Strategy and Structure

T ABLE OF CONTENT

I NTRODUCTION WORDS 4
T HE PARTNER ID 5
T HE NEED 5
T HE EXPECTATIONS 5
T HE FIRST CONTACT PERSON 5
T HE FIRST CONTACT MEANS 6
The Phone 6
The Letter / Fax 7
The Email 8
The Show-Up 8
T HE COMPANY REPRESENTATIVES 8
T HE AIESEC REPRESENTATIVES 9
T HE SALES MATERIALS 10
T HE TN/EP FORM EXAMPLES 11
T HE MEETING STRUCTURE 11
Introduction 11
Salutations 11
Yourself 11
The Business Cards 11
Icebreakers 12
The Company 12
AIESEC 13
The History 14
The Structure and Reach 14
The Nature 14
The Role 14
The Partners 14
The Values 15
The AIESEC Experience Cycle 15
Questions 15
The Product Portfolio 15
The Next Steps 16
The Thanks 16

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T HE APPROACH 16
The Enabler versus Supporter Approach 17
The Marketing versus the HR Approach 18
The Managing Director versus One of the Top Managers 19
The Cash versus In-kind Approach 19
T HE MEETING FEEDBACK & EVALUATION 20
T HE FOLLOW-UP 21
T HE LAST PIECES OF ADVICE 22
T HE SELLING FLOW 23

Appendixes 24
Partner ID
Introduction Letter – Corporate
Introduction Letter – Non-Corporate
Sales Materials
TN/EP Forms
AIESEC in Numbers
The AIESEC Way
The AIESEC Brand Experience
The AIESEC Experience Stages
The AIESEC Experience Principles
AIESEC 2010 Scorecard

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I NTRODUCTORY W ORDS
Hi! My name is Vincent and I have been working for External Relations in AIESEC
since I joined. At the beginning of my ER leadership career as a responsible for that
department in my LC, I did not benefit from any transition of any training (I got there
in the middle of the year because my VPER left on an Erasmus Exchange Program).
Therefore, I did a lot of mistakes at the beginning not knowing anything about ER
Principles, Company Listings and so on.
Now that I am in Rwanda, I have been rethinking about it because I will have to make
a transition myself. I then decided to write down some things about what I learned in
the way to contact companies and to sell AIESEC.
However, what was originally a project of a few pages ended up to become nearly a
novel. I am sorry about that, by the way! But I think you might find a lot of useful
things in this document. At least I hope so! And you might also benefit from the
examples and what you may find in the appendixes.
If you have any comments, please let me know so that I can update, complete, adapt,
change or add examples to what you may already find in the too-many following
pages.
I hope you will learn from it and that I will have contributed and helped a bit to the
success of your selling process.

AIESECly yours,

Vincent

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T HE PARTNER ID
The first thing to do before contacting a company is to gather as much information on
it and on its sector and environment as possible. You should at least be able to fill in
the document provided in the appendix 1. Of course, depending on the reason for
which you contact the company, you will want to find out more it according to your
main purpose.
Also try to gather information about their recent history that you might find in the
local, national or international newspapers, depending on the scale of activity of the
company. By knowing that history, you may find out how the company wants to apply
its strategy and vision.
Never forget that information is a strategic weapon! The more you have, the best
prepared you are and the bigger the advantage you have on the company is. It often
happens that the company does not know a lot (or anything) about AIESEC and that
it will not try to find out before you meet them. Therefore, you have a huge advantage
by possessing that information.
Beside, try to show the company that you did your homework and looked for that
information by talking about one of their specific and original products or by pointing
out some recent or historical facts or something concerning the organizational
structure (locally, nationally or internationally). This will show them that you take the
meeting seriously and that you act responsibly and professionally even though you
are from a youth driven association.

T HE NEED
Gathering all this information will allow you to discover one of the most important
things to study in marketing: the need. Usually, once you found a real need for the
company, you will just have to use it properly and you should be able to sell whatever
you want to it. The more needs you find, the better. And you will be able to set up a
strategy according to these needs. But be sure that the needs you are setting up your
selling strategy on are real needs for the company. You have to look at the situation
through the company’s eyes.

T HE EXPECTATIONS
Once you have identified the company and its needs, determine the expectations you
have from the meeting. Set up several goals that you want to accomplish before the
end of the meeting, be it professional or personal goals. For example, you would like
to learn more about the company and see if they currently recruit and also get a Job
Questionnaire filled in and some sponsoring proposal basis for your next conference.
That way, you know that what you have to focus on during the meeting are the
Partner ID, the Exchange Program and the selling of your next conference, putting
the rest at a lower level of importance.

T HE FIRST CONTACT PERSON

The first person to be contacted in a company is the Managing Director. Indeed,
AIESEC does not only offer the possibility to hire top talents. It also provides
publicity, projects, cost-efficiency, corporate social responsibility…; concerning

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thereby the Human Resources, Finance, Marketing, Project Management…
departments of the company. Therefore, the Managing Director is the person you
should try to see so that he can direct you to the most adequate people to talk to or
even take care of the partnership himself/herself. Still, having the support of the
Managing Director when working with a new partner is a very important asset in the
future negotiations.

T HE FIRST CONTACT MEANS

There are several ways to get an appointment with the Managing Director of a
company or with one of its Top Managers, depending on what and how you want to
sell (see The Approach, hereunder). The mean used depends also on the country
you are in and on how things are usually done in that country. Each mean may also
be used differently than what is explained hereunder according to the country and
culture that are considered.

1. The Phone (method used in Belgium)

The phone is a very easy and common mean of contacting people and companies.
However, it may also be dangerous if badly used. Indeed, like every other first
contact mean, the telephone should only be used to get an appointment. It has to be
as short as possible. Around one minute is the average duration. At the end of that
one minute, you should have an appointment that may last between 30 and 60
minutes. Here is an example of phone communication.

Receptionist (Name of the Company)

AIESECer Hi! Could I speak with (name or function of the person
you are trying to reach, always try to get the name, if
you do not know it, ask it to the receptionist)?
Receptionist What name shall I give?
AIESECer (Your name) from AIESEC.
Sometimes, the receptionist ask you more questions about AIESEC and
the reason for which you are calling: Stay as brief and straight to the point
as possible.
Manager Yes
AIESECer Hi! M./Ms./Mrs. (name of the person)? My name is
(your name) and I am calling on behalf of AIESEC, an
international organisation providing Solutions to
companies such as yours in areas such as Human
Resources, Marketing, Corporate Social
Responsibility, Project Management and so on (if you
talk to an HR Manager for example, just mention HR
Solutions and do not mention the others) . We would
like to meet you in the coming weeks to see how
AIESEC and (company name) can work together.
Would (pick a date) suite you?
Usually (75% of the phone calls according to my personal statistics), the
person gets his/her agenda and gives you a date and hour. Never forget

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 to get the name and the direct phone number to confirm the appointment
a few days before the actual date.

And by doing so, you should get an appointment in one minute. If the Manager asks
more about AIESEC, answer the question directly and truthfully but never lose the
fact that you call only to get an appointment. NEVER sell anything on the phone! The
fact that you cannot see the person and that he/she cannot see you plays a lot in the
conversation and makes it easier for him/her to reject your proposal even if they
would benefit from it.
If you find this method too direct or anything else and you do not feel comfortable
with it, do not hesitate to adapt it! The most important thing is for you to be at ease
when you call or sell. Just note that when I was trained to use this method, I first
thought it would not work and did not feel very comfortable with it. However, since my
old method did not result in a satisfying amount of appointments, I tried. And I directly
saw that this method has a more-than-75% success rate.
A method that is often used is to write down your text or keywords of what you are
supposed to say during the phone call. However, if you choose to do so, pay
attention not to sound like reading! It often gives a monotone sound to the voice that
will definitely bore the person you are talking to. The best way to know what to say is
to do simulations and to practice. After a while, the words will just come out without
for you to have to think anymore. Practice is the best exercise.

2. The Personal Network

A personal network is something very valuable that people do not always think, want
or dare to use. It consists of friends, relatives, acquaintances or any other people you
know and who relate you to people you would not have the opportunity to meet
otherwise.
AIESEC is designed as an international networking platform; be it with other
AIESECers or with company representatives. Furthermore, one of the principles of
the AIESEC Experience is all about personal and professional networking. Moreover,
connecting people to each other is part of the essence of humankind’s life and
interactions.
Network facilitates these interactions as well by playing the middleman part while
connecting other people. This is also valid in the professional life and especially with
young people active in the professional world who might lack on the network side,
like AIESECers. While entering a new company or trying to develop a stronger
relationship with an existing partner, using a middleman can open new doors that
might be closed or stuck without it. Therefore, it is very important to use a personal
network in the professional world (and vice versa) to enter where you might have
huge difficulties to enter otherwise.

3. The Letter / Fax (method used in Rwanda)

The letter/fax may be used to already introduce AIESEC a bit more than on the
phone. In the letter/fax, you may find information about AIESEC and the reason why
and how AIESEC wants to work with the addressee organisation. Again, it is not

7
advised to sell anything using the letter/fax. The information should not be too precise
but the letter/fax should still go straight to the point. Never forget also to put a subject
to the mail and pay attention to what it is because if the subject is not to the liking of
the addressee, he/she might not even read further. Some examples are given in
appendix.
The most important thing about the letter/fax is the follow-up, be it by phone or by
showing up to the company and see whether the letter/fax arrived to the addressee
(Managing Director) or not. When you check it, mention that you sent a letter/fax from
an international organisation called AIESEC, mention also the date on which you sent
it and the names that were mentioned on it so that they have enough information to
find it and remember what is was about. Mention as well that it was to request for an
appointment. Do not get desperate if you have to call or show up many times before
actually receiving an answer. This is the main problem with this first contact mean,
letters often get lost or misplaced in the frequent very bureaucratic organisations of
today.

4. The Email (method used in Belgium)

The email is preferably not used before the actual meeting. It is even often seen as a
failure when a company asks for you to send more information by email. However, do
it anyway and do not forget to follow-up and call, show up or send another email to
check whether the information went through or not.
The email must once more go straight to the point and should be as short as the
phone call. People never read long emails! Pay also attention to the subject of your
email. This is even going to determine whether the addressee is going to open the
email or not.

5. The Show-Up
The Show-Up may be a very powerful instrument. You may use it to request for an
appointment and may even end up meeting that person directly. Therefore, never try
to show up is you are not ready to meet the person and if you are not presentable as
salesman/saleswoman.
Even if you use it as a follow-up, be very careful that it might happen that the person
you have been trying to contact might be available at that very same moment. You
should than have all the knowledge and material to do the company meeting. Never
forget your confidence in this kind of situation.

T HE COMPANY REPRESENTATIVES
You should try to know exactly who you are going to meet and the amount of people
you will have to face. Trust me, you do not want to find yourself alone in front of four
managers from the executive board of a major multi-national company who are going
to ask you questions concerning their respective department and how AIESEC can
benefit them.
It is also important to gather as much information as possible on the company
representatives (personal and professional backgrounds) that could give you the
possibility to use as icebreakers.

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T HE AIESEC REPRESENTATIVES
Beside the fact that the AIESEC members part of the ER Team should have or
discover in them a high potential in Sales and Marketing and have a good and clean
presentation, there are also other requirements to fulfil if you want to be a good
seller. The best case example would be to sell a fridge to an Eskimo; however the
ethics in doing so would be very questionable.
First, never forget that in a meeting, the first thing you sell is yourself! And it is even
truer with AIESEC where you are the best example of the AIESEC product: the
member. Never hesitate to take yourself as an example to show that what AIESEC
does is real and impressive. Being young does not prevent from being talented and
professional! Even if some companies tend to think so, always show them subtly,
politically correctly, diplomatically and politely that they are wrong.
Second, know your product and believe in it! As I have just said, you are the perfect
example of the AIESEC product achievement. It means that believing in the product
is equal to believing in yourself and in what AIESEC has brought you since you
joined the association. If you are not convinced that joining AIESEC is a life-changing
experience giving practical learning opportunities allowing to discover and develop
your potential and the world and that by contributing in the development of our
members, AIESEC contributes to the development of our communities, do NOT try to
sell it! Maybe you need more time to realize how AIESEC can work for you… But if
you recognize your own experience in these few words in italic, that you are
convinced that AIESEC played a major part of it (still it is you who played the main
part) and that you succeed in putting it into clear and sensible sentences, than go for
it and sell it to anyone who might be interested! Be it a company, a government, an
NGO, a friend, your relatives, a stranger in the street or anyone else, sell it and
promote it only if you believe every word you are about to pronounce.
Then, it is always a very good idea to make simulations. By simulations, I do not
mean going through the company meeting in your head and think about various
scenarios. You will never think about the one that you will actually face since there
are some company-specific realities you are not aware of. Furthermore, thinking does
not make possible to practice the body language, which represents a bigger part of
the message in a conversation. And to conclude, thinking is very different than
actually speaking in front of person, even if it is yourself looking in a mirror. By
simulation I mean actually speaking, preferably in front of someone else (several
people is even better) and test your convincing power. Then, get a feedback from
that person to see what you should work on before the real company meeting, even if
you will find yourself most of the things you should improve or mistakes you should
not repeat.
Finally, never forget that you do not have anything to lose. This releases you from a
lot of unnecessary stress. You have to realize that the company needs you more than
you need them (even if they will be pleased to believe that you think the opposite,
everybody has an ego, even companies, and even more top managers). Never
engage yourself in a company meeting as if your life was depending on it. Do not
forget that AIESEC is a learning platform for young people and that mistakes often
happen in learning experiences (have you never failed any test in your academic
life?). You will always find failures on the path to success! Just do not make it a habit!
The dress code is also very important. Even if you always have to look professional,
you have to adapt your appearance to the company where you go. If the company

9
representative is dressed with jeans and t-shirt, the jacket and tie may be too much
and may even intimidate or annoy the people you are meeting. This dress code
sometimes depends on the kind of company you are going to. Publicity companies’
employees are often dressed cool whereas bank employees are very smart. Do not
overdo and do not appear too much confident. Be yourself and feel comfortable but
never forget that you are the first image that the company will have of AIESEC.

