. Large companies will die?
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Introduction
In the present era anno 2017, that is referred to as digital transformation, large companies are
blamed for their sluggishness and slowness. Small and agile is the slogan to ensure the
survival of a company. When large companies go bankrupt or their business operations are
forced to stop, this is widely reported in the media. The popularization of start-ups as an
example of swiftness and agility also contributes to the perception that more large than small
businesses are being destroyed.
Figures from the Netherlands
An overview of the Chamber of Commerce1
of companies that stopped in 2016 gives a more
nuanced picture. Part-time companies and part-time self-employed persons without staff have
not been taken into account.
Self-employed
without staff
(FTE = 1)
Small and Medium
Enterprises
(2 to 249 FTE)
Large Enterprises
(FTE > 250)
Number of enterprises per end 2016 882,694 495,568 1,420
Number of enterprises stopped in 2016 69,728 29,773 48
Percentage stopped enterprises in 2016 7.9% 6.0% 3.4%
According to these figures, small enterprises in the Netherlands have approximately twice as
much chance of bankruptcy or liquidation than large enterprises. The 2016 figures for
companies in the Netherlands do not stand alone. An overview of bankruptcies in Belgium2
shows the same picture: the smaller the company, the more vulnerable the figures ‘tell.’
Resilience of large companies
Large companies are therefore more resilient than the imaging suggests. Or vice versa: small
businesses may be agile, but they often tend to go in the wrong direction. Starters/startups
seem to be a particularly vulnerable group. The report of the Chamber of Commerce shows
that after 5 years 40% of the startups stopped. In the long term, only 10% is viable according
to multiple sources such as the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad.3
The biggest chance of
going bankrupt is in the retail sector. The 3 main reasons why starters are not going to be
successful:4
1. There is no need for their product;
2. There is a lack of money;
3. They don't have the right team (competences).
For large (and successful) companies, the dangers are hidden somewhere else. The denial of a
new reality and internal divisional conflicts are the greatest dangers according to Jagdish
Sheth, who describes this in detail in his book ‘The self-destructive habits of good
companies.’
Finally
As far as the Netherlands (and Belgium) is concerned, the figures from the business practice
differ from the statement of Ricardo Semler. Anno 2016 and 2017, large companies are more
adaptable than smaller companies. However, this is no guarantee for the future. Large
companies should know about their wrong habits and how to prevent or overcome them ...

3. Large companies will die?
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Leon Dohmen works at CGI as Principal Management Consultant. He has
more than 20 years of experience as an IT manager, project manager and
consultant. From 2003 to 2012, he taught Management of Technology at the
Rotterdam Business School for Master and MBA programs. Since 2011, he is
conducting research to the value of IT and the speed of IT projects.
- http://www.linkedin.com/pub/leon-dohmen/0/b24/92 -
1
https://www.kvk.nl/download/Jaaroverzicht%20Bedrijfsleven%20Nederland%202016%20versie%20US7_tcm1
09-433766.pdf
2
http://statbel.fgov.be/nl/statistieken/cijfers/economie/ondernemingen/faillissementen/grootteklasse/
3
http://www.ad.nl/economie/de-start-upwereld-is-een-waar-slagveld-br-br~ab4d80c2/
4
https://www.sprout.nl/artikel/startups/de-20-belangrijkste-redenen-waarom-startups-het-niet-redden