What Wittenborg Students Can Expect When Class-Based Education Starts Again in Late August

A detailed plan mapping out the steps Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences will take in the next few months, as it prepares to start class-based teaching in the new academic year, has been presented by the Executive Board. It contains several COVID-19 prevention measures to ensure the safety of both students and staff, which include not having more students than possible in one class and running classes from morning to evening in the future.

Like other institutions of higher education in the Netherlands, Wittenborg was forced to move all its education online in March to ensure that students would have no study delay, or study break. The upshot of this is that for the last 3 months Wittenborg was able to invest heavily in online databases of journals, books and successfully extending its ICT infrastructure to facilitate online delivery. "These investments will help make our education provision in the future even better," Wittenborg President Peter Birdsall said in a letter to students.
He emphasised though that Wittenborg has no plans to become a fully online university of applied sciences. "We would like to make it perfectly clear that we are not delivering online programmes and that all of our degrees are full-time degrees (actually obligatory for any student on a study visa). In the future, we may offer some part-time degrees online for students outside of the Netherlands; however, this will not affect our current programmes on location."

Wittenborg Lecturer Nátalia Leal "Passionate" about Empowering Others

https://www.wittenborg.eu/perks-and-perils-teaching-online.htm

Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences has reopened all its campuses in the Netherlands and is restarting more activities on location. This week, we checked in with lecturer Natalia Leal who teaches Master in Business Management (MBM) modules on the advantages of lecturing online and what she looks forward to teaching in person again.

Leal, who holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of Kent in the UK, was chief executive of the World Fair Trade Organisation. Aside from lecturing, she also acts as a public speaker and as a life career and executive coach. She describes herself as someone passionate about helping and empowering others in gaining control of their lives. "I am continuously searching for personal growth and ways of supporting others in making conscious decisions and effective plans towards a happy life."

Leal says what made her stay positive during the COVID-19 crisis was the nice early spring weather the Netherlands experienced this year. "… but also realising how lucky she was to have a nice place to work from and online friends she could reach out to.

"In the beginning I had to learn how to do webinars and was really spending a lot of time at my desk in front of my computer, as most other people I presume. I do enjoy dressing more casually, on those days when nobody is meant to see me!"

https://www.wittenborg.eu/wittenborg-ceo-maggie-feng-running-top-eurochrie-position.htm

Wittenborg "Delighted" to be Hosting EuroCHRIE 2021 in Apeldoorn

Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences is proud to announce that it will host the prestigious Hospitality and Tourism Educators Conference (EuroCHRIE) in 2021! Hundreds of delegates from around the world are expected to descend on the small Dutch city Apeldoorn in the autumn of 2021 where Wittenborg is located. EuroCHRIE stands for "The European Council on Hotel, Restaurant & Institutional Education". APaCHRIE is the Asian-Pacific equivalent.

CEO, Maggie Feng, in the Running for Top Position at EuroCHRIE

Meanwhile Wittenborg, led by its CEO Maggie Feng, is working closely with the team behind this year's host city, Aalborg, in Denmark where EuroCHRIE2020 is expected to be held from 5 – 8 October, although organisers are keeping a close eye on the situation around COVID-19. Feng is currently in the running to become EuroCHRIE's Director of Networking & Conference – results of the election will be made public in the next few months.

Opportunity for 100s of Wittenborg Students

"The conference will not only give us the opportunity to interact with researchers and research-minded scholars, but also to share teaching and learning experiences with educators and improve on our practice, so that our students get an even better learning experience," Feng said. "I  expect hundreds of our undergraduate and postgraduate students to get involved in different roles during the conference. This will be a great learning opportunity for business, event, and hospitality students."

Pillars of Internationalisation, Diversity and Ethics important to support anti-racism policies

https://www.wittenborg.eu/pillars-internationalisation-diversity-and-ethics-important-support-anti-racism-policies.htm

Innovative Ideas and out-of-the-Box Business Strategies Save the Day

https://www.wittenborg.eu/project-week-interview-series-gig-economy-may-be-new-normal-businesses.htm

While many business owners served their staff with unpaid leave notices when COVID-19 pandemic struck, Jeremiah Kahindo stood his ground and proved how his two businesses were able to surmount this period of shock and uncertainty without laying off any of his workers.

Loyalty a Two-Way traffic

Kahindo, from Kenya, owns 2 companies: Stag Credit, which provides funding for small and medium micro-enterprises, and another company dealing with household detergents. Having been invited to partake in a series of Project Week interviews for Wittenborg’s Project Week Kick-Off in June, Kahindo was interviewed by Wittenborg’s senior lecturer Andreas Ooijer. It was an inspirational interview where Kahindo shared many of his thoughts and out-of-the-box business strategies, which had helped his companies to stay above water despite poor sales and gloomy business prospects.  

Just like any other businesses, both his companies suffered huge revenue declines during the pandemic and he had to rely on previous years' financial profits to survive. His directors pushed him to start laying off workers, but Kahindo refused and said, "Loyalty is a two-way traffic". Businesses often expect their employees to stay loyal to them, in times of rain or shine, so they should also show loyalty to their employees and be there with them during this tribulation.

What is unique about Royal Auping's production process?