T HE SALES MATERIALS
The Sales Materials are supports that you may use during the company meeting. It
may be a brochure, an Annual Report, a folder, a few pages, a PowerPoint
presentation or anything else that would add visuals to your words. You may find
some examples of Sales Materials in the appendixes.
To design these Sales Materials, you have to be sure that it fits the AIESEC
International Brand Policies and is Brand Aligned. To do so, you have to follow a few
principles like colour codes or specific polices and make sure also that the content
reflects what AIESEC is really about. You may find information on this in the
appendixes. You can also find a filter tool in the Brand Experience toolkit that may
help you to assess whether your material or even projects are brand aligned or not.
Being brand aligned is very important for the consistency and clearness of the image
AIESEC spreads to the external world. It also differentiates AIESEC (as you can see
in the Brand Experience toolkit in appendixes) from other organisations through its
alignment reflecting a strong professionalism as it strives for excellence. Indeed, it is
even more important as part of an international network striving for a strong and
recognised brand and a clear and consistent external positioning.
In the 90’s, AIESEC got nearly closed because of, among others, a lack of
consistency throughout the network when it came to its external image and
positioning. Indeed, countries were definitely not aligned and each of these were
seeing AIESEC differently and, worst, were explaining AIESEC to the outside world
in different ways. For this, the Brand Experience (formerly, Brand Promise) and the
AIESEC way (formerly, AIESEC identity) was standardized and implemented in every
country at the beginning of the years 2000. Since then, AIESEC is still working on the
implementation of these common principles that have been designed and agreed
upon by all the countries during a legislative meeting at an international conference.
Furthermore, what makes AIESEC different from other student clubs or organisations
is, among others, our professionalism (striving for excellence) and mature behaviours
when it comes to our AIESEC responsibilities. This professionalism is something that
has to be present in our external positioning which nowadays is more and more
represented by online supports, just like websites. Having a unity in our materials,
aligned to each others, gives us more credibility, and especially at the local level,
when it comes to be seen by our partners. Typing AIESEC on Google does not give
as a result the website of an LC or of AIESEC in Belgium but aiesec.org. From there,
your own partners will find your personal websites. Switching from one page to the
other and keeping the same format makes our image of international platform way
more credible to an outsider.

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T HE TN/EP FORM EXAMPLES
One additional material that can be useful to prepare and bring at company meeting
is an example of an EP profile and the TN form it was matched to. That way, the
company can better understand what the details are that needs to be put in the forms
and which kind of information they can get concerning EPs.
Furthermore, try to use realised forms that fit the organisation you are going to. For
example if you go to sell the exchange program to a bank, take a form matched with
a bank for example. Sometimes, it is even possible that we already work with this
organisation. Therefore, it is also better if you can find a form on the system from that
same organisation (even in another country, usually, the internal processes are the
same worldwide).
Still, be careful. Pay attention to the forms you bring. Some information should not
appear on the forms you hand out to the organisation. Indeed, it is better not to show
which organisation it is from (not giving the name and contact details). This has a
double effect: it avoids to bother the organisation when talking about one of their
competitors working with us, and it also shows that we are professional and do not
just use company names and details and give them to everyone (for confidentiality
issues). You can find in appendix a form that can be used to present the forms to
companies (all that is needed is to copy paste the content of the TN/EP forms in the
document found in appendix).

T HE MEETING STRUCTURE
1. Introduction
Like in most of the conversations in life, the way the meeting is going to happen
depends on the first minutes and the first impression. Even if everybody knows first
impressions nearly never teach truth about someone, most of the time, people still
trust the first impression. Therefore, it is very important to make a good first
impression during the small time of introduction.
a. Salutations
It might seem silly but salutations are one of the requirements. Salute every person
present in the room and, if possible, try to address each person with their name.
b. Yourself
After or during the salutations, present yourself. Each AIESECer should present
himself/herself. In that presentation, mention your name, your function in AIESEC,
your studies and you might also explain a bit more about these and your implication
in AIESEC.
c. The Business Cards
In some cultures and countries, the business cards are exchanged at the beginning
of the meeting, and in others, the practice wants you to exchange the business cards
at the end. You then have to know which one concerns you before going to the
meeting. Most of the time, if you do not find out or are not sure before the meeting,
see how the company representatives behave. If they give it at the beginning, return
the move, even if he/she does not do it according to the practice rules. The best way
to be polite in society is to never embarrass anyone. Usually, you will just have to

11
return the move since the company representatives take the initiative to provide their
business cards.
d. Icebreakers
Since you are more likely to be stressed for our meetings, icebreakers may help you
to overcome that stress. On the other side, it may also set up a cooler atmosphere for
the whole meeting. Laughs are amongst the most powerful ways to relax a situation
and to establish a more informal link between you and the company.
However, laughs are not the only way to break the ice. For example, if you happen to
learn that the person has studied in your school or university, comes from a foreign
country you know a lot of, turned to live next to your house when you were a child or
anything else, try to come up with it at the beginning of the conversation.
Here is an example of icebreaking conversation that happened to me during my stay
in Rwanda. We actually found out that the friend with whom I was going to the
meeting with the Managing Director of one of the main Rwandan companies used to
live next-door to her when he was a child, played with her children and even that she
drove him school together with her children. We also found out that one of her
children was currently in my own country in a university and city I knew quite well. We
therefore had a way to break the ice to talk about personal fields and make the
situation less formal. Furthermore, at the end of the meeting, after the presentation of
AIESEC and having determined how we could walk together, she came back with the
icebreaking conversation herself.
However, pay attention to the reaction of people when you talk about personal
issues. Some do not like it at all! In that case, it was a woman talking about her
children. And this is often a good thing. Furthermore, it was my friend who talked
about it! I did not intervene in the conversation until we talked about the son studying
in my country. But be very careful with family issues.
Last but not least, do not spend too much time breaking the ice. Otherwise, you might
end up falling in very cold and troubled water and have difficulties to appear
professional enough and make a transition between personal and professional
discussions.

2. The Company
Before talking about AIESEC, talk about the company. People like talking about
themselves. And this will introduce the company in the discussion. If you start directly
to talk about AIESEC, the company representatives will only sit and listen. If you get
them involved in the conversation from the start, they will take part in it even when
you talk about AIESEC. This also permits to follow the informal relationship created
by the icebreakers.
During the talk about the company, do not hesitate to talk about what you found out
by the previous research you should have done before contacting the company. This
might also give the opportunity to do professional icebreaking. For example, if a
company launches a very original and/or innovative product, process or approach to
a market, show your interest in it, show that you know about it and even, if it is the
case, show that you have been impressed by these new ideas. Use the ego of the
company at your advantage, without excess however! Tell them they are innovative if

12
you think so and tell them why you think so (new products brought regularly on the
market…).
Also, talking about the company might give you the information you did not find in
your previous research. You may ask direct questions about their employees (main
background, amount…), their activities, their scale (local, national, regional,
international)… You may also verify your information and show them that you did
your homework.
When you do so, pay extremely attention to everything the company is going to say.
The best thing about what they are going to say is that you might have the possibility
to use it when talking about AIESEC. For example, I once had an HR Manager
saying that in their recruitment, her company was looking for people showing
integrity, being proactive, with the ability to manage several types of tasks (multi-
function skills) and willing to innovate… Does it ring a bell? These are exactly the
kind of competences and skills that AIESEC develops in its membership. I just had to
use her words and remind that it was exactly what she was saying a few minutes
ago.
Furthermore, if you can use some studied statistics to back your arguments. For
example, it has been shown that a student having followed experiences like the one
provided by AIESEC during their studies are on average 2-to-5 times more efficient
and proactive than other “usual” students.
Beside, it is also the opportunity to assess the company knowledge and history
concerning AIESEC. Sometimes, the company representatives know AIESEC
because they participated as students or worked in another company with which
AIESEC was working. Start by asking the person if he/she has ever heard of AIESEC
before. If he/she has, start by saying: “As you already know…” and introduce
AIESEC anyway. Things may have changed over the year since they last heard of
AIESEC. For example, I had an Alumnus who was talking about his experience in
AIESEC and how it was structured and I noticed instantly that the situation had
changed a lot. Furthermore, AIESEC wants to evolve and improve every day. You
then cannot imagine that the association is the same than in the 1950s.
Next to this, even if you are talking about the company, never forget that you are the
one supposed to lead the conversation. You must direct the company to where you
want it to go. You have to follow your structure and never let the control pass to the
other side.

3. AIESEC
This brief description of AIESEC shows the big pictures of what AIESEC is about.
Never forget to mention figures in that description. You may find them in the AIESEC
in Numbers document put in appendix. It is also very important to pay attention that,
during this description and the rest of the meeting, you match the Brand Experience
that has been developed by AIESEC International. This Brand Experience is very
important and is one of the pillars of AIESEC Global Strategy. You may find
information about the Brand Experience in the appendix.

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 a. The History
In the history, talk about the fact that AIESEC got created in 1948 in Europe to
establish peaceful links between the countries having participated to the Second
World War. Mention also that it was the initiative of a bunch of students coming from
some of those countries and that it still is an association driven by youth for youth. At
that time, the solution that was found concerned an exchange program allowing
finishing students to make a traineeship in a company abroad which is still one of the
main activities of AIESEC. It allowed understanding and sharing ideas and
information between different cultures and between the divided countries that
suffered from the worldwide conflict.

b. The Structure and Reach

This section allows you to explain briefly the structure of AIESEC. Mention that the
AIESEC International office is in Rotterdam coordinating all the National Committees
present in the 90 countries where AIESEC is present. Next to that, we are also
present in more than 800 institutions of higher education where AIESEC is
represented by students operating locally, gathering thereby around 27.000
members.

c. The Nature
The nature of AIESEC is also very important. It shows that we are youth driven and
that we do not try to do profits. Next to that, we are non-political and independent and
do not discriminate on any basis. This assures that AIESEC does not take any part to
advantage anyone according to any criteria unfavourably to another individual or
community.

d. The Role
By explaining the role of AIESEC, you show what AIESEC stands for, what it has
been providing since 1948 and how it intends to interact with the society.
AIESEC is the international platform for young people to discover and develop their
potential to have a positive impact in society.
By developing individuals, we contribute to the development of our communities with
an overriding commitment to international understanding and cooperation.

e. The Partners
In this section, you may mention that AIESEC is working with thousands of
organisations from every field, nationally and internationally. Name also some of the
main international and famous organisations we are working with. Avoid mentioning
competitors with a company operating in a very competitive market. Otherwise, big
names like the Big4 or big bank and insurance groups may play in your favour. If you
know of any partner the company is working with and doing business with AIESEC,
do not miss the chance to talk about them and give examples of how we have been
working with them! You may find partnership information in the Partnership menu of
Insight XP.

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 f. The Values
Naming the AIESEC values and explaining them very briefly, if necessary, might also
show another aspect of what AIESEC stand for. It also gives you the opportunity to
link the sales meeting with the AIESEC Identity and the AIESEC Brand Experience.
The AIESEC Values are:
- Activating Leadership
- Enjoying Participation
- Living Diversity
- Acting Sustainably
- Demonstrating Integrity
- Striving for Excellence

g. The AIESEC Experience Cycle

When mentioning the AIESEC Experience
Cycle, do not forget that it is the main
process used in the organisation worldwide.
This is how the members are developed and
acquire the practical knowledge that the
various AIESEC experiences and
opportunities provide them, and what makes
the partners appreciate them specifically.
This is a good time to mention that you are
the example of this AIESEC process through
which members go.
Describe then briefly every step of the cycle and what the member is going to do
practically and concretely to discover and develop his/her potential. You may also
use the Experience Principles. You shall find these principles and an explanation on
the different stages of the AIESEC Experience Cycle in the appendixes.

h. Questions
End up this first part by asking if the company representatives have any questions
concerning what has already been told.

4. The Product Portfolio

This is the stage where the selling process really starts. It is in fact in this part of the
meeting that you will have convince the company that your different product can
benefit them and how. You will have also to explain which kind of support you are
expecting from them. These expectations may be amongst the following (this list is
not exhaustive):
- TN Raise

15
 - Cash Sponsoring
- In-kind Sponsoring
- Career Launch Program
- Learning / Content Partner (for workshops, trainings, seminars…)
- Mentorship
- Advice, Accountability and Governance (Board of Advisors…)
- Networking
However, the way you will address the company representative in front of you
depends on two main things: what you want to sell and who you want to sell it to.
Usually, the product you sell should be sold to the right person. Do not try to sell the
sponsoring of a conference to an HR Manager but do it to a Marketing Manager. To
go in detail about this, go in the Approach section of this document, see hereunder.
Do not forget to end up this section by asking if there is any question about what has
just been said.

5. The Next Steps

Before planning per say the next steps between the company and AIESEC, you
should ask questions concerning their interest in any of the products you have just
been talking about. This does not bind them to any obligation but it helps you to know
what the partnership would be based on.
Then, plan what is going to happen next: Is the company going to re-contact you or
should you re-contact them?; In how many days?; Who will be your contact person?
Should you send more information?; Should you send a formal proposal?; Plan the
next meeting...
Do not forget to get all the contact information that you shall need to build the future
partnership and to exchange the business cards if has not been done at the
beginning of or during the meeting.

6. The Thanks
Small things create a good and friendly relationship between you and the company
and building this kind of relationships with the partners is one of the Critical Success
Factors mentioned in the AIESEC Strategy. Therefore, never forget to thank properly
the company for the meeting at the end of the meeting and in the following of your
relationship when you re-contact them. Being thankful is basic politeness and is
usually very appreciated in the business world.

T HE APPROACH
The Approach you use to address a company during the meeting is the strategic part
of the selling process and the most important one. Depending on who you are selling
to and what you are trying to sell, you have to adopt a certain approach so that what
you offer matches what that specific person is looking for.

16
 1. The Enabler versus Supporter Approach
Enablers and Supporters are two business perspectives found in the AIESEC
International 2010 Scorecard. They both interact with the Strategy of the organisation
but do it very differently.

