A school with a history
Professor Vlerick's legacy
The history of the School
goes back to the Marshall plan in 1949, when Professor André Vlerick was
appointed General Manager of the Belgian Council for Economic Cooperation. Only
30 years old at that time, Professor Vlerick's task was to assist European
businessmen in cooperating with American managers within the scope of the
Marshall Plan. He found that European businessmen eagerly adopted the ready-made
techniques of their American colleagues. However, the lack of distinctively
European methods led him to create a new European management approach in 1953.
This approach formed the basis for the Centre for Productivity Studies and
Research at Ghent University, the forerunner of today's management school.
Both industry and public authorities recognised the significance of Professor Vlerick’s approach to management training. As a successful banker and scientist, he was able to give theoretically sound, practical advice to a significant number of entrepreneurs, which produced lasting benefits. As Minister of Regional Development and later as Minister of Finance, he also had significant impact on the Belgian economy. Many of his ideas were revolutionary at that time.
4 Phases
The School's historical development can be summarised in four phases:
1. entrepreneurial or pioneer phase
The first phase, which can be called the entrepreneurial or pioneer phase, started with the foundation of the Centre for Productivity Studies and Research in 1953 and lasted until 1980.
2. consolidation
The second phase, the consolidation phase, started in 1980. Some of the School's educational activities were grouped into Ghent University's Interfaculty Centre for Management. This consolidated and institutionalised the long-term educational programmes within the university.
3. Integration
The integration phase, which began in 1988, involved the integration of all of Ghent University's advanced managerial education programmes into the Vlerick School for Management.
Meanwhile, the Leuven management school developed in parallel, primarily within the Faculty of Economics and Applied Economics at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. An important initiative was the international MBA programme that was started in 1968. In contrast with the activities in Ghent, which were oriented more towards the business community, the activities in Leuven were more academic in nature. The activities there were never institutionalised separately but remained firmly embedded in the Faculty of Economics and Applied Economics.
4. Internationalisation
The current and fourth phase, which we would call the internationalisation phase, started in 1998. Ghent's Vlerick School for Management became independent from the university, and the Leuven MBA programme was transferred to this new school, which was named Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School. Ghent University and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (K.U.Leuven) signed a collaborative agreement, and the Flemish parliament granted the new institution university status.
A key component to this "internationalisation phase" is the development of the third Vlerick campus in St. Petersburg, Russia.