Over the last two months 1351 executive programme participants, 264 masters students and 220 MBA students took the leap to learn online with us. We count our blessings for being surrounded with such a warm and supportive Vlerick community. So from all of us to all of you: THANK YOU! You rock!

Vlerick’s Masters in Financial Management programme has improved its position in this year’s Financial Times Global Masters in Finance Ranking by 3 spots. We are now ranked at 23 worldwide, thus entering the global top 25. On a European level, we also rise 3 places going from 22 to 19. And in the Benelux, we maintain our number 1 position. Our CFA-accredited programme provides an excellent broad and in-depth corporate finance education, complemented with relevant managerial skills. Currently, the programme has 62 students representing 19 different nationalities.

According to the 2020 Financial Times Executive Education Ranking, Vlerick Business School remains for the ninth year in a row the #1 ranked provider of executive education in the Benelux. We are also the only Belgian business school to be ranked in the combined ranking of 50 business schools worldwide, offering both open and customised programmes. On a European level, we maintain our top 20 position, rising from 18 to 16. And finally, on a global level we rise 4 places, going from 31 to 27.

As universities across the world transition to online learning programmes in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, QS Quacquarelli Symonds have released their annual list of the world’s best online MBA providers. Ranked for the first time, Vlerick’s Online MBA programme immediately holds the 12th position. We’re also the only BeNeLux business school to be featured in this list. The 2020 edition of the list names 47 programmes worldwide, with Spain’s IE Business School ranked number one for the fourth consecutive year.

With the spread of COVID-19 and encouraged social distancing, business schools globally have faced tough decisions on whether to shift their teaching to a fully online model or cancel classes all together. This becomes an even more difficult decision when it comes to programmes and classes that involve interaction with external companies, such as our Global Supply Chain Strategy Bootcamp together with our Prime Foundation Partner Lineas. Thanks to our extensive experience with online learning and everyone’s flexibility and willingness to make this work, we successfully transitioned the bootcamp to online.

We’re excited to launch the Global Executive MBA this spring. Starting on April 20, 2020, it’s designed to help participants strengthen their truly global mindset, so they can become leaders who make a lasting positive impact on society.

Places for the first edition were snapped up in a flash, and the second edition promises to fill up fast too. The Belgian Energy Crash Course not only meets the needs for solid knowledge of the new employees at the traditional market players who do not have a background in the sector. The programme also literally energises a community that will continue to exist after its completion.

The Vlerick Masters in International Management & Strategy (MIMS) entered the prestigious Masters in Management ranking of the Financial Times straight into the top 30 worldwide and top 25 in Europe. In Belgium, we hold the No. 1 position. With its 29th place worldwide, our new and innovative Masters programme is also the highest ranking for a new entrant into this ranking. The ranking lists the 100 best Masters in Management programmes all over the world.

We are living in an ever more globalised, complex and digital world that requires a different kind of leader. How do we make sense of the global socio-economic landscape? How can we grasp the opportunities created by new technologies? And how can businesses also take societal challenges into account and deliver a positive impact on the community? In order to answer these questions, Vlerick Business School is launching a new Global Executive MBA programme in the fall of 2020. We asked Professor Martin Weiss (Programme Director Global Executive MBA) and Yolanda Habets (Head of MBA Programmes) to talk us through the details of this immersive journey in leadership transformation.

Last year, the Indian Institute of Management Technology (IMT) searched a strategic partner in Europe for developing a Post Graduate Degree on Management focused on Banking and Financial Services. That they found Vlerick was no coincidence, as is apparent from our conversation with Professor Asish K. Bhattacharyya, Director of IMT, and Marion Debruyne, Dean, Patrick De Greve, General Director, and David Veredas, Professor of Financial Markets at Vlerick.