The Critical Success Factors concerning each of these two business perspectives
are:
- Supporters: Partners Actively Engaging in Activities
Sustainable Sources of Revenue
- Enablers: Relationship Building & Capitalizing on Partners Networks
Credited for our High Quality Membership
You may find more information on the AIESEC 2010 Scorecard and the business
perspectives in the appendixes.
Depending on the relationships you want to have with the concerned company, you
have to adapt your selling. It might also be advised to approach a company who does
not know AIESEC as a supporter first before making the relationship evolve into an
enabler perspective.
The progressive approach allows the company to get to know a bit more AIESEC
before choosing to invest more time, energy and money into what the association has
to offer. You can also create a trustful atmosphere before offering the whole portfolio.
Of course, doing so allows also AIESEC to learn about the company and analyse
how it works, giving the opportunity to the seller to adapt its selling approach and
make it even more efficient now that he/she knows the company more deeply.
Supporters – To approach a company as a Supporter, you have to establish a
value-based relationship. You then have to sell very concrete aspects of how you
want them to contribute and, more importantly, how they can benefit from you. Be it
in publicity, visibility, reach, knowledge, networks, income… you have to offer very
tangible outcomes to the company and be very clear of the counterpart you are
asking from them and demonstrate the balance you established between both of
these interests. You have to be able to explain why you address them your request,
how you want it to be processed, what exactly you require and offer, why they should
participate, how it is linked to their activities, how you calculate the matching between
their need and your offer and so on. The purpose is to convince the company that

17
what you offer is the best answer to their prayers. Still, do not get stubborn and
always remember that you are there to learn, not to teach. If the company makes
another proposition or wants to use your product another way than what you
presented, consider it and think about how AIESEC could answer to it. This might be
a new opportunity to develop your portfolio and/or customize your product.
Afterwards, the way to improve the relationship is therefore to increase the value that
each of the partners will capture.
Enablers – To approach a company as an Enabler, you have to add to this very
concrete view a hint of abstraction by selling the whole AIESEC package meaning, its
identity, philosophy, role, values… Thereby, the association takes a new dimension
which is global, social and responsible transforming usual students into agents of
positive change. By getting involved more deeply in the AIESEC activities, the
company improves its social engagement in the development of the youth and
communities. In a time where Corporate Social Responsibility represents a huge
business trend, this kind of offer is what most companies are looking for.
Enablers are directly involved in the learning process as TN takers, mentors or
content and learning partners. Therefore, they directly contribute to the experience
and knowledge acquired by the members. It is then very important to show them the
whole picture of AIESEC and how and why a member goes from a usual student to
an internationally recognised high-potential top talent.

2. The Marketing versus HR Approach

This Enabler versus Supporter Approach might be, in some cases, directly linked to
the Marketing versus HR Approach. Indeed, selling AIESEC as a Marketing Channel
and selling it as an HR Solution Provider are two very different things. The first one is
based on value whereas the second is based on answering a more specific talent
need.
Marketing – What you have to offer as a marketing channel is visibility in the
different universities where you have Local Committees (still, mainly your own) and to
the different partners you have, depending on the support you have to offer the
companies. Know that every support you use can be transformed into publicity
objects. From the branded usual letter to the brochure destined to students or
companies. Each and every one of these can include logos, articles or any marketing
tool provided by the partners. Offering a very wide coverage to the partners assures
you to capture their interest. Note also that youth is nowadays one of the main
focuses targeted by the companies when it comes to advertisement and marketing
campaigns. AIESEC is a youth driven organisation managed by youth and for youth.
Do not hesitate to use this kind of slogan when you sell according to the company
visibility needs regarding their products and targets.
Human Resources – In this approach, AIESEC has to be presented regarding two
aspects.
The first one is the sourcing of top talents proposed to the companies thanks to the
Campus Recruitment or Career Programs and the Exchange Program.
The second aspect is the fact that AIESEC is a development and learning platform
providing the members with practical experiences and various opportunities to
discover and develop their potential, to have a positive impact in society and to

18
acquire skills and competences with high value for their future professional life and
employers.
The link established by AIESEC between top talented youth and their future
employers is a very important aspect for recruiters who spend huge amounts of
money to develop the required skills and competences in their employees whereas
AIESEC provides it to students, making sure that they have these same skills and
competences when they enter the labour market, saving this training cost to the
employers.
The best strategy is to meet each responsible of the different departments one at a
time. This increases the impact in each approach. However, be very careful to keep
clear and consistent your external positioning. These department representatives are
going to talk together and if it comes to AIESEC, be sure that they have the same
picture in mind otherwise, the partnership is in great danger. Be sure to be clear that
the two approaches give the same image but under two different angles.
Note – It is important to know that, usually, HR Departments have access to more
budgets than Marketing since recruitment, trainings, evaluation and long-term
employer branding is a very expensive strategy to implement and sustain.

3. The Managing Director versus One of the Top Managers

Addressing to a Managing Director and to one of the Top Managers are two very
different things. Even if it is always preferable to approach first the Managing
Director, most of the work will be delegated to the Top Managers.
Top Managers – The main Top Managers you will have to work with are HR,
Marketing and sometimes Finance. The two first are approached according to the
previous point. The Finance Manager is usually approached on the fact that AIESEC
is an investment for the company where the return is mainly focused on HR and
Marketing. Still, AIESEC offers a cost-efficient solution with its exchange program
where you can afford top talent to the expense of a trainee.
Managing Director – Managing Directors are usually very busy. If they agree to see
you, know that they do not have much time. Therefore, keep your meeting timed for
10 to 15 minutes and go straight to the point of how AIESEC and the company can
work together and what would be the benefits from such partnership. You have to
cover every angle but not enter into details. Give the general picture and a very brief
(one or two minutes maximum) introduction about AIESEC. Tell that AIESEC is a
cost-efficient Marketing Channel and HR Solutions Provider having developed
various programs to develop its membership and offer top talents to its partners
linking youth and the professional world.

4. The Cash versus In-kind Approach

Cash sponsoring has always been more difficult to obtain than in-kind sponsoring.
Even if they both go through the Marketing department, cash sponsoring has more
constraints to the company than in-kind.
In-kind – Usually, companies give away surpluses or son-expired goods according to
their production and distribution as in-kind sponsoring. Generally, the only information
that has to be provided is when, where, who, how many and how much.

19
 - When does the event take place and when are the products and
marketing tools going to be used and exposed?
- Where does it take place? What are the infrastructures and coverage
supports that are offered to the products and marketing tools? In which
situation/context/atmosphere/topic are the products going to be used?
- Who is the product destined to? Is it company’s target?
- How many of these people do you expect at your event?
- How much of the product do you think you will need? (the company is
usually used to this kind of request and gives you the needed quantity)
Ex: in a castle of 200 bedrooms both single and double, a hall of 50 sq.
m., a reception room of 300 sits, small seminar rooms of 50 sits and a
party room of 200 sq. m.
At the beginning of the academic year during a whole three-day weekend
Between 250 and 300 people coming from 10 institutions of higher
education in the whole country and a few internationals
A welcome pack containing product A; product B will be used during the
parties on Friday and Saturday nights and product C will be distributed
during breakfast on Sunday morning
When asking for sponsoring, make sure that you do it soon enough (3 to 4 months
before the event) so that the company has time to analyse your proposal into depth.
Cash – As already said, cash is more difficult to obtain. The reason is that it requires
the involvement of many departments and every expense has to been considered
regarding its return, its meaning, its amount, its availability, its tax impact… Indeed,
companies are more and more closely watched regarding their expenses. Therefore,
they pay much attention to their marketing portfolio.
To get cash sponsoring from a company, you usually to be very precise about the
event but also about the organisation you represent.
Furthermore, the pricing is very important. And this is often the tricky part. According
to the power and recognition of the AIESEC Brand in your country, you will have the
possibility to price high or low. A strong brand is something everybody wants to be
associated to and no one really cares about weak brands, supposing that they
actually know about their existence. Besides, in pricing your packages, be sure not to
appear cheap or weak but do not appear arrogant either.
To ask for cash sponsoring, you should then go through the whole presentation of
AIESEC and emphasize its international reach and recognition by some of its big
partners. Also present AIESEC as an organisation creating a link between youth and
the professional world working therefore with institutions of higher education. Try to
avoid mentioning that it is a youth driven organisation since this image has
sometimes a bad reputation and low credibility.

T HE MEETING FEEDBACK & EVALUATION

Once the meeting is over and you are back home or at the office, write down the
feedback of the meeting. This is something that should then be attached to the

20
Partner ID completed with the questions asked during the meeting and filed
somewhere everyone has access and where the future generations will be able to
gather information about your LC/MC history with that company.
This Feedback should answer at least to the following questions:
- What went well? & What went wrong?
This is for your personal learning. You will point out what should be improved
and focus on what you did very well. Thereby, you will identify what you still have
to work on to be a top seller and advise the next generation about things they
should not do and things they should not forget to do.
- Which product(s) interest(s) the company?
Thereby, you know what will be the basis of your partnership and from where
and how you will have to start to improve that partnership.
- When and who to contact back?
This plans the follow-up that you have to do regularly in order to know what is
happening regarding the partnership between AIESEC and the company.
- What are the next steps?
Write down what came out of the “Next Steps” part of the meeting so that you
know what remains to be done (one your side and on the company’s side) and
do a checklist that you will have to keep up-to-date.
- Are my expectations fulfilled?
When you were preparing the meeting, you had to determine your main
expectations. You then now have to check whether these expectations have
been met or not. If no, ask yourself why. Maybe you saw too big or there was
something missing in your attempts to convince the company representative.
You might also attach a business card to this feedback so that you always have the
contact information in the file.
After every meeting, evaluate yourself. If you notice that after a few meetings, no
result comes out, you might sit down and ask yourself why. This auto-analyse might
be even more efficient if you ask for the opinion of a neutral objective independent
person. He/She might guide you towards the right path to get results and overcome
the obstacles that were in the middle of the way to success. Remember, doing
mistakes is not a big deal, you are in AIESEC to learn!

T HE FOLLOW-UP
The follow-up is very important! You have to re-contact the company regularly to
know what is happening regarding your file and the partnership, remind the contact
person that you are waiting for an answer, remind him/her the engagements they
might have done previously and push them a bit to fasten the process. Therefore, try
to contact the company at least once every two weeks.

21
T HE LAST PIECES OF ADVICE
In a meeting, there are some worlds that should NEVER come out of your mouth. For
example, a company never faces problems or issues but has challenges that it will
transform into opportunities. The politically correct, diplomatic and friendly
terminology is very important in a company meeting. If the person you are meeting
feels threatened at anytime, it will be very difficult for you to gain his/her trust and
confidence back. Try to think about every word you use and about the impact it is
going to have.
Try to say “offer” as less a possible. You might prefer other words like “provide”
instead. Indeed, AIESEC does not offer products to companies. It allows them to get
involved in and support a learning and development process destined to youth.
Start by training yourself on crappy not-interesting companies. Crappy does not
mean that you should not see any opportunities to work with them; it means that
having them or not as a partnership does not impact your strategy or the state of your
committee. Though, pay attention not to spoil the AIESEC image. By doing so, you
will get to train yourself and analyse your performance with a very low-risk meeting.
You should also always a brand-aligned pitch in your mind in case you would need it
to describe AIESEC without any preparation. A pitch, or also called “elevator-talk”, is
a very short and straight to the point description of a project or company, here,
AIESEC. You never know when you will have to use it so, be sure that you have one
in your mind in case you need it. Furthermore, do not forget that this pitch should be,
like every other selling tool, brand-aligned. Here is an example.
AIESEC is the leading organisation for activating leadership among youth.
With its around-30.000 members from more than 800 institutions of higher
education in over 90 countries, AIESEC is the largest global youth driven
association, thereby connect ing an impressive diversity of cultures, ideas
and thoughts. The fact that we enjoy everything we undertake and our
undying willingness to achieve excellence makes our overriding
commitment to international understanding and cooperation grow with every
step we do. By demonstrating integrity and acting sustainably, we make
sure that the AIESEC leaders act as agents of positive change in their
communities and that their impact is durable. AIESEC, as the international
platform for young people to discover and develop their potential, wants to
provide an every-day-increasing amount of the best tools and opportunities
to its members. Thanks to this learning and development platform, we
activate leadership turning a high-potential youth into high-skilled
professionals interacting with the society.

At last, I would recommend going at a meeting with an amount of people of maximum

one more person than the amount of company representatives. For example, if there
are two company representatives, go to the meeting at maximum three. This is very
difficult to assess since you usually do not know how many company representatives
you are going to face before you are actually in the office. The usual amount of
AIESECers present at meetings is two.

22
 T HE SELLING FLOW

1. PARTNER ID
Gather information about the 2. PARTNER NEED
organisation you want to
contact. Out of this information,
determine and analyse the
partner’s need(s) AIESEC
can address.

3. EXPECTATIONS
Set up your expectations
towards the meeting and
what you want to get out of it.

4. FIRST CONTACT
Determine who to talk to and
5. PARTNER REPRESENTATIVE how to approach them.
Gather information about the
person you will talk to.

6. AIESEC REPRESENTATIVE
Choose the best person to
represent AIESEC having the
right knowledge, motivation
and interests regarding the
organisation’s activities.

7. SALES MATERIALS / TN & 8. MEETING

EP F ORMS
9. FEEDBACK & EVALUATION
Prepare the selling files you
will need. 10. FOLLOW UP & ACCOUNT
MANAGEMENT

23
24
 Partner ID

Filled in by …………………………………… (name)

from …………………….…….…….. (LC Name or MC)

on the ……… / ……… / ……………… (date)

I DENTITY

Full Name: ………………………………………………..……………………………………

Legal Status: ………………………………………….. Gender: Commercial / GO / NGO

Constitution date: ……… / ……… / ………………

Scale: Local / National / International / Continental / Global

CONTACT I NFORMATION

Tel.: ………………………………………….. Fax: ….………………………………………

P.O. Box: …………………………………… Email: ………………………………………..

District / Province: …………………………………………………………………………….

Headquarters: ………………………………. Website: …………………………………….

CEO Contact Information

Name: …………………………………………………………………………………………..

Tel.: ………………………………………….. Email: ………………………………………..

HR Manager Contact Information

Name: …………………………………………………………………………………………..

Tel.: ………………………………………….. Email: ………………………………………..

Marketing Manager Contact Information

Name: …………………………………………………………………………………………..

Tel.: ………………………………………….. Email: ………………………………………..

1 AIESEC in Rwanda
Finance Manager Contact Information

Name: …………………………………………………………………………………………..

Tel.: ………………………………………….. Email: ………………………………………..

Other Contact Information

Function: ……………………………………………………………………………………….

Name: …………………………………………………………………………………………..

Tel.: ………………………………………….. Email: ………………………………………..

Function: ……………………………………………………………………………………….

Name: …………………………………………………………………………………………..

Tel.: ………………………………………….. Email: ………………………………………..

G ENERAL I NFORMATION

Sector(s): - ……………………………………………………………………………….

- ……………………………………………………………………………….

- ……………………………………………………………………………….

- ……………………………………………………………………………….

Main Activities: - ……………………………………………………………………….

- ……………………………………………………………………….