Royal Auping produces only to customer orders. The company provides many options for customers to choose from but most of their products are custom made. This allows for more efficient production and less waste. "If you only produce what the people want, you have less waste", Ine says about their production process. Care is taken to ensure all products are long lasting and the production process takes into consideration what the world should look like tomorrow.  Sustainability has been in the company's DNA for a long time since they decided to take a more future oriented approach. In the past, the company had multiple locations but merged them all into one green factory. With inspiration from the lean production in the car industry, Royal Auping took lessons on how to make its production of mattresses, beds and box springs more efficient. Consequently, teams at Royal Auping guide their work based on orders allowing them to be flexible in how they plan their work as long as delivery orders are met.

What has been the effect of the global lockdown on Royal Auping?

Royal Auping has been able to keep its factory open because the Dutch government imposed an intelligent lockdown which allowed essential workers to continue working. The company started the year strong with a filled order book so once the lockdown started in the Netherlands, they decided to implement their own measures. While still following their strategic plan, they also introduced a cost focus. "As the marketing & communications manager, I along with my team looked into what we could continue and what we could postpone", Ine said. Partner stores in the Netherlands remained open but in neighbour countries like Belgium, Germany and Scandinavia, stores were closed forcing the company had to survive on its Dutch orders alone.

Philips Presents Excellent Pandemic Case Study for Wittenborg Business Students

A few years ago, Dutch multinational, Philips, started reducing the number of flights taken by its staff around the world to offset the company's carbon footprint. So by the time COVID-19 broke out, many of its employees were already used to working remotely from home or otherwise. Still, the company had to make some innovative changes and ethical choices to weather the crisis around the pandemic, says Philips' Business Information Manager, Wim Oonk, one of a few business executives who took part in Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences' recent Project Week, to shed light on their company's response to COVID-19. For the past two years Oonk has also been a lecturer at Wittenborg in Enterprise Information Management.

According to Oonk, who was interviewed by Lucy Omwoha, Wittenborg lecturer and Project Week Coordinator, one of the problems Philips encountered early on was the fact that the components for its products are made in factories all over the world and when borders closed, that obviously presented a problem. Philips, formerly one of the largest electronics companies in the world, is currently focused on the area of health technology.

Oonk told Omwoha: "For instance, hospitals all over the world required fans, starting in China.  Just to give you an idea, we used to produce 1,000 fans per month, globally. That has now gone up to 100,000, so we had to speed up production. Components come from all over the world, but as borders were shutting down it became very difficult to get the right components to the right place. The CEO had a very challenging task. Also, you obviously cannot supply everyone, so the question became, who do you supply first?"

How One Apeldoorn Company Benefitted from Toilet Paper Craze after Corona Outbreak

https://www.wittenborg.eu/project-week-recycle-company-shares-how-covid-19-impacted-business-project-week.htm

While the COVID-19 outbreak has been disastrous for many Dutch companies, others   suddenly found themselves in a plum position to meet the needs of the pandemic economy. Case in point: Van Gerrevink Ltd., an Apeldoorn-based recycling company that’s been around for 140 years.

Fifth-generation owner and director, Marc van Gerrevink, still sounds a bit incredulous when he recalls the bizarre craze for toilet paper that swept the world following the corona outbreak, creating a huge surge in sales. This in turn led to the supply chain - of which his company is part of - ramping up its production to meet the unprecedented demand.

Van Gerrevink spoke about the impact of the pandemic on his company to Wittenborg CEO Maggie Feng as part of the final Project Week assignment for bachelor's degree students in the current academic year, weighing up both the positive and the negative though he is quick to note that his company has been "luckier" than many others.

Project Week: "The Impact of Pandemic"

https://www.wittenborg.eu/rijn-platteel-chairperson-vno-ncw-stedendriehoek-shares-valuable-insights-about-housing-sector.htm

Rijn Platteel is currently the Managing Director of Change in a real estate company providing affordable housing and community building for young professionals between the ages of 20-35. He shares his valuable insight about housing sector in the Netherlands during the period of COVID-19 and how students can benefit from it.

How has COVID-19 impacted your business and other businesses that you know?

The impact is enormous. Our facilities involve 1,100 inhabitants who are all locked down in the buildings. They are required to keep mainly to their rooms. All communal areas such as living rooms and working spaces are all closed due to government regulations. This has changed the way people live their lives and stress-related symptoms are emerging. Secondly, a lot of people lost their jobs and they were not able to pay their rent. As for our employees, we are all working from home via email, telephone, video calls and all means possible, while normally we are on location and in direct contact with all the people in the building; so it's different and they all feel that it's an awkward situation to be living in. 

Were you prepared for this situation?

My wife's support has been crucial during these strange times

https://www.wittenborg.eu/catching-bert-meeuwsen-when-staying-home-leads-getting-new-home.htm

Bert Meeuwsen is a lecturer as well as advisor to the executive board of Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences. Apart from keeping up with his tasks as a Wittenborg staff member and his private executive coaching, he has also undertaken the task of renovating the new home that he and his wife recently purchased.

What helps you to stay positive?

My lovely wife Jet. Just like me, she is working from home. For several years, we have shared a nice working area. When I teach my classes, she supports me by working somewhere else in our home office. And when she is busy, I work elsewhere in the house. In this friendly manner we do not disturb each other and each of our businesses run smoothly.

How are you spending your free time in quarantine?

I am studying my PhD research, reading books (fiction, faction and scientific), giving attention to our three 'young-timer' cars, preparing removal to and reconstruction of our very near future (new, 1994) split-level bungalow, as well as 'doing nothing', i.e. relaxing, and sometimes meeting family while keeping the 1.5-metre distance.