"Internationalisation begins at home"

New Year is a good time to look back - and to look forward. Dean Philippe Haspeslagh took up office in September 2008 and together with faculty and staff set out the blueprint for the School’s future. We met with the Dean and General Director Patrick De Greve to take stock and to reflect on the challenges ahead.

Full service

Professor Haspeslagh: “Over the past few years we’ve made huge strides in terms of quality, reputation and ambition. As a result we’re playing in an entirely different league now, competing against the most renowned international business schools. Unlike more traditional schools, we’re far more advanced as a service organisation. Delivering a full service is part of our complexity, but it’s also our strength.” He pauses. “Having said that, we may be large for Belgium, but we’re still quite small by international standards. So we must make choices and set priorities. While we offer a full service in Belgium, internationally we focus on flagship programmes.”

The School’s strategic priorities (see inset) are reflected in its four core activities: research, degree programmes, executive programmes and company-specific programmes.  “Research for business generates about a quarter of our income, which is quite unique,” points out De Greve. “We serve a network of some 250 companies with business-relevant research backed by sound academic principles. Also on the research front, we’ve started to develop platforms bringing together members of our different competence centres to encourage cross-disciplinary research. We want to break down the silos to stimulate a ‘One Vlerick’ culture. You could say we practice what we preach to our customers. Looking ahead, we must continue to internationalise our research focus. To appeal to an international audience, we need internationally relevant fundamental and applied research to support our programmes.”

Read the full article in the February issue of Vlerick reflect magazine.