- ……………………………………………………………………….

- ……………………………………………………………………….

- ……………………………………………………………………….

Main Business Partner(s): - ……………………………………………………………….

- ……………………………………………………………….

- ……………………………………………………………….

Amount of employees: ………………………….

2 AIESEC in Rwanda
F INANCIAL INFORMATION

Sales: ……………………………………………. RWF

Turnover: ……………………………………….. RWF

Profit: ……………………………………………. RWF

Active Total: ……………………………………. RWF

STRATEGY I NFORMATION

Vision:
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

Mission(s):
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

Values:
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

3 AIESEC in Rwanda
NOTES

…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

AIESEC INFORMATION

Current Status: None / LP / NP / GP

Country: ………………………………………………………………………………………

Starting Date: ……… / ……… / ………………

Ending Date: ……… / ……… / ………………

Starting Reason: …………………………………………………………………………….

Partnership Activities: - ……………………………………………………………..

- ……………………………………………………………..

- ……………………………………………………………..

- ……………………………………………………………..

- ……………………………………………………………..

Ending Reason: …………………………………………………………………………….

4 AIESEC in Rwanda
SECTOR I NFORMATION

Growth Information & Direct Opportunities:

…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

General Industry Strategy: Product / Process / Cost Leadership

Main Actors / Competitors on the Sector:

 …………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………

Substitute / Complementary / Other: ……………………………………………...

 …………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………

Substitute / Complementary / Other: ……………………………………………...

 …………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………

Substitute / Complementary / Other: ……………………………………………...

 …………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………

5 AIESEC in Rwanda
 Substitute / Complementary / Other: ……………………………………………...

 …………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………

Substitute / Complementary / Other: ……………………………………………...

 …………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………

Substitute / Complementary / Other: ……………………………………………...

Main Sector Trends:

1. …………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………

2. …………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………

3. …………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………

Other Information:

…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………

6 AIESEC in Rwanda
Managing Director

Place, Date

Dear Managing Director,

Ref.: Request for appointment

The main reason why AIESEC addresses you this letter is to present itself and to
request for an appointment in order to point out where AIESEC and your company
could partner or collaborate.

Present in over 800 universities and institutions of higher education in more than 90
countries and territories, AIESEC is the international platform for young people to
discover and develop their potential to have a positive impact in society.

Towards this aim, we run more than 350 conferences, provide 3,500 work-abroad
opportunities, and offer over 5,000 leadership positions to our members each year.
Together with a focus on building personal networks and exploring the direction and
ambition of their future, AIESEC has an innovative approach to engaging and
developing young people.

Our partner organizations, literally thousands from all sectors, look at AIESEC as a
way to support the development of young people and to have access to high-potential
young talent from around the world.

Our former members are leaders within these organizations and their communities –
using the experience, skills, and increased vision that AIESEC gave them to be
agents of positive change.

AIESEC in …
Since 1948, AIESEC has been commended by partners and governments. The way
they speak about AIESEC gives an objective and complete definition of our
international organization. You may find some examples attached to this letter.

AIESEC has a long history of working with businesses and organizations. Overtime,
organizations have come to recognize AIESEC members as prime talent for their
recruitment efforts.

Since your company is a major actor in the economic activities of our nation and
since the country is everyday opening itself a bit more to the world, we would like to
offer you the same opportunities that AIESEC has been offering successfully to its
partners for more than fifty years. We therefore kindly request for an appointment at
your earliest convenience to further explain the role of AIESEC and to explore
possibilities of a partnership between our two organizations.

We are looking forward to hearing from you and thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely yours,

Name Name

Function Function
AIESEC in … AIESEC in …
Mobile: Mobile:
Email: Email:

AIESEC in …
AIESEC Endorsements

"The United Nations has long recognised that the imagination, ideals and energies of young men and
women are vital for the continuing development of the societies in which they live. And since its
inception in 1948, AIESEC has contributed to this development by serving as an agent of positive
change through education and cultural exchange. In an era of globalisation, your programmes have
helped young people around the world to develop a broader understanding of cultural, socio-economic
and business management issues."
Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations.

“I commend AIESEC’s continuing efforts to develop the future business leadership of our countries.”
Nelson Mandela, Former President, Republic of South Africa.

"PricewaterhouseCoopers and AIESEC, with a common philosophy and view of the future, have
worked together for many years. We advise today's global business leaders; you are developing those
of the future. We both share our knowledge, and in so doing multiply it. We both pursue cultural and
professional diversity, achieving the blend of perspectives that leads to innovation."
Jim Schiro, Chief Executive Officer, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

"Many thousands of students have benefited from internships thereby getting to know the world better,
the functioning of the global economy, and the art of management in various cultures."
Bodran Hawrylyshyn, Chairman, Council of Advisors to the Parliament of Ukraine.

“I commend the members of AIESEC for working to help our country maintain its competitive edge. I
salute your efforts to promote greater international understanding and cooperation.”
George H. W. Bush, Former President, United States of America

"As many of you already know, [AIESEC] is the world's largest student-managed association and one
that Citibank, in a number of countries, has long been associated with. In fact, at last count, AIESEC
students were working for us in 15 countries. Our principal linkage is with their "International Youth
Exchange Programme" which has resulted in a large number of students becoming part of Citibank as
interns while on an exchange programme from their home country."
Peter C. Thorp, Vice President, Citicorp Foundation.

"[AIESEC] is an effective advocate for young people and their aspirations for the future of their
communities. As a student NGO, it has an important voice in the debate on the mission of higher
education in the 21st century. It helps form responsible citizens with a worldwide vision. Its members
are interested in actively participating, as future leaders in the economic world, in building a better
society, helping identify and address issues that affect the well-being of communities and global
society."
Federico Mayor, Director-General, UNESCO.

"We believe in AIESEC-trained people because they approach an assignment with intelligence,
diligence and an eagerness of undying desire to succeed."
J. Oliver Crom, President and CEO Dale Carnegie & Associates

AIESEC in …
Managing Director

Place, Date

"The United Nations has long recognised that the imagination, ideals and energies
of young men and women are vital for the continuing development of the societies in
which they live. And since its inception in 1948, AIESEC has contributed to this
development by serving as an agent of positive change through education and
cultural exchange. In an era of globalisation, your programmes have helped young
people around the world to develop a broader understanding of cultural, socio-
economic and business management issues."

Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations

Dear Managing Director,

Ref.: Request for appointment

The main reason why AIESEC addresses you this letter is to present itself and to
request for an appointment in order to point out where AIESEC and your organisation
could partner or collaborate.

Present in over 800 universities and institutions of higher education in more than 90
countries and territories, AIESEC is the international platform for young people to
discover and develop their potential to have a positive impact in society. Our learning
platform is a global, non-political, independent, not-for-profit organisation run by
students and recent graduates of institutions of higher education. By developping
individuals, we contribute to the development of our communities with an overriding
commitment to international cooperation and understanding. Our members are
interested in world issues, leadership and management. Through the various AIESEC
opportunities, these members grow to be responsible leaders who will become top

AIESEC in …
talents in their respective field. Using the experience, skills, and increased vision that
AIESEC gave them, they embrace their role as agents of positive change.

That international learning and development platform is build on, among others,
physical and virtual Learning Networks. These latter concern topics such as
HIV/AIDS; Cultural Understanding; Non Violence;Information and Society; Corporate
Social Responibility; Entrepreneurship; Finance and Microfinance; Promotion, Image
and Brand Management; Global, National and Local Economy; Education and
Learning; Project Management etc. In order to deliver the best learning experiences,
AIESEC partners with corporate and non-corporate organisations. Furthermore, we
run more than 350 conferences, provide 3,500 work-abroad opportunities, and offer
over 5,000 leadership positions to our members each year.

Our partner organizations, literally thousands from all sectors, look at AIESEC as a
way to support the development of young people and to have access to high-potential
young talent from around the world.

Since 1948, AIESEC has been commended by partners and governments. The way
they speak about AIESEC gives an objective and complete definition of our
international organization. You may find some examples attached to this letter.

In order to fulfil its aim as a development and learning platform, AIESEC approaches
your organisation for two reasons.

 First, we would like you to contribute in the content of the learning networks by
bringing the knowledge your organisation possesses and communicating it to
the members through seminars, workshops or virtual supports that we would
be delighted to publish online on our internal knowledge database.

 Second, AIESEC would like to contribute directly to your organisation by

providing you with top talent volunteers from our International network. These
volunteers will assist your organisation in fulfilling its duties and are available
for a period of two to three montsh.

Furthermore, by the different interactions that AIESEC would facilitate between the
Rwandan youth and your organisation, you will have the possibility to debate and
open discussions bringing out ideas and points of view of students and recent
graduates, be them nationals or foreigners. Of course, any other kind of partnership
you might think of would be welcome.

AIESEC in …
To study further a potential collaboration between our two organisations, we kindly
request for an appointment at your earliest convenience to further explain the role of
AIESEC and to explore possibilities of a partnership between our two organizations.

We are looking forward to hearing from you and thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely yours,

Name Name

Function Function
AIESEC in … AIESEC in …
Mobile: Mobile:
Email: Email:

AIESEC in …
AIESEC Endorsements

“I commend AIESEC’s continuing efforts to develop the future business leadership of our countries.”
Nelson Mandela, Former President, Republic of South Africa.

"PricewaterhouseCoopers and AIESEC, with a common philosophy and view of the future, have
worked together for many years. We advise today's global business leaders; you are developing those
of the future. We both share our knowledge, and in so doing multiply it. We both pursue c ultural and
professional diversity, achieving the blend of perspectives that leads to innovation."
Jim Schiro, Chief Executive Officer, PricewaterhouseCoopers.

"Many thousands of students have benefited from internships thereby getting to know the world better,
the functioning of the global economy, and the art of management in various cultures."
Bodran Hawrylyshyn, Chairman, Council of Advisors to the Parliament of Ukraine.

“I commend the members of AIESEC for working to help our country maintain its compe titive edge. I
salute your efforts to promote greater international understanding and cooperation.”
George H. W. Bush, Former President, United States of America

"As many of you already know, [AIESEC] is the world's largest student-managed association and one
that Citibank, in a number of countries, has long been associated with. In fact, at last count, AIESEC
students were working for us in 15 countries. Our principal linkage is with their "International Youth
Exchange Programme" which has resulted in a large number of students becoming part of Citibank as
interns while on an exchange programme from their home country."
Peter C. Thorp, Vice President, Citicorp Foundation.

"[AIESEC] is an effective advocate for young people and their aspirations for the future of their
communities. As a student NGO, it has an important voice in the debate on the mission of higher
education in the 21st century. It helps form responsible citizens with a worldwide vision. Its members
are interested in actively participating, as future leaders in the economic world, in building a better
society, helping identify and address issues that affect the well-being of communities and global
society."
Federico Mayor, Director-General, UNESCO.

"We believe in AIESEC-trained people because they approach an assignment with intelligence,
diligence and an eagerness of undying desire to succeed."
J. Oliver Crom, President and CEO Dale Carnegie & Associates

AIESEC in …
 The international platform for young people to discover and develop their potential

www.aiesec.be

Countries Outgoing country: Romania

Incoming country: Poland

Field(s): Subjects education, social sciences

Exchange
information
Beginning date:19/01/2006 Ending date: 24/03/2006

Duration: 9 weeks

Internship details Working hours: from 10:00 to 18:00, 40h per week, no work on Saturday

Salary: US $ 306 Payment rate: monthly

Reasons for having the internship: The main reason comes from the current
environmental and economic needs and the willingness for helping people.

Department in which the intern will be working: Employment agency

Job Description During the two-three-month-long apprenticeship the trainee will teach English
language young unemployed people from the region of Krakow. This is
supposed to make their chance as to find a job better. Despite teaching spoken
and written language, they will have the opportunity to get to know how to
write CV or Application Letter in English, how to prepare for an interview in
English with potential employer etc. This includes preparing full teaching cycle,
teaching materials, lesson schedule (timetable). He/she will obviously run these
lectures in the precised term.

Other Conditions: The Employment Agency helps unemployed people to find a

job. They organize linguistic courses for these people to improve their abilities
in finding proper job. It's very important way to gain some points in today’s job
market. The trainee will run the lessons themselves and there will be two other
trainees running lectures in other groups. Person will be teaching English in 12-
15 people group. 3 hours (2 x 1,5 hour) a week each group. He/she'll have a
fully equipped classroom in order to run the classes. All the teaching materials
needed will be assured.

www.aiesec.be
AIESEC in Belgium asbl/vzw
Rue Royale 221, Koningstraat | B – 1210, Brussels, Belgium
PHONE +32 (0) 2 219 94 64 | FAX +32 (0) 2 217 47 93 | EMAIL be.mc@aiesec.org
 The international platform for young people to discover and develop their potential

www.aiesec.be

Additional information The trainee will participate in the project organised by The Local Committee
AIESEC Cracow in the co-operation with the Employment Agency. It is the
fourth edition of this project.

Skills required

Skills preferred Driver’s license, community development, Windows OS, PC user skills,
Internet user skills.

Background required

Background preferred Training and development, advanced education, introductory education,

linguistics / languages, social work, sociology.

Languages English

Geographical regions English speaking world

www.aiesec.be
AIESEC in Belgium asbl/vzw
Rue Royale 221, Koningstraat | B – 1210, Brussels, Belgium
PHONE +32 (0) 2 219 94 64 | FAX +32 (0) 2 217 47 93 | EMAIL be.mc@aiesec.org
AIESEC was started in 1948
That’s when this organization got the name AIESEC – we were called AIESE before
this point in time.

Over 23,000 members

Taken from SOGA July 2007.

Over 100 countries

We partner with over 3.500 organizations globally

These are sponsors, TN takers etc.

Over 900 universities

We have more than 650 LCs, however many LCs have a presence in numerous
universities.

Over 4.000 International Internships opportunities

This has been achieved in the calendar year of 2005.

5.000 leadership opportunities

We take a leadership position to be in charge of leading a group of at least 3 people
for a period of at least 2 months to complete some clear mandate/deliverable. These
positions would include MC, EB, OCP, or a project leader.
We are assuming 650 LCs and 83 MCs with an average of 5-6 positions per EB,
giving a total of about 4.000 positions. We assume at least 1.000 positions available
as OCP of conferences or leaders of larger projects.

