MBA Experience - Ghent Campus

What makes this event stand out?

You’ll take part in an interactive session led by Vlerick faculty, engage with experienced peers and explore a leadership challenge that shows up in every senior role: conflict. Expect sharp thinking, open discussion and practical tools you can use immediately while exchanging perspectives with current Executive MBA participants who are applying these insights in real leadership contexts throughout their programme.

You’ll explore how leaders can:

• Distinguish productive conflict from the kind that drains time, energy and trust
• Reframe challenging situations to unlock better decisions and outcomes
• Lead difficult conversations with confidence and clarity
• Build a culture where disagreement drives progress, not paralysis

The session

The highlight of the event is a workshop with Vlerick’s Prof Esha Mendiratta: When global values clash: Leading across borders.

You’ll have lunch with our current Executive MBA participants, so you can ask questions and get tips on how to plan your own MBA journey. You can also join an optional Q&A session with the Vlerick MBA team.

Your speaker

Esha Mendiratta

Professor of International Business

Esha Mendiratta’s research focuses on the intersection of corporate strategy, corporate governance and international business.

Multinational companies increasingly operate in a world where national governments and other stakeholders hold fundamentally different expectations about what is acceptable, responsible and fair. From supply chains and sustainability to labour practices and geopolitical tensions, leaders often have to navigate conflicting pressures with no obvious “right” answer.

In this interactive session, participants take on the role of managers facing complex, cross-border dilemmas. You’ll explore how leaders can drive change inside organisations – even when they don’t have formal power. And through real-world scenarios, live discussions and a practical leadership framework, you’ll examine how multinational firms navigate competing values, stakeholder tensions and global complexity.

You’ll also enjoy lunch with current Executive MBA participants, where you can ask how they prepared for the programme and gain practical tips to help you plan your own journey. This is followed by an optional Q&A with the Vlerick MBA team.

PROGRAMME

• 10-10.30am: Welcome
• 10.30-11am: Overview of MBA programmes and Q&A
• 11-11.30am: Coffee break with current Executive MBA participants
• 11.30am-1pm: Workshop: When Global Values Clash: Leading Across Borders’, led by Prof Esha Mendiratta, Vlerick Business School
• 1-2pm: Lunch with current Executive MBA participants and optional Q&A with the Vlerick team

If you’re considering your next step as a leader, this session will help you decide which MBA format  best fits your ambitions, career stage and personal goals.

Register now to get a taste of the Vlerick MBA experience firsthand.

Success Stories

Cis Vercouteren

Owner of 48Ounces

I like this programme for its specific focus on Europe, where we get to visit and learn about new business trends, practices, and solutions in those different countries. I also chose the programme, because I can complete the online modules at my own pace, but I still encounter and work together with interesting people during the immersion trips and projects. The aspect of meeting people was something I was not willing to sacrifice. This programme is very intense. Particularly during the immersion trips, you have a very packed schedule. But I learn a lot of new things, and I encounter very interesting people. It’s quite an amazing experience so far, and I am very motivated to continue this journey.

Geert Menu

Vice President Overseas Operations at Waterleau

I chose this programme because I want to become a better professional. Since Sustainability has become such a hot topic, I want to learn about these new dynamics. In this programme, we visit cities that are real incubators when it comes to sustainability and social responsibility. During our visit to Paris, we had the opportunity to visit some of the start-ups that are really inspiring, because they develop new tools and means for companies to implement sustainability and social responsibility in their daily business.

Bart Vercauteren

Head of ESG, Ackermans & van Haaren

This programme has a unique combination of benefits. It has a very international dimension, with a specific European focus on sustainability.  But it is still a full Executive MBA programme and curriculum where I can acquire all key business and leadership skills. The combination of online learning, coupled with the various immersion trips and modules across different cities makes it possible for me to combine the MBA with my family and my work. It’s a very thrilling experience, and I am very enthusiastic about it.  I already look forward to the next immersion trip in the programme.

Dominique Damman

Head of Grid Operations at Fluvius

I believe that anybody who has the ambition to do things in a better way and to grow in their career should do a programme like this once in their lifetime. We have a lot of deadlines, but we motivate and help each other, and the vibes in the group are great! I particularly enjoy the immersion trips, as they add a lot of value to the programme experience. Because all these hot spots across Europe provide us with the opportunity to visit and learn from companies based there and learn about the intersection of business and sustainability. Such as when we went to Paris to apply the learnings from our Financial Management course to the current reality of Sustainable Finance.