Luk Van Wassenhove

Emeritus Professor of Technology and Operations Management
Since its inception in 2015, the 2030 Agenda for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) has provided a blueprint for shared prosperity in a sustainable world — a world where all people live productive, vibrant, and peaceful lives on a healthy planet. With less than a decade to go, we need to ask if we are laying the right foundation to achieve the SDGs. How “SDG-smart” are we?

Published 27 May 2021

Reference 6604

Topic Responsibility

Industry Consumer Goods Food and Beverages Production

Region Global

View case
In 2017, the World Food Programme decided to procure six amphibious all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) as a way to achieve ‘last-mile’ delivery to the most remote or disaster-hit areas on the planet. After two successful pilots, it is looking to incorporate ATVs into its disaster response operations as well as its ongoing development operations.

Published 20 May 2021

Reference 6581

Topic Operations

Industry Logistics and Supply Chain

Region Global

View case
The 2015 Paris Agreement, signed by all 195 UN signatory nations, put a global focus on the impending climate emergency, with a mandate to achieve nationally determined commitments (NDCs) to exit fossil fuels and accelerate financing of global sustainability projects.

Published 23 Apr 2021

Reference 6632

Topic Responsibility

Industry Financial Services Banking

Region Europe

View case
Praesens Care, a start-up based in Belgium, has developed a mobile laboratory with the aim of safely testing people for a wide range of killer diseases. Its mobile laboratories enable monitoring of infectious diseases and improve diagnostic capabilities in remote areas in Africa.

Published 23 Mar 2021

Reference 6598

Topic Operations

Industry Biotechnology

Region Global

View case
Tom Hermans, CEO of EMMA Safety Footwear, is excited about the idea of developing the world’s first circular safety shoe – one that adheres to the cradle-to-cradle design principles. This could be a transformational strategy, differentiating EMMA from the crowded safety shoe market in Europe and extending a long tradition of social responsibility since its establishment in 1931.

Published 09 Mar 2021

Reference 6501

Topic Responsibility

Region Europe

View case
This case is the continuation of EMMA Safety Shoes (A): Designing a Circular Shoe. EMMA reached 100% circularity in shoe design at the end of 2019, but this impressive achievement did not mean its journey to the circular economy was over.

Published 09 Mar 2021

Reference 6501

Topic Responsibility

Region Europe

View case
Corporations are increasingly held responsible for the products they source and the sustainability of their supply chains. It was to meet this need that EcoVadis, a sustainability rating agency, was founded in 2007 by Pierre-François Thaler (INSEAD MBA, 1999) and Frédéric Trinel to bridge the information gap between corporate buyers and their suppliers.

Published 20 Jan 2020

Reference 6535

Topic Responsibility

Region Global

View case
In the aftermath of the Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami in 2018, lives are at stake, infrastructure is damaged, coordination is limited and information is scarce. It is in this environment that humanitarian organizations have to operate in order to assist affected people in disaster-struck areas.

Published 25 Mar 2019

Reference 6479

Topic Operations

Industry Logistics and Supply Chain Non-Profit Organization Management

View case
This case focuses on the contribution of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), an American trade organization based on an industry-wide collaboration and a multi-stakeholder approach, to the fashion industry. The Higg Index is a self-assessment tool that aims to measure and reduce the environmental and social impacts of apparel supply chains.

Published 19 Dec 2018

Reference 6437

Topic Responsibility

Industry Textiles Apparel and Fashion

Region Global

View case
Agility is often mentioned but seldom defined or clearly illustrated. This case discusses UNICEF’s response to the sudden disruption of its aid supply chain to Yemen after the bombing started in 2015. It illustrates how a forwarding hub was quickly established in Djibouti and dhow vessels were used to reach small Yemeni ports from there.

Published 15 Dec 2017

Reference 6315

Topic Operations

Industry Facilities Services Hospital & Health Care Logistics and Supply Chain

Region Middle-East

View case
As late as 2020, the supply chain of the global chocolate industry was characterized by modern slavery and child labour, poverty, dire living conditions and deforestation. While players in the cocoa industry had launched certification and in-house sustainability programmes, experts claimed that these have had limited impact.

Published 07 Jun 2021

Reference 6616

Topic Responsibility

Region Global

View case
Since its inception in 2015, the 2030 Agenda for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) has provided a blueprint for shared prosperity in a sustainable world — a world where all people live productive, vibrant, and peaceful lives on a healthy planet. With less than a decade to go, we need to ask if we are laying the right foundation to achieve the SDGs. How “SDG-smart” are we?

Published 27 May 2021

Reference 6604

Topic Responsibility

Industry Consumer Goods Food and Beverages Production

Region Global

View case
Tom Hermans, CEO of EMMA Safety Footwear, is excited about the idea of developing the world’s first circular safety shoe – one that adheres to the cradle-to-cradle design principles. This could be a transformational strategy, differentiating EMMA from the crowded safety shoe market in Europe and extending a long tradition of social responsibility since its establishment in 1931.

Published 09 Mar 2021

Reference 6501

Topic Responsibility

Region Europe

View case
Agility is often mentioned but seldom defined or clearly illustrated. This case discusses UNICEF’s response to the sudden disruption of its aid supply chain to Yemen after the bombing started in 2015. It illustrates how a forwarding hub was quickly established in Djibouti and dhow vessels were used to reach small Yemeni ports from there.

Published 15 Dec 2017

Reference 6315

Topic Operations

Industry Facilities Services Hospital & Health Care Logistics and Supply Chain

Region Middle-East

View case
Case A describes how a couple who lost a child create a social venture - the Max Foundation - by applying sound business principles to maximize the impact per-euro-spent. Case B discusses the growth challenges facing the organisation today.

Published 31 Aug 2011

Reference 5788

Topic Responsibility

Industry Education Management

Region Asia

View case
The Fleet Safety project was developed in response to the needs of the members of the Fleet Forum, an informal collaborating body and independent knowledge centre for fleet management in the humanitarian sector.

Published 27 Mar 2009

Reference 5589

Topic Operations

Region Global

View case
Circular Economy and Closed-loop Supply Chains, Business Models for Sustainable Operations, Humanitarian and Health Supply Chains, Corporate Social Alliances