Over 800,000 Alumni

We count 57 generations with 15.000 members approximately per year (taking into
account low and high years in terms of membership)

Over 650 LCs

Taken from Insight XP
 TOOLKIT 2007

Members’ guide to better understanding AIESEC

This is an internal document and it is intended just for education of AIESEC members.
Just the information contained in the Appendix 2 can be used by AIESEC entities for external purposes
such as Websites, marketing materials and annual reports.

LLaasstt rreevviissiioonn ooff ccoonntteenntt:: International Congress 2005, Agra – India

Team:
Jeanne Du Plessis – South Africa
Mandy Law – Hong Kong
Amit Desai – Sweden/India
Oksana Arkhypchuk – Hungary/Ukraine
Rita Baptista – SSGN Board/Brazil/Portugal
Samy Daoud – Egypt
Edyson Dos Santos – AI/Republic of Macedonia/Venezuela/Ecuador/Peru

LLaasstt rreevviissiioonn ooff ffoorrm

maatt:: Global Virtual Legislation 2007

PAGE 1 of 24

The AIESEC Way Way

The AIESEC Toolkit 2007 2007
Toolkit | AIESEC International
| AIESEC | © Copyright
International 20072007
| © Copyright All rights reserved.
All rights reserved.
THE AIESEC WAY
in a nutshell WHAT IS AIESEC?

WHAT WE ENVISION

OUR IMPACT

THE WAY WE DO IT

OUR VALUES

PAGE 2 of 24

The AIESEC Way Toolkit 2007 | AIESEC International | © Copyright 2007 All rights reserved.
CONTENT
This Toolkit will take you through a comprehensive explanation of THE AIESEC WAY (organizational
description and ideals) and its historical changes based on the internal and external conditions.

Intro: The AIESEC Way in a nutshell

PAGE 2

Section 1: What is the AIESEC Way?

PAGE 4
MEANING OF THE AIESEC WAY

GOLDEN RULES ABOUT THE AIESEC WAY

Section 2: Understanding The AIESEC Way

PAGE 5
A. THE AIESEC WAY – A BRIEF EXPLANATION
WHAT IS AIESEC?
WHAT WE ENVISION
OUR IMPACT
THE WAY WE DO IT
OUR VALUES
Other considerations

B. THE AIESEC WAY – DETAILED EXPLANATION

WHAT IS AIESEC?
WHAT WE ENVISION
OUR IMPACT
THE WAY WE DO IT
OUR VALUES
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

Section 3: Evolution of The AIESEC Way

PAGE 17
AIESEC IN 1948
AIESEC IN 1964
AIESEC IN 1978
AIESEC IN 1989
AIESEC IN 1999
AIESEC IN 2000
AIESEC IN 2005
AIESEC IN 2007

Appendix 1: Main differences in Our Impact and The Way We Do It statements after
the refreshment of The AIESEC Way in 2005
PAGE 22
CHANGES IN OUR IMPACT STATEMENT
CHANGES IN THE WAY WE DO IT STATEMENT

Appendix 2: THE AIESEC WAY information to be used externally

PAGE 24

PAGE 3 of 24

The AIESEC Way Toolkit 2007 | AIESEC International | © Copyright 2007 All rights reserved.
Section 1: What is THE AIESEC WAY?
Before we start looking into THE AIESEC WAY, it is important that we get the terminology right.

The description of a ‘Way’ is the explanation of what makes an

organization distinct from others based on what it is and how it
does things.

A dictionary definition of “WAY”

9 manner: how something is done or how it happens.
9 road: is an identifiable route between two or more places.

THE AIESEC WAY gives answers to questions like:

What is AIESEC?

What do we envision?
What is our impact?
In what way do we make that impact
possible?

GOLDEN RULES ABOUT THE AIESEC WAY:

9 In THE AIESEC WAY all parts are important and must be considered.

9 It is more important to understand what our ideals – reflected in The AIESEC Way – mean in depth
(and therefore being able to describe them with our own words) rather than memorizing it.

9 THE AIESEC WAY is NOT a bunch of nice statements. It is NOT something to learn and then forget
about. It tells us what to DO (as an LC, as a Team, as a person). Therefore it is not just a reading
material.

9 We should constantly remind ourselves of THE AIESEC WAY. It is important that we are able to link
our daily work (whether this is matching, organizing an activity or receiving training) with AIESEC’s
ideals.

THE AIESEC WAY is not only a description of the way (manner) we aim to make a
positive impact on society, but also describes the way (road) we are taking to achieve
what we envision.

PAGE 4 of 24

The AIESEC Way Toolkit 2007 | AIESEC International | © Copyright 2007 All rights reserved.
Section 2: Understanding THE AIESEC WAY
A. THE AIESEC WAY – A BRIEF EXPLANATION
When we think about THE AIESEC WAY we should consider all the different parts. Here is a brief
explanation of each aspect and how they build a description of AIESEC and its ideals.

WHAT IS AIESEC?

The answer to the question ‘WHAT IS AIESEC?’

describes the type of organisation we are such
as non-political, student-run, non-discriminatory
etc.

WHAT WE ENVISION

Our vision for the world, reflected in the simple

statement: ‘PEACE AND FULFILMENT OF HUMANKIND'S
POTENTIAL’, unites and motivates us.

PAGE 5 of 24

The AIESEC Way Toolkit 2007 | AIESEC International | © Copyright 2007 All rights reserved.
 OUR IMPACT
OUR IMPACT clearly states that AIESEC as organization
believes the main positive impact we make to society come
as a result of the leadership characteristics our members
develop through the AIESEC Experience.

THE WAY WE DO IT

THE WAY WE DO IT explains the manner in

which AIESEC aims to make a positive impact
in society.
It states that in AIESEC we focus our energy,
activities and resources on our members.

OUR VALUES
OUR VALUES define the acceptable standards which govern our
members within the association. OUR VALUES guide our actions
and operations.

Many organizations are

working to make a positive
impact in our society, as we
do.
Each one of them has its
own approach.
We also have our unique
way to make that impact…
THE AIESEC WAY!

PAGE 6 of 24

The AIESEC Way Toolkit 2007 | AIESEC International | © Copyright 2007 All rights reserved.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
In the International Compendium, as part of THE AIESEC WAY there are three more elements that
support us in describing AIESEC.

1. English is the sole official language of AIESEC 1 .

As a global organization, English acts as the official language to facilitate communication among
members. All international congresses as well as regional ones should use English as the official
language of the meeting, this is to ensure equal opportunities for involvement for all international
members present in each one of AIESEC events globally.
Materials to be used globally and delivered by AIESEC International should be in English for the
same purposes mentioned above. Versions on other languages are allowed; however there
should always be an English version.
2. The logo approved at Presidents Meeting 1990 (Hong Kong) is the official logo of AIESEC 2 .

3. AIESEC adopts the AIESEC Code of Ethics along with its supportive structures
mentioned 3 .
The external world message is clear: skills are just not enough. There is no leadership without
ethics. AIESEC strives to provide leaders for a positive impact in society. The meaning of the
positive impact that AIESEC wants to have in the world lies in AIESEC’s ability to create, for each
and every member, a steering wheel that will shape her/his actions ethically.
AIESEC ethical process is a deep and steady move to make the AIESEC Experience the gateway
to the values-driven leadership the world needs, thus getting AIESEC closer to its organizational
description and ideals. The Code of Ethics adopted by the global plenary at IPM 2007 in Egypt
was a key event in THE AIESEC WAY to develop ethical leaders.
The purpose of the AIESEC CODE OF ETHICS is to:
9 Provide the ability for AIESEC to develop ethically sensitive leaders. The Code brings Ethics
to our attention and puts the organization on a virtuous track.
9 Acts as a compelling reference point for every single member of the organization.
9 Open the gateway for what is needed for impact on the individuals that live an AIESEC
EXPERIENCE.

The AIESEC CODE OF ETHICS is about the ethical principles we all adhere to, and the enforcement
mechanisms to align them with OUR VALUES.
The AIESEC CODE OF ETHICS can be found in the International Compendium.

1
Please note that ‘the foundation’ term as stated in the International Compendium has been changed to “AIESEC” to simplify
understanding by members.
2
Same as above.
3
Please not that the text ‘as described in Appendix 13’ has been deleted from the sentence to simplify understanding by members.

PAGE 7 of 24

The AIESEC Way Toolkit 2007 | AIESEC International | © Copyright 2007 All rights reserved.
B. THE AIESEC WAY – DETAILED EXPLANATION
The following notes are meant to support your understanding of each part of THE AIESEC WAY, and the
meaning that each part has to guide our activities globally.

WHAT IS AIESEC?
Looking at each part of WHAT IS AIESEC?:
9 Global – AIESEC has a global scope
and is represented in all continents of
the world. One of the most valuable and
unique aspects that our organisation has
is its global network. AIESEC should
make the best use of this global network
to enhance the understanding between
cultures by running activities that foster
participation and co-operation among
different countries in the network.
Without any doubt our exchange
programs create the best conditions for
this.
9 Non-political - AIESEC does not have a
pre-defined or officially accepted political tendency or subscription.
9 Independent - AIESEC is not a subsidiary or dependent entity of any other bodies in its work,
sustainability or decisions.
9 Non-for-profit - AIESEC is not an organization that exists to generate profit for shareholders. The
bottom-line for AIESEC is not money but people that are developing themselves as leaders. It is
important of course to have enough resources and be sustainable to ensure we are having the
desired impact in society and invest in further improvements for the organization. However, we are
guided by the ways to generate more impact and have maximum financial sustainability rather than
to simply generate more money.
9 Run by students and recent graduates of institutions of higher education – Students of higher
education students and recent graduates manage and run all the activities of the organization. The
members of AIESEC are current (includes the ones who have given a break to their studies to
dedicate themselves to AIESEC work) or recently graduated students of institutions of higher
education.
Globally our membership comes from student volunteers that join AIESEC to be part of the
organization and take part in the AIESEC Experience. They are also our stakeholders and the
future leaders of AIESEC. That is why we need to work very hard to provide them with enough
and high quality leadership opportunities, international internships and ensure that there is a
global learning environment in place that offers them a powerful life-changing experience.
We must also understand that in today’s world, there are more and more organizations like
AIESEC that are also attracting student volunteers. Therefore more than ever before, we need to
strive to attract and retain highly talented members better than other organisations and ensure
that being a member of AIESEC is a very powerful, enriching, exciting opportunity.
We must provide learning platforms that allow our members to develop in such a way that while
they are running AIESEC’s activities, they learn and develop themselves through interacting with
each other and other stakeholders. As a result of their AIESEC EXPERIENCE, our members will
have a positive impact in society!
9 Its members are interested in world issues, leadership and management – Today AIESEC has
expanded its reach to a wide range of student backgrounds. Our membership base has expanded to
university students that are interested in more than just economics.

PAGE 8 of 24

The AIESEC Way Toolkit 2007 | AIESEC International | © Copyright 2007 All rights reserved.
 By world issues we mean relevant topics of our current society/communities or also future
challenges. Issues are seen as ‘relevant’ based on the interest of our members..
World Issues can represent debate or controversy on which different parties take various
positions. We want our members to be exposed to these alternative positions, and decide to
make a positive impact in society. Our Global Learning Networks allow young people with
similar interests to connect and develop themselves to make a positive impact in society in their
areas of interest.
It is imperative that our members are interested in developing themselves as leaders. That is
why AIESEC encourages members to take on leadership positions as a main tool of developing
the skill, and aims to deliver leadership for a positive impact in society..
In order to generate that positive impact in society, our members are expected to develop
management skills. Management writer, Mary Parker Follett defined management as "the art of
getting things done through people”. So, management is not only related to business
environment- leaders in different sectors of society (non-corporate, government, etc) need
management skills to make things happen.
9 AIESEC does not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, gender, sexual orientation, creed,
religion, national, ethnic or social origin - AIESEC is an organisation that enjoys and lives
diversity, and will not reject participation or contact with people for any of the reasons mentioned
above.

WHAT WE ENVISION
What does “Peace and Fulfilment of Humankind’s
Potential” symbolize to us in today’s world?
When trying to understand AIESEC’s ideals, we must be able
to look at it in the context of today’s world because the
conditions of our world today are completely different than in
1948, 1960s or even 1990s.
AIESEC started as an organisation after the Second World
War, willing to promote and work for world peace. AIESEC was
deeply influenced by the social, economical and political
climate of the world in that period of history. Naturally, the
fundamentals of our organisation were shaped based on that
reality.
The social, economic, and political state of the world has changed since then and is now changing faster
than ever before. We are now living in a world where the risk of having another world war may have be
lower even with the raise of terrorism in the late years.
In today’s context, ‘peace’ should not be interpreted necessarily as absence of a major war. ‘Peace’
symbolizes a world that does not have conflicts that arise from cultural, religious, or other aspects of
differences in humanity.
AIESEC ENVISIONS A WORLD where its inhabitants are working together for common goals to ensure
prosperity for all. AIESEC wishes to see the world as a community where its people respect, enjoy, and
understand each other.
Through “Fulfilment of Humankind’s potential” AIESEC expresses its aim to develop individuals who
have the knowledge, skills and determination to develop their communities.
AIESEC’s aim is to offer as many opportunities as possible for young people to develop their potential;
people who are responsible, entrepreneurial, culturally sensitive and thirsty for learning more!
Furthermore, AIESEC wants young people to learn and contribute to the learning of others so that it
helps the development of their communities.

PAGE 9 of 24

The AIESEC Way Toolkit 2007 | AIESEC International | © Copyright 2007 All rights reserved.
OUR IMPACT
OUR IMPACT definition clearly states that
AIESEC believes the main positive impact we
make in society comes as a result of the
leadership characteristics people develop
through the AIESEC EXPERIENCE.
OUR IMPACT implies that:
9 Our international platform – AIESEC is
the “international platform” in which
thousands of ‘AIESEC Experiences’ are
happening every day. The word
international highlights the global aspect
of the organization and the internationalism present in each one of our activities.
The AIESEC platform consists of a number of different opportunities – physical and virtual –
through which an individual creates his/her own AIESEC experience.
This same platform also serves to connect our partner organizations to the talented young
people within AIESEC.
The main opportunities of the platform are leadership experiences, working abroad, learning
networks, and conferences.
Together with the AIESEC Experience, this platform is how we give young people the desire to
have a positive impact in society – that is the AIESEC Difference.

9 AIESEC’s aim is to provide a platform that “enables” young people to get involved in the
opportunities that AIESEC offers, not develop them directly. The organization ensures that the
international platform is in place and there are enough quality leadership opportunities and
international internships as well as a global learning environment in which AIESEC’s members
can interact and learn from each other (virtual environment, conferences , Learning Networks,
etc).

