Vlerick Expertise in Strategy

In the past, strategy was simple. You could identify a profitable industry, build a competitive advantage and then protect that advantage at all costs. But in today’s complex and turbulent world, traditional models don’t always apply. Rather than focus on building a sustainable advantage, today’s organisations need to be flexible and agile – ready to move rapidly from one advantage to the next. They need to experiment and innovate. And managers who want to build a sound business strategy need to think in the present, the near future and the further-away future – all at the same time.

“Change or die” is an often-heard battle cry in this age of digitisation and disruption. Ever more digital technologies are being developed and put onto the market. What strategy will you follow? Which business model will you adopt? How entrepreneurs and managers interpret this constantly changing digital environment determines their strategic choices. Caroline Baert’s doctoral thesis fills an important gap in strategic management research.

Enedis, a subsidiary of EDF, is in charge of the last mile in the delivery of electricity to most of France. This case study follows the start and development of Enedis' digital transformation, with the ambition to be at the forefront of the energy sector in the digital age.

The BeLux market for outsourcing still has significant growth potential as companies continue to outsource more. The main drivers for outsourcing are a stronger focus on the core business and cost reduction, while business transformation has increased by 8% from 2016. Almost 83% of organisations that currently use automation, robotics and AI have experienced moderate/significant benefits of these technologies, and client satisfaction remains high with an average satisfaction score of 74% across all providers assessed.

Some see office politics as a necessary evil; some welcome the opportunity to show their political skills. Others simply refuse to play ‘the game’. But it’s not a winning or losing game. Being politically savvy doesn’t mean that you win at the expense of someone else. It’s not about being false or self-centred either. Or playing favourites, let alone back-stabbing. On the contrary: we argue that remaining authentic is of vital importance.

Interpolis is a Dutch insurance company operating both in the life and the non-life market, as well as in the health industry. During the early 1990s, Interpolis faced serious financial problems and the company was in dire straits. The company has been turned around from 1994 onwards and the case study describes this transformation in greater detail. It shows how the top managers have built a strategy based on openness, transparency, clarity and trust: insurance has been made 'crystal clear.'

“Corporate social responsibility is not always a recipe for value creation. Sometimes corporate philanthropy or CSR initiatives make their recipients look bad. The question then is: what can they do to mitigate this negative effect?”, says professor Yuliya Shymko. She studied what corporate sponsoring and influence mean for non-profit recipients such as museums, theatres or universities, and to what extent we should allow this influence to be exercised.

All else being equal, if you could choose between sourcing services in a country that has a culture similar to your own or one with a different culture – which one would you choose? “Our observation is that, when confronted with that choice, most managers opt for the ‘cultural proximity’ option. But data show that you may want to think twice before you embark on the ‘easier’ road,” says Carine Peeters, professor of strategy at Vlerick Business School.

Belgian chocolates are world famous. Together with Switzerland, Belgium is internationally known as the country of chocolates. Belgian chocolatiers win many international awards. Belgium is also the largest chocolate exporter in the world, exporting over 1 billion € of the sweet stuff every year. Based on very detailed export data in the period 1998-2010, researchers Filip Abraham, Zuzanna Studnicka and Jan Van Hove unravel the DNA of Belgian chocolate exporting firms and identify the factors that drive their export strategies.

The BeLux market for outsourcing still has significant growth potential as companies continue to outsource more. The main drivers for outsourcing are a stronger focus on the core business and cost reduction. The majority of contracts surveyed are meeting their objectives, and client satisfaction is high with an average satisfaction score of 75% across all providers assessed. These are the key conclusions of the 2015 IT Outsourcing Study for Belgium and Luxembourg.