The project was supervised by the ACBI's professor Henk Volberda and project leader Niels van der Weerdt.
The survey was carried out in collaboration with MT/Sprout, a platform for excellent business leadership and sustainable economic growth.
For the MT1000, companies are assessed in an extensive survey based on their customer focus, product leadership, excellent execution, and their Net Promoter Score (NPS). The survey respondents are business decision-makers with procurement authority, and a prerequisite is that they have actually done business with the companies being evaluated at some point in the past 3 years.

Many small companies lead the ranking

In this year's survey, Volberda notes that these are uncertain times for many businesses. 'Dutch companies have to deal with challenges that include attracting and retaining talent, technological developments like AI, economic downturns, faltering globalisation, geopolitical tensions, lack of social cohesion, cybercrime, and regulatory pressure.' Companies have become more cautious. 'Most are taking a step back to assess new norms and recalibrate'.

Service sector categories

The main service sectors for the survey are grouped into five main categories:

1. Consultancy and advice
2. Digital services
3. Financial services
4. HR services
5. Mobility and facility services

These categories are divided into 62 subcategories. As a result, the MT1000 provides insight into how service providers in 62 industries, including executive search, staffing agencies, accountancy, and cleaning, perform in comparison to their direct competitors. 

View the full MT1000 ranking per category on the MT/Sprout website.