9 To provide leadership – In OUR IMPACT statement, AIESEC expresses its aim to “develop” future
leaders who have the knowledge, skills and determination to make a positive contribution in society.
AIESEC’s aim is to provide our communities with future leaders who are socially responsible,
entrepreneurs, and culturally sensitive; future leaders that are able to impact their societies in a
positive way.

9 For a positive impact in society - The development of leadership in individuals represents the way
in which AIESEC contributes to our communities, as these leaders would have a positive impact on
them in the present and future.
This links to what we envision in the sense that to contribute to peace, we need to “provide
future leaders who can make a positive impact” in their communities not only across cultures,
but also across sectors of society.
This aim also represents a direct link to working to contribute to the fulfilment of Humankind’s
potential since AIESEC provides a platform for development of everyone’s potential.

PAGE 10 of 24

The AIESEC Way Toolkit 2007 | AIESEC International | © Copyright 2007 All rights reserved.
THE WAY WE DO IT
THE WAY WE DO IT refers to the manner we have
chosen to ensure we are making a positive impact
in society.
THE WAY WE DO IT implies that:
9 AIESEC provides its members with an
INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE -
AIESEC contributes to the development of
individuals by providing them an integrated
development experience that we call the
AIESEC Experience.
The AIESEC Experience is the ideal
learning an individual can gain during
his/her involvement in AIESEC.
The AIESEC Experience represents the main deliverable to our stakeholders (members,
enablers, supporters) and is essential to all our activities.

9 Comprised of (1) LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES, (2) INTERNATIONAL INTERNSHIPS and participation in a

(3) GLOBAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT – The word ‘comprised’ explains that the integrated development
experience needs the three elements in order to be complete.

9 Leadership opportunities - through the management of projects and activities in over 1100 offices
at the local, national, and international level across 100 countries and territories, we provide about
5000 leadership opportunities to our members each year. This provides our members with a range of
valuable and practical experience and skills in management and leadership.
If AIESEC’s ambition is to provide as many integrated development experiences – AIESEC
EXPERIENCES - as possible, we need to increase the number of leadership opportunities we are
offering currently. In this sense THE WAY WE DO IT is an ambitious statement and represents the
aim of the organization towards our activities.
9 International internships - internship exchanges supply powerful learning experiences for young
people. The focus of our exchange experiences is not only to provide a professional experience to
the individual but also to provide a more powerful learning experience, which will lead him/her to
become more entrepreneurial, culturally sensitive, open minded and active learner.
International Internship Exchange is an ideal tool to develop individuals when in the host country.
When a young person experiences an AIESEC international internship, his/her worldview is
challenged as never before. It is not just the absence of the natural bonds with home (family,
friends, culture, etc) but also the opportunity to stand by him/herself, to face the day to day
challenges outside of the ‘comfort zone’, to question his/her own paradigms, and the way things
are or the way things work, both at personal and professional level.
Due to these reasons AIESEC believes international internships are a crucial component of the
AIESEC Experience and all our members should be given the opportunity to experience it.

9 Global learning environment – The AIESEC global learning environment is built under the AIESEC
Experience using both physical and virtual spaces where each member can access on their own the
full range of valuable learning opportunities.

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The AIESEC Way Toolkit 2007 | AIESEC International | © Copyright 2007 All rights reserved.
POINTS TO NOTE

1. We must understand that the ‘AIESEC EXPERIENCE’ is our TOOL, our DELIVERABLE to young
people; it is NOT the final result. Through AIESEC experiences, we offer young people the
opportunity to develop their potential. Through these learning experiences we aim to create a
larger impact in the world by providing leaders able to make positive impact in society as
stated in OUR IMPACT statement.
2. Each AIESEC EXPERIENCE is unique because it is based on the decisions each member
makes when determining which available opportunities are valuable for him/her.
3. Therefore we must strive to provide a large number of complete ‘AIESEC EXPERIENCES’ which
are high quality and which are truly powerful life-changing experiences!
4. The way we deliver AIESEC EXPERIENCES needs constant improvements and innovation. The
‘AIESEC EXPERIENCE’ as we know it right now can change slightly or dramatically in the
following years to contribute better to WHAT WE ENVISION and OUR IMPACT, that is why we
name the AIESEC Experience in THE WAY WE DO IT statement as an ‘integrated
development experience’.
We consider the three elements stated in THE WAY WE DO IT statement as the crucial ones:
leadership opportunities, international internships and the participation on a global
learning environment.
Please note that the global learning environment leaves room for innovation on the kind of
components that the learning environment provides our members with. However in the
current context we have clearly identified which are the components.

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 OUR VALUES guide our actions and
operations as an association. They define
the acceptable standards which govern our
members within the organization.
Without such values, our members will
pursue behaviours that are in line with their
own individual value systems, which may
lead to behaviours that the AIESEC doesn't
wish to encourage within our local
committees around the world.
Clearly, OUR VALUES are in line with the rest of the statements that comprise THE AIESEC WAY.
So to summarize, OUR VALUES provide a way for the collective leadership of AIESEC to
encourage common norms of behaviour across our global network which will support the
achievement of our goals and will support us in pursuing our ideals.

FIVE WAYS TO LIVE OUT VALUES

However, just as with WHAT WE ENVISION or OUR IMPACT statements, it is one thing to have a
written guide to AIESEC’s values that remains on the
wall of the Local Committee office, or in a folder, but it
is quite another thing to have living values which shape
our culture - the way that things get done. So here are
five suggestions to ensure you are living our
organizational values:

1. Communicate OUR VALUES constantly.

Values should fit with AIESEC's
communication. If we say that we Enjoy
Participation and we Activate Leadership, then
having a dirty boring office may challenge this.
Acknowledge and thank those members who
have achieved something which particularly
emphasises OUR VALUES.
2. Enrol newies. OUR VALUES should be explicitly
available as new members join AIESEC. This should be a part of the induction process.
Your Local Committee then needs to deliver on the promise that OUR VALUES bring all
along!
3. Refresh the understanding of OUR VALUES periodically - allowing members to refresh
their understanding of them. This has the power of enrolling those who have joined
AIESEC recently – like Exchange Participants –, and avoids the stated values no longer
reflecting the AIESEC culture.
4. Confront contradictory behaviour. Ensuring that we give feedback to those who don't
live out OUR VALUES. If members are allowed to live out contradictory values, then over
time there is a clear danger that these will corrupt the desired values, particularly if it is
the more dynamic, dominant individuals who are espousing the contradictory values.
5. Periodically check out with feedback. Ask people what they think OUR VALUES are -
not only members, who may be influenced by the stated values, but outsiders - partners,
advisors, alumni, etc.

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The AIESEC Way Toolkit 2007 | AIESEC International | © Copyright 2007 All rights reserved.
 We lead by
example and
inspire leadership
through our
activities. We
take full
responsibility for
developing the
potential of
people.

The people that we are aiming to develop are our members. Therefore we are aiming to activate
leadership in them through an experience that allows for leadership in the ‘AIESEC EXPERIENCE’ like
teamwork and development of interpersonal skills.
Some examples of living this value are:
9 We make sure that through the different AIESEC activities we run we are offering the
opportunity for members to work in international teams and gain international experience.
9 We encourage and delegate responsibility to the new members of AIESEC in managing the
organisation.
9 We educate and pass on our experience and learning to the new generations to ensure the
long-lasting success of our organization.
9 We provide others with the opportunity to take responsibility and we empower them to do so.
9 We encourage ambition for the organisation.
9 We inspire actions in others by excelling in our role and having committed communication.

We are
consistent and
transparent in
our decisions
and actions.
We fulfil our
commitments
and conduct
ourselves in a
way that is
true to our
ideals.
Some examples of living this value are:
9 We work together with committed promises and requests
9 We have open and honest communication within ourselves, the organisation, and our
stakeholders
9 Our actions back up our words. We fulfil all our responsibilities and promises.

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 We seek to learn
from the different
ways of life and
opinions
represented in
our multicultural
environment. We
respect and
actively
encourage the
contribution of
every individual.
AIESEC needs to assure that there is internationalism and diversity always present in the way that
we work. We should always perceive diversity as an enriching factor.
Some examples of living this value are:
9 Assuring that we are exchanging with different parts of the world and that we are
ensuring full usage of the diversity that we have in the organisation.
9 Assuring that the students we recruit and the companies / organisations we partner with
open up to a diverse and international experience. Target these kinds of organisations
and students.
9 Co-operating with other AIESEC offices by transferring your knowledge and resources
as an investment to increase their capacity to provide complete AIESEC Experiences
and contribute in society
9 Interacting with delegates from a large range of countries at international conferences.

We create a
dynamic
environment
by active and
enthusiastic
participation
of individuals.
We enjoy
being involved
in AIESEC.

Some examples of living this value are:

9 We foster the participation of different stakeholders and members in the AIESEC
Experiences we provide as a way to enhance leadership in our programs
9 We assure that more individuals will have the opportunity to participate in AIESEC
activities by targeting and delivering high quality activities
9 We work together and enjoy what we are doing therefore we get the best out of each
individual and we reach higher results.
9 We are proactive.
9 We celebrate our victories, share our achievements and recognise our contributions.

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 We aim to
deliver the
highest quality
performance in
everything we
do. Through
creativity and
innovation we
seek to
continuously
improve.
Some examples of living this value are:
9 We constantly look for improvements in the way that we run AIESEC to improve the way
that we deliver AIESEC Experiences and satisfy all our stakeholders.
9 We deliver what we promise, run complete AIESEC Experiences, and never sacrifice the
learning of the individuals that we are aiming to develop, as it is our end goal.
9 We use the added value of each individual and get feedback from the team to achieve
higher results.
9 We encourage each other to be better every day in everything we do.
9 We approach our work with innovation and creativity for achieving better results

We act in a
way that is
sustainable for
our
organisation
and society.
Our decisions
take into
account the
needs of future
generations.

Some examples of living this value are:

9 We manage our resources in a way that we leave the best conditions for the
organization for future years.
9 We aim to ensure maximum financial sustainability after assuring a high level of quality.
Our end goal is the impact and not the revenues.
9 We aim to foster an attitude of respect for the future generations throughout the
complete AIESEC Experiences we provide.
9 We support each other and we build on what has been done in the past.
9 We plan to focus our efforts in only that which we can achieve.
9 We consider the environment in the use of natural resources in our offices worldwide.

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Section 3: Evolution of The AIESEC Way
It is usual and healthy for an organization to revisit and revise its description and ideals over the years.
This is essential to adapt to the continuously changing environment and society. Indeed, AIESEC has
discussed its description and ideals many times over the course of its history.
As a result of these discussions, the statements have been revised several times to best represent the
relevance of our organization in that given period of time. Below, you can find how THE AIESEC WAY has
evolved through the years of its existence.

AIESEC in 1948:
“AIESEC is an independent, non political and international association, which has as its purpose,
to establish and promote friendly relations between the members. The function of the members
is to supply information of study conditions, arrange trainee exchanges, provide contacts and
other facilities for student visitors and undertake exchange visits for students”

AIESEC in 1964:
“The aim of the association shall be carried out by the members arranging trainee exchanges,
and providing contacts and other facilities for student visitors, and undertaking exchange visits of
students”

AIESEC in 1978:
“AIESEC shall be an independent, non-political, non-profit international association of scientific
character, whose purpose shall be to develop internationally educated management which can
effect various economic environments”

TO THIS END AIESEC:

9 Believes in finest quality as an approach towards all activities
9 Shall build bridges between management, academic and student communities
9 Shall promote international understanding, goodwill and empathy for different
management attitudes.
9 Shall complement a management and economic education with international educational
programmes, which provide practical experiences in management, without discrimination
and insights into the economic, political and a social environment in which management
operates.
9 Shall provide students with a better understanding
of societies actual problems throughout projects
held at national and international level.
9 Shall offer a challenge to AIESEC members to
achieve the aims of the association.

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 AIESEC in 1989:
VISION: Peace and fulfilment of humankind’s potential
PURPOSE: To contribute to the development of our countries and their people with an overriding
commitment to international understanding and co-operation.
Means:
9 Creating opportunities for exposure and interaction between young people of different
cultures and nations
9 Assisting people in acquiring skills and knowledge through management education and
practical experience.
9 Offering people the opportunity to interact with their social and economic environment at
national and international level.
9 Shall offer a challenge to AIESEC members to achieve the aims of the association.

AIESEC in 1999:
In 1992 AIESEC created its first long term organizational plan. It was called DIRECTION ’96. This
long term plan ended at IC 1996 in Poland when the organization decided to completely focus its
efforts in exchange activities.
However, the lack of a consistent plan to integrate and align all member committees resulted in a
situation of confusion and lack of results across the network.
In 1998 AIESEC International decided to bring in Dianna Old, founder of The RAE Group, a
professional consulting firm, in order to help the association begin a change initiative. There was
not only a lot of confusion across the network, but also a lot of confusing description on AIESEC,
which The Rae Group addressed by providing a clear approach that enabled us to better
understand and describe the organization.
As a result of our work with The RAE Group, a description of AIESEC and its ideals was
introduced at IPM 1999 in Taiwan and later adopted. Along with this description of the
organization and its ideals, The Rae Group was also responsible for the long term vision initiative
called AIESEC 2005. It was created and used by The Rae Group at IPM 1999 to help the AI
team and MCPs launch a global change initiative. Along with AIESEC’s description and ideals,
AIESEC 2005 became the springboard for significant positive change that still continues today. It
included as well a definition and agreement upon the values of the organization; however the
process of defining and agreeing upon those values was planned to be done later.
“The framework” used to refer to THE AIESEC WAY at that time is property of The RAE Group; for
such reason the original titles of the statements below have been replaced with the ones that
comprise our new description: THE AIESEC WAY.
WHAT WE ENVISION: Peace and Fulfilment of Humankind’s Potential.
OUR IMPACT: By developing individuals, we contribute to the development of our communities
with an overriding commitment to international co-operation and understanding.
THE WAY WE DO IT: AIESEC facilitates international traineeship exchanges and supporting
activities that provide practical learning experiences for our trainees and that facilitate the
learning of our members and other stakeholders.
9 AIESEC offers an International Traineeship Exchange Program 4 that is supported by
learning activities that are comprised of recruitment/selection, preparation,
reception/integration and reintegration.
9 AIESEC members mainly run the process for other university students. Few AIESEC
members participate of the International Traineeship Exchange Program.

4
ITEP: International Traineeship Exchange Program.

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 9 Trainees (participants of the ITEP) are seen by the organization as the main delivery to
our communities in order to achieve our vision.
9 Our members are just the engine that makes the process happen and not necessarily
participants of the process itself.

AIESEC in 2000:
Following IPM 1999, we needed to complete the values component of our association
description that would guide our actions and operations. .
At International Congress 1999 in South Africa we ran through a process for doing this and also
explored what we needed to do to utilize our common global association description and ideals
to increase our profile, impact, and results. At that moment the challenge that we had in front of
us was to act upon that agreement and to reach the goals that we all envisioned.
By completing our organizational description and ideals – through agreeing upon OUR VALUES
and simplifying THE WAY WE DO IT statement – IPM 2000 was a historical event in which the
global association confirmed its commitment by legislating the complete description. This
refreshed description would determine how the association was positioned internally and
externally and how each member and entity in AIESEC acted until the latest refreshment at IC
2005 in India.
WHAT WE ENVISION: Peace and Fulfilment of Humankind’s Potential.
OUR IMPACT: By developing individuals, we contribute to the development of our communities
with an overriding commitment to international co-operation and understanding.
THE WAY WE DO IT: AIESEC facilitates international traineeship exchanges and supporting
activities that provide practical learning experiences for our trainees and that facilitate the
learning of our members and other stakeholders.
OUR VALUES:
9 Activating Leadership
We lead by example and inspire leadership through our activities. We take full
responsibility for our role in developing the potential of people.
9 Demonstrating Integrity
We are consistent and transparent in our decisions and actions. We fulfil our
commitments and conduct ourselves in a way that is true to our ideals.
9 Living Diversity
We seek to learn from the different ways of life and opinions represented in our
multicultural environment. We respect and actively encourage the contribution of every
individual.
9 Enjoying participation
We create a dynamic environment by active and enthusiastic participation of individuals.
We enjoy being involved in AIESEC.
9 Striving for Excellence
We aim to deliver the highest quality performance in
everything we do. Through creativity and innovation we seek
to continuously improve.
9 Acting Sustainably
We act in a way that is sustainable
for our organisation and society.
Our decisions take into account the
needs of future generations.

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The AIESEC Way Toolkit 2007 | AIESEC International | © Copyright 2007 All rights reserved.
AIESEC in 2005:
The most recent global discussion about revising THE AIESEC WAY content started in 2004 and resulted
with the refreshment of our organizational description and ideals in the International Congress 2005 in
Agra - India.
The definition of the ‘AIESEC Experience’ in 2002, a result of the Global Change Process initiated by
the creation of AIESEC 2005 with The Rae Group at IPM 1999 in Taiwan, helped us to reconsider who
our primary target group is. After a long time of different viewpoints, it symbolised increased unity and
common vision among the membership of the organisation and a clear link to contribute to the
achievement of our vision.
After the common agreement of the organization to implement the ‘AIESEC Experience’ at IPM 2004 in
Sri Lanka, we realized that our organizational description and ideals were no longer an accurate
representation of AIESEC. Formal discussion started to happen on THE AIESEC WAY changes in the
organization at that point, including AIESEC International discussions, Steering Team meetings and
MCPs participation at the International Congress 2004 and International Presidents Meeting 2005 as well
as participation of MCVPs at the Expros 2005.
During those discussions it was realised that the organisation’s description and ideals were tied to the
former concept of AIESEC as an organization that provide a service to university students and indirect
service to society by providing it with capable future leaders without considering the formal development
of its members as those future leaders. The ‘AIESEC EXPERIENCE’ aims to set up the organization to
provide these opportunities to all its members – this needed to be reflected in THE AIESEC WAY
statements. As well, the fact that AIESEC contributes to the achievement of WHAT WE ENVISION by
providing leadership for a positive impact in society was not clear.
By re-discussing THE AIESEC WAY, it was aimed to:
9 Facilitate internal and external communication to create one common image/message
around the world.
9 Reflect the evolution of the organization itself after the Global Change Process that
brought the ‘AIESEC Experience’ as the essence of what we do stated in THE WAY WE
DO IT.
9 Re-enforce the description and ideals of AIESEC.

AIESEC in 2007: MOST RECENT REVISION OF THE AIESEC WAY

Since the time that changes were made to our association description and ideals with the support of The
RAE Group, we have been using a “framework” that is property of the consultancy firm due to not
completing the final work on our description with them. (This term “framework” relates to the titles and
format not to the content of the statements).
In order to handle the property of this consultancy company properly, and find our way to completing the
work on our organizational description and ideals, Dianna Old of The RAE Group supported us in the
process of defining something that we think suits the unique needs of AIESEC.
In this context THE AIESEC WAY was born.
THE AIESEC WAY describes not only AIESEC and its ideals, but also states that this is our way. It helps
us to differentiate ourselves even more from other organizations.
THE AIESEC WAY also states that Peace and Fulfilment of Humankind’s Potential is WHAT WE
ENVISION. This will help us differentiate the role this statement plays in comparison with our AIESEC
2010 organizational vision, which is the vision we have for AIESEC in 2010.

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 Following is THE AIESEC WAY current statements (left column) alongside the former concepts we were
using (right column).

THE AIESEC WAY – Current Version THE AIESEC WAY - prior to IC '05

WHAT IS AIESEC?:
AIESEC is a global, non-political, independent, not- AIESEC is an international, non-political, non-profit,
for-profit organization run by students and recent student-run, independent, educational foundation. It
graduates of institutions of higher education. Its is comprised of students and recent graduates of
members are interested in world issues, leadership institutions of higher education who are interested in
and management. AIESEC does not discriminate on economics and management. AIESEC does not
the basis of race, colour, gender, sexual orientation, discriminate on the basis of race, colours, sex,
creed, religion, national, ethnic or social origin. sexual orientation, creed, Religion, national or ethnic
origin.

WHAT WE ENVISION (no changes)

Peace and Fulfilment of Humankind’s Potential. Peace and Fulfilment of Humankind’s Potential.

OUR IMPACT
Our international platform enables young people to By developing individuals, we contribute to the
discover and develop their potential to provide development of our communities with an overriding
leadership for a positive impact on society. commitment to international co-operation and
understanding.

THE WAY WE DO IT
AIESEC provides its members with an integrated AIESEC facilitates international traineeship
development experience comprised of leadership exchanges and supporting activities that provide
opportunities, international internships and practical learning experiences for our trainees and
participation in a global learning environment. that facilitate the learning of our members and other
stakeholders.

OUR VALUES (no changes)

9 Activating Leadership 9 Activating Leadership
9 Demonstrating Integrity 9 Demonstrating Integrity
9 Living Diversity 9 Living Diversity
9 Enjoying Participation 9 Enjoying Participation
9 Striving for Excellence 9 Striving for Excellence
9 Acting Sustainably 9 Acting Sustainably

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Appendix 1:
Main differences in OUR IMPACT and THE WAY WE DO IT statements after
the 2005 refreshment
1. Changes in OUR IMPACT Statement:
In the previous OUR IMPACT statement we declared that ‘by developing individuals, we contribute
to the development of our communities with an overriding commitment to international co-
operation and understanding’; making clear that our aim was to provide the world with individuals
able to foster international co-operation and understanding.
At that time, the statement identified the organisation’s aim at both a societal and also an individual
level.
The new version of OUR IMPACT no longer states that AIESEC develops individuals, but rather that
AIESEC enables them to develop. This is due to our higher understating of what the impact of
AIESEC is in the world, and the need to empower people to experience the opportunities that
AIESEC provides.
Today AIESEC’s contribution is definitely made through indirect impact. The impact of our activities
is focused on enabling young people to be leaders rather than in direct impact of our activities in
society.
The evolution of our organization to meet the external reality lead AIESEC to define the AIESEC
EXPERIENCE as a tool to enable young people to develop themselves to make a positive impact in
society, an impact that can not be limited to ‘international co-operation and understanding’ but rather
open to different scopes and wider reach.
AIESEC wants to enable young people to become leaders able to make positive impact in diverse
global issues such as: HIV/AIDS, finances, energy, entrepreneurship, poverty, discrimination,
international co-operation and understanding, etc. This is also currently stated in the WHAT IS
AIESEC? statement.
The risk of loosing the international nature of our activities is diminished by two facts: the presence of
the ‘world issues’ interest declared in the WHAT IS AIESEC? statement and the presence of the
subject ‘our international platform’ in OUR IMPACT statement itself.
‘World issues’ is extensively explained in the WHAT IS AIESEC? part of this toolkit.
‘Our international platform’ phrase in OUR IMPACT states clearly that
AIESEC is that international platform on which thousands of AIESEC
Experiences are happening everyday, connecting people globally
through our ‘global learning environment’.
The change from ‘communities’ to ‘society’ is due to the fact
that society holds a wider range. We are talking about all sectors
of society – corporate, non-corporate, government, social, etc –
while in most cases ‘community development’ is more
connected with social development at local level. Society is also
open to be a cross borders concept more that just a local impact
concept.
Finally, our commitment is no longer purely based on international co-
operation and understanding, but on a positive impact in society.
This includes international co-operation and understanding and gives
room for other relevant global issues that shape our world today and
in the incoming future.

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2. Changes in THE WAY WE DO IT Statement:
By stating that ‘AIESEC facilitates international traineeship exchanges and supporting activities that
provide practical learning experiences for our trainees and that facilitates the learning of our
members and other stakeholders’, we clearly defined that the essence of our activities was the
international traineeship exchanges. The ‘supporting activities’ as the name itself declares, were a
‘support’ tool for the exchanges themselves.
In the new statement, AIESEC provides an integrated development experience (AIESEC
EXPERIENCE). This experience is ‘comprised’ of the three key elements:
1. Leadership Opportunities,
2. International Internships and
3. Participation in a Global Learning Environment.
Committing us to deliver as many ‘complete’ AIESEC EXPERIENCES as possible by increasing the
number of our international internships as well as the number of leadership opportunities provided to
our members, and ensuring the existence of the components of learning in each one of our local
committees worldwide.
In the new statement there is no distinction between members and trainees. The organization is
talking in terms of ‘AIESEC people’ in its organizational description and ideals, giving the ambition to
ensure that we are building generations of ‘AIESEC Experience people’ for a future in which most of
our interns have been AIESEC members for a period of time and most of them have been given with
the opportunity to take on a leadership role within the organization.
The new statement reflects clearly what we do in every local committee: AIESEC provides as many
complete AIESEC Experiences as possible to make a positive impact in society.

POINTS TO NOTE
1. The integrated development experiences (AIESEC EXPERIENCES) provided by AIESEC are
comprised of the three elements mentioned – leadership opportunities, international
internships and participation in a global learning environment – we need to strive to
provide as many complete AIESEC Experiences as possible.

2. This means that providing only international internships or leadership opportunities is not
sufficient. Along with the internships and leadership opportunities, the presence of the global
learning environment in every local committee is the unique way for AIESEC to provide
complete AIESEC Experiences.

1. We believe that by providing complete AIESEC Experiences, AIESEC then impacts youth to
become those leaders able to make a positive impact in society.

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Appendix 2:
THE AIESEC WAY information to be used externally

Many organizations are working to make a positive impact in our society, as we do. Each one of
them has its own approach. We also have our unique way to make that impact…
THE AIESEC WAY!

WHAT IS AIESEC?
AIESEC is a global, non-political, independent, not-for-profit organization run by students and recent
graduates of institutions of higher education. Its members are interested in world issues, leadership and
management. AIESEC does not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, gender, sexual orientation,
creed, religion, national, ethnic or social origin.

WHAT WE ENVISION
Peace and fulfilment of humankind's potential.

OUR IMPACT
Our international platform enables young people to develop their potential to provide leadership for a
positive impact in society.

THE WAY WE DO IT
AIESEC provides its members with an integrated development experience comprised of leadership
opportunities, international internships and participation in a global environment.

OUR VALUES
Our Values define the acceptable standards which govern our members within our global network and
support us in pursuing our ideals.

Activating Leadership
We lead by example and inspire leadership through our activities.
We take full responsibility for developing the potential of other people.
Demonstrating Integrity
We are consistent and transparent in our decisions and actions.
We fulfil our commitments and conduct ourselves in a way that is true to our ideals.
Living Diversity
We seek to learn from the different ways of life and opinions represented in our multicultural environment.
We respect and actively encourage the contribution of every individual.
Enjoying Participation
We create a dynamic environment created by active and enthusiastic participation of individuals.
We enjoy being involved in AIESEC.
Striving for Excellence
We aim to deliver the highest quality performance in everything we do.
Through creativity and innovation we seek to continuously improve.
Acting Sustainably
We act in a way that is sustainable for our organisation and society.
Our decisions take into account the needs of future generations.

THE AIESEC WAY is not only a description of the way (manner) we aim to make a positive
impact in society, but also describes the way (road) we are taking to achieve what we envision.

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The Brand Experience toolkit
[August 2007]
 Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

Table of Contents

1.0 History of the AIESEC Brand

1.1 What is a brand?
1.2 Why do we have a global brand?
1.3 Brand Promise vs. Brand Experience: an evolution

2.0 The Brand Experience

2.1 An overview
2.2 Our competitors
2.3 Our target audiences
2.4 Physical manifestations
2.5 Benefits
2.6 Differentiator
2.7 Essence

3.0 Filter tool – how to use the Brand Experience in practice

3.1 Assessing your results
3.2 Finding support

Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

 1.0 – History of the AIESEC brand
Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

History of the AIESEC brand

The global AIESEC brand as we know it today was launched by AIESEC International in 2004. The first Brand Toolkit included
explanations on what is a brand, why we need one and the steps in order to achieve that, including our Brand Promise, visual
guidelines and marketing campaign.

1.1 What is a brand?

A brand is more than just a logo, slogan or a colour scheme; it is the image and reputation that we want others to associate with our
organization. But, a brand is also more than just the image that we want others to have of us; it is also a description of the
organization that we want to be. A brand is an expression of your actions and what you do every day.

In AIESEC, our global brand is represented through our living The AIESEC Way. Our “Brand Experience” is the experience we
want our stakeholders (members, supporters and enablers) to live when they interact with AIESEC. The closer we can make this
experience to the entirety of our Brand Experience the more we are strengthening our global brand every day.

1.2 Why do we have a global brand?

Having a global brand allows AIESEC (1) to be more consistent and credible, (2) to attract more stakeholders and give AIESEC a
clear competitive advantage; (3) to attract the right stakeholders and to set the right expectations; and (4) to align the organization
to globally leverage the AIESEC Experience.

Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

 1.0 – History of the AIESEC brand
Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

1.3 Brand Promise vs. Brand Experience: an evolution

The Brand Promise introduced in 2004 was the start of the branding initiative from AIESEC International, bringing the network
together to have one visual identity and synergizing messages across the network. While the earlier brand promise helped quite a
bit to align the organization to be transmitting common messages, it was difficult to apply to products and also quite internally
focused, not providing reasons for partners to engage with AIESEC rather than our competition. The brand promise was made up
of words that we felt best described AIESEC, but there was no clear plan on how to use it in practice.

Now a few years later, we see the need to evolve this further in order for it to be used in practice, including how it should be used in
relation to product development and messaging—a crucial step on the path to creating a strong global brand for AIESEC. As a
result, with the help of consultants from Unilever, we now have what we call the Brand Experience. This methodology will serve as
a tool that can be used to filter everything we do quickly and easily to understand its alignment to our brand, which in the end
supports in its strengthening.

Unlike the brand promise which was internally focused, the Brand Experience first considers the outside environment and looks
inward, reflecting how our stakeholders actually experience our brand when they interact with AIESEC, and how we do things
differently than our competitors. By being conscious of this we can ensure that we are strengthening our global brand in all actions
we take, meeting the needs of our stakeholders and putting us ahead of our competitors at the same time.

Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

 2.0 – The Brand Experience
Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

The Brand Experience

Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

 2.1 – The Brand Experience: an overview
Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

The Brand Experience: an overview

The Brand Experience is a simple way to understand how our target audiences (members, supporters and enablers) experience (or
interact with) the AIESEC brand. The interactions and touch points they have with AIESEC will shape the impression of what
AIESEC is to them, and by being conscious of this we can manage the kind of experience we would like our target audiences to
have with AIESEC.

The Brand Experience has several elements that will be discussed in more detail in this toolkit. They include:

• Our competitors (organizations offering similar products to our target audiences)

• Target audiences (our potential members, enablers and supporters)
• Physical manifestations (the first interaction point to AIESEC for our target audiences)
• Benefits (what our target audiences get out of engaging with AIESEC)
• Our Values (reflective of The AIESEC Way)
• Discriminator (what distinguishes us from our competitors)
• Essence (what we do in AIESEC, what we are about)

The next few pages of this toolkit will explain each section of the Brand Experience in more detail.

Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

 2.2 – Our Competitors
Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

Our Competitors
Our competitors are other organizations that offer
similar experiences to our target audiences as we do.

They may be slightly or even very similar to us, based

on what they offer. These include organizations
offering:

• Work abroad opportunities

• Volunteer abroad opportunities
• Cultural experiences
• Skills development
• Networks

Although there may be a few common competitors for AIESEC across this globe (ie) IAESTE for internships or JCI for volunteer
opportunities, your direct competitors will differ from country to country, and perhaps even from city to city. It is important that you
are aware of such similar organizations and the work they are doing so that you are able to identify how AIESEC differs from their
activities and what we offer to our target audiences vs. what our competitors offer to them.

Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

 2.3 – Our target audiences
Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

Our target audiences

As seen from our Balance Scorecard, our target
audiences can be divided into three distinct groups of
people:

• Members

• Enablers (TN takers, mentors and

learning/content partners), and

• Supporters (financial and in-kind partners, Board

of Advisors)

The kinds of characteristics we would be looking for in potential members, enablers and supporters include:

Characteristics for potential members:

• Young people – recent graduates and students

• Youth interested in world issues
• Those who enjoy challenges
• Open minded active learners
• Those with an interest in leadership development
• Passionate and determined
• Those looking for learning and development opportunities

Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

 2.3 – Our target audiences
Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

Characteristics for potential enablers:

• TN takers
o Companies expanding to other countries
o Companies that needs and employees with specific characteristics
o Companies with strong CSR or a willingness to start
o Issues focused; market leaders
• Learning/content partners
o Organizations working with issues relevant in society
o Global organizations (with global reach)
o Research-based organizations
o Individuals with specific skills/knowledge/experience in a particular field
• Mentors
o HR companies/specialists
o University professors
o Alumni
o Industry specialists

Characteristics for potential supporters:

• Sponsors, financial and in-kind

o Organizations working on similar issues relevant in society
o Companies/organizations that are working with youth
o Organizations with the same end benefit
• Board of advisors
o Industry specialists
o Alumni
o High profile people

Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

 2.4 – Physical manifestations
Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

Physical manifestations
This layer includes all the external touch points (or
interaction points) our target audiences have with
AIESEC. Thus, their first interaction point with AIESEC
will affect how they experience our brand.

This layer includes things such as our marketing

materials and visual branding guidelines (including our
logo), but also extends to much more than this.

The first interaction point that our target audiences have

with AIESEC including everything from physical
meetings to our website, conferences, even our Code of
Ethics, all shape the way our target audiences will
understand AIESEC.

Please note: the visual guidelines are currently being

refreshed. The newest version is expected to be released in
September 2007.

Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

 2.5 – Benefits
Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

Benefits

Benefits are what our target audiences (or stakeholders)

get out of engaging with AIESEC. While the benefits are
the same for all target audience groups, the reasons why
they are a benefit for each target audience differs based
on the different “experiences” that these audiences have
with our brand.

These are the benefits that our target audiences experience when they interact with AIESEC.

• Societal impact

• Personal and professional development

• International experience

• Global network

Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

 2.5 – Benefits
Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

Although they are benefits for different reasons, the above four are benefits for all of our stakeholders, or target audiences. The
chart below explains this in more detail.

Societal impact
Benefit for members Benefit for supporters Benefit for enablers

To have an impact on a certain
Knowledge sharing
Leadership development

issue
Feeling of supporting to make an
Feeling of contributing to having an

Learning opportunity impact in society impact on society through others

Providing the same experience
to others

Personal and professional development

Benefit for members Benefit for supporters Benefit for enablers

Self development (leadership
Supporting development of others
Access to top talent; having top
development, self-discovery,
Feeling of supporting to make an talent in their organization
skill building) impact on society
Feeling of supporting to make an
impact on others

Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

 2.5 – Benefits
Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

Global network
Benefit for members Benefit for supporters Benefit for enablers

Peers, alumni, businesses all
Connect to youth around the world,
Alumni, youth around the world,
over the world other organizations other organizations

International experience
Benefit for members Benefit for supporters Benefit for enablers

Exchange opportunities, global
Interaction with members who
Diversity in workforce

learning environment, have international experience
Branding and positioning
international conferences, etc. (open minded/worldly)
Interaction with members who

Branding and positioning have international experience

International conference (open minded/worldly)
involvement

Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

 2.6 – Our values
Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

Our Values
Our values are an important part of the Brand
Experience. The organizational values defined in The
AIESEC Way were not made to be written up on a wall
and forgotten about. They dictate how we should act
according to our value system for the organization. Our
values are also what our target audiences experience
and live when they interact with AIESEC, thus they
definitely determine how others view us and experience
our brand.

Our values
Imagine a TN taker hears all about the ambitious top talented youth that • Demonstrating integrity
exist in AIESEC during his first interaction at a conference and decides to
taken on an intern for himself. Imagine that intern meets all his • Acting sustainably
expectations of being a bright, ambitious and passionate young person
• Activating leadership
that makes a big difference in the company. The impression that TN taker
will have of AIESEC will be quite good, because of the way he • Enjoying participation
experienced our brand. Now imagine the same situation but in a negative
way, this is not how we want our stakeholders to experience AIESEC. • Living diversity
That is why values are so important and interlinked with our brand.
• Striving for excellence

Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

 2.7 – Differentiator
Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

Differentiator
Youth driven impactful experience
Our differentiator is what makes us unique, or simply
put, what sets us apart from the competition. This layer
is very much linked with the next (the essence). While
the essence may not be unique to our competitors, our
differentiator is the unique point—how we do what we do
differently than our competitors.

Through the result of discussions held at the Global

Brand Principles meeting held in May 2007, three
concrete things that combined set AIESEC apart
include:

• Youth driven – the concept that AIESEC is run by youth for youth
• Integrated experience – the AIESEC experience comprised of leadership opportunities, an international exchange and a
global learning environment
• Impact/activating positive leadership – making a positive impact on society

To express these three differentiators in one sentence we have come up with the phrase: Youth driven impactful experience. Each
part of this phrase has a strong meaning behind it.

Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

 2.7 – Differentiator
Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

Youth driven
This emphasizes energy, passion, emotion, and leadership or leading, essentially what AIESEC is about. It also reinforces
the fact that we are youth run.

Impactful
This is about the kind of experience that our stakeholders have when they engage with AIESEC, and the positive impact it
can have on them and/or on society.

Experience
The complete yet individual experience that our stakeholders have with AIESEC from a member’s AIESEC experience to a
TN taker’s experience with an intern to a sponsor’s experience at a conference. This experience draws together all aspects
of the AIESEC experience – leadership opportunities, international exchange and a global learning environment.

What the differentiator is not

This sentence is not meant to be used explicitly to explain AIESEC. The essence behind this statement is what matters. When
you are explaining what sets AIESEC apart these are elements that should come up in your explanation, though the actual phrase
“youth driven impactful experience” is not meant to be a slogan.

Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

 2.8 – Essence
Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

Essence
This is the essence of what we do as an organization.
This may not be different to our competitors, but it is the
centre of our actions. Our differentiator is how we do
this differently to our competitors.

Our essence is taken from the essence of the brand

promise: activating leadership.

AIESEC is about providing the platform and necessary

tools for youth to develop themselves, so that they can
have a positive impact on their environments.

Through activating leadership we also want to communicate the important role the individual plays in the experience - the self-
driven element. We do this through the concept of AIESEC as a platform of opportunities from which individuals can drive their own
experience.

The essence of activating leadership can be captured in three simple elements:

• AIESEC is the platform - individuals drive their own experience

• We help individuals to both develop and discover their potential
• Our ambition is to develop people that will have a positive impact on society

Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

 3.0 – The filter tool
Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

The Filter tool – how to use the Brand Experience in practice

In order to use the Brand Experience in practice, a filter tool has been created which is a simple set of questions that you can apply
to any product or message to check if it is aligned to the Brand Experience or not. If it is not, using this tool will also help to indicate
what areas need to be improved in order for your product/messaging to be strengthening our brand.

To use this tool, you will need to have your product in question with you. Go through the series of questions below and answer
them using a “traffic light” system: green if the answer if completely true, red if it is completely untrue and yellow if it is somewhere
in the middle. The Filter tool questions:

Question Green Yellow Red

1. Is it true to the essence (activating leadership)?

2. Is it true to our differentiator (youth driven impactful experience) and thus

different to those offered by our competitors?
3. Is it consistent with or not contradicting any of our values?

4. Is it reflecting the international development experience in The AIESEC Way

(exchange, leadership, global learning environment) and our current
organizational strategy?
5. Is it reflecting at least two primary benefits?

6. Is it adhering to the visual guidelines?

Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

 3.1 – Assessing your results
Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

3.1 Assessing your results

After going through the filter tool above with a product, idea for a product or general messaging you should have a grid of
green/yellow and/or red that will give you an indication of how closely your assessment reflects the Brand Experience.

For products with many green’s, this is a very good representation of the Brand Experience and will help to strengthen our global
brand.

For products with many yellows, this should be an indicator that some parts of the product need to be worked on a bit more in order
to better reflect the whole of our Brand Experience and contribute to strengthening our brand. Use the Brand Experience filter tool
to help you identify what areas exactly need a bit of work in order to be more reflective of our ideal Brand Experience, and strive for
this.

For products with many red’s, first consider how much this product is reflecting our Brand Experience. If it is not, then it is not the
ideal way we would want our target audiences to interact with AIESEC. In this case, consider the need of this product in your LC or
MC and work out a plan to ensure the product will be redefined in the future, towards our Brand Experience, or consider phasing
out the product altogether, by finding other more aligned products to help meet the financial resources brought in by your non-
aligned product.

3.2 Finding support

The Global Communication Crew can help you to use this tool to help strengthen our brand. Check out the Global Branding
Community on www.aiesec.net for more information.

Brand Experience Toolkit [August 2007]

Introduction to AIESEC Stage
Introduction to AIESEC stage starts with messaging AIESEC to students we aim at
and comes to the end till the individuals start to take responsibility. Introduction
doesn’t equal to recruitment but involves more factors. In @XP, we see the needs to
implement common induction, meaning having the same induction for members and
SNs – our AIESEC people.
Common induction unifies the orienting process experience for our AIESEC people in
regards of the further stage options but presenting all opportunities possible.
Common induction benefit in many ways, to name a few: increase LC capacity in
terms having both SNs and members actively involve in AIESEC work; strengthen the
impact of AIESEC by having trainees with more understanding of the organization etc.
It involves 4 components in the order of following: getting to know what AIESEC is 
finding/challenging your worldview  vision/values/goals setting  connection to
network. 4 elements are of equal importance and the missing of any one won’t
complete the induction process!
One concept to clarify, common induction ≠common recruitment, the later one only
leads to message AIESEC in the same way and getting people connected but the
other 2 components are missing – challenging world view and vision/goal setting.
Having activities to challenge people’s worldview (e.g. current issue discussion) can
evoke people’s desire to learn, form a better understanding of the vision of our
organization as well as the basis for future involvement of learning networks.
Spending time to sit down with newies to find out and set up their personal goals will
help them to align their personal goals with those of the organization thus people find
their position/path in their AIESEC career and feel responsible for their own learning.
Together with the new created network and connection with all stakeholders, one can
be well prepared for heading next stage in the @XP.
During this first stage, the 5 principles of AIESEC Experience are cast along in
various ways. For example, during personal vision/value/goals setting phrase, as
precondition, one’s worldview should be challenged by the last phrase; during goal
setting, one needs a lot of “reflection and meta-recognition1 ” to figure out one’s
strength and weakness as well as personal dreams; once the goals are set an
individual will then “take an active role in his own learning” in AIESEC.

Objectives of this stage:

 Individuals understand the AIESEC role of developing individuals who are
capable and willing to drive change in their community
 Individuals begin to explore their own role in the world
 Individuals understanding the specific opportunities that AIESEC holds for an
individual
 Individuals understand their personal role for taking on these opportunities in
AIESEC
 Individuals have the motivation to take on the responsibility and move forward in