Vlerick Repository

Recent Submissions

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    Mirror, Mirror in the Field: Reflexivity in Qualitative Research… It’s Not all About You!
    (SAGE, 2026) Saied, Neveen
    “I felt uncomfortable when they [the participant] asked me where I come from, and how I ended up doing research in Europe… I think this curiosity is why they accepted the interview in the first place.” Author’s fieldnote – 2022
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    The Missing Link in EMDE Transition Finance: Lessons from Peru’s National Development Bank
    (Cambridge University Press, 2025) Coronado Sotillo, Enrique Zik
    A legal reform that links funding and lending may be the missing ingredient for scalable small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) transition finance in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs).
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    Rethinking value - Business pathways to circular transformation
    (Vlerick Business School, 2025) Spijker, Nuria; Grison, Sarah
    As the “take–make–waste” economy strains our planet, circularity is emerging as a powerful alternative - one that decouples growth from resource depletion and redefines long-term value. This white paper maps the five foundational perspectives that make circularity work in practice, from systems thinking and industrial ecology to design innovation, business models, enabling mechanisms, and behavioural change. Drawing on real-world cases from ABN AMRO, Barco, IKEA, Knauf Insulation, JUUNOO, and more, it reveals how leaders are embedding circularity into design, governance, finance, and operations, and why those who act now will shape the markets of tomorrow. You’ll discover seven strategic levers to scale transformation, the latest EU policy shifts turning ambition into market reality, and actionable insights to align profitability with resilience and regeneration. Circularity is no longer optional. It’s the business model for a future-fit economy, and the companies that embrace it will lead the next industrial revolution.
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    Rising Star Monitor 2025: Decoding how fit young scale-ups are for future growth
    (Vlerick Business School, 2025) Collewaert, Veroniek; Gialos, Panagiotis
    The tenth edition of the Rising Star Monitor, an annual study by Deloitte Belgium in collaboration with the Vlerick Centre for Excellence in Scale-ups, once again charts how Belgian scale-ups are performing on crucial growth capabilities such as governance, finance, sales, talent, digitalisation and AI. This year, a clear paradox emerges: scale-ups have strong products, but suffer from structural organisational weakness that hinders their scalability. Although 37% of young companies aim for rapid growth, they score on average 17 points lower than SMEs on organisational maturity. In particular, governance, talent management, financial planning and the scalability of sales and operations are lagging behind, leaving a lot of potential untapped.
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    The effect of proactive job search motivation profiles on job search quality in the school-to-work transition
    (Emerald, 2025) Nguyen, Thi Phuong Anh; Buyens, Dirk; Patient, David
    Purpose This research examines proactive motivation profiles among young graduates in their job search process during the school-to-work transition, and their relation to the job search quality process (JSQP). Additionally, we investigate the effect of proactive personality on the movement between different profiles over two time points. Design/methodology/approach We collected data from 814 young Vietnamese graduates at two time points, and used a person-centered approach and random intercept latent transition analysis in analyzing the data. Findings Four distinct profiles combined different levels of job-search self-efficacy, job-search outcome expectations and perceived financial need at both time points. The most beneficial profile in terms of JSQP, “optimism pioneers”, was the least common profile. The “balanced pursuers” profile was the largest and the most stable group over time. A proactive personality positively influenced the within-person movement between profiles over time. Originality/value Our findings support the effectiveness of a person-centered approach in analyzing the motivational attitudes of young graduates during the complex and time-consuming job-search process after graduation.