Coronavirus forced Robert Boute, professor of Operations Management at Belgium’s Vlerick Business School, to switch his Supply Chain Bootcamp to an online version this week. Part of the bootcamp includes a real-life business case with European rail & logistics company Lineas. 

"There were considerations of cancelling the project, but we felt we could successfully complete this online through Zoom, and we did! Students were able to continue as normal, having virtual lunch meetings, continuing intermediate reporting and working in (virtual) breakout rooms – in a very similar way to offline. And, today students will be presenting their results to the CEO, COO and Chief Finance & Accounting of Lineas online.

"I must admit it has been much more demanding and energy consuming than regular teaching. I’m not sure why, but I think the dependency on technology working gives extra stress. However, I have been able to continue teaching in the exact way I do in the classroom—just online—and the bootcamp and company project has proven to be incredibly successful with students."