Research on labour market, labour relations, quality of work, human re- sources management, organisation ~f work and related topics has always been an important element in the activities of SISWO. The Netherlands' Universities Institute for Coordination of Research in Social Sciences (SISWO), is a national agency that initiates and supports, both scientifically and organisationally, research endeavours on a great variety of themes. This is done by organising discussion groups, congresses and conferences, expert meetings, newsletters and publications. For the field oflabour and organisation, WESW A, theN etherlands' Uni- versities Working Committee on Social Science Research of Labour and Organisation, is the inter-university network that, in close cooperation with SISWO, unites experts from Dutch universities. WESWA and SISWO are convinced that an overview of the Dutch state of the art, in English, will be welcomed by an international audience. This state of the art work on research into labour and organisation in The Netherlands was edited by Gerard Evers, Bert van Hees and Joop Schippers. I do hope that this book will receive the attention both within and outside our country that it deserves.