Microloans are currently regarded as one of the most promising ways of encouraging entrepreneurship and combating poverty. Statistics show that the majority of the loans are repaid. We can therefore conclude that the system works. But is this actually the case?

The main priorities of Belgian human resources departments are still leadership development, recruitment & selection and talent management. This is evident from the third successive annual HR Barometer study by the HR consultancy firm Hudson and Vlerick Business school. This year, the HR Barometer study examined the impact of Belgian personnel policy on the organisation in greater depth.

What point are the largest Dutch companies at in their digital transformation? To find out the answer, the Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad and Vlerick Business School conducted a survey called Transformers 200 among the managers with final responsibility for digital transformation at the 200 largest companies in the Netherlands, across all sectors.

A new partnership has recently been created within the Vlerick Healthcare Management Centre. As Prime Foundation Partner, Medtronic wants to support innovative research into value-based healthcare over the next three years. This will be focused on the care pathway for scoliosis surgery. “Medtronic wants to come up with solutions to the challenges faced in healthcare. Our aim is to do this through partnerships with experts in their field”, Olivia Natens, Country Director at Medtronic Belgium explains.

One of the new financing models that is exciting considerable interest in the healthcare sector is value-based healthcare. In order to obtain a better overview of the value created by and the costs of a treatment, you no longer look at each individual contribution, but at the patient’s entire care pathway, from diagnosis to follow-up. The care pathway that Vlerick, KU Leuven, UZ Leuven and Medtronic are subjecting to a ‘value scan’ is scoliosis surgery.

In contrast to a decreasing trend on the international mergers and acquisitions market in 2016, the Belgian M&A market has experienced further growth, particularly with regard to medium-sized and smaller deals. The demand exceeds the supply. Although transaction prices are rising, they are still acceptable. Anyone wishing to sell a profitable business these days can easily find a buyer. This can be explained by the fact that bank financing has become easier, as well as increased interest by foreign players in Belgian companies.

Digital technologies have become indispensable in the healthcare sector. They help to achieve better and cheaper healthcare. Policymakers are focusing strongly on eHealth and collaboration between the various players in the healthcare ecosystem. Belgian hospitals have already spent too long using IT purely as a support tool, however, with all the associated consequences. It is essential for them not to miss the boat. Professor Brecht Cardoen and professor Bjorn Cumps explain how a tool which was developed in collaboration with hospitals and their stakeholders can help.

The recent globalisation and digitalisation wave has brought numerous business enterprises into persistently turbulent waters, shaking them to their very foundations. One thing is clear: things have to change, and soon, too. But if a new course is to be charted, where should it point? To provide an effective answer to this question, PwC recently concluded a Prime Foundation Partnership focusing on ‘strategy in times of turbulence’. In the next few months, Vlerick will be asking six PwC customers ‘in full turbulence’ about their strategy. Read on for an interview with Axel Smits, Chairman of PwC Belgium, and Dean Marion Debruyne.

Hospitals are increasingly joining forces in networks of different types, sometimes with other healthcare players. This is an unmistakable trend, but forming networks is also an important strategic decision. How can hospitals ensure the right decisions are taken, both today and tomorrow, guaranteeing a robust, resilient and versatile organisation in the long run? Changes are rapidly succeeding one another, but who knows what healthcare will be like fifteen years from now and what the best set-up would be for these networks? No one can predict the future. However, despite all the uncertainties, a scenario analysis can help in the decision-making process.

In this double interview, Michael Anseeuw and Professor Bjorn Cumps explain the open-banking study by BNP Paribas Fortis and Vlerick within the Chair Partnership. In the first phase, ten directors and board members are interviewed, after which an ‘open-banking lab’ will be set up where the bank and non-banking players will explore their roles on a joint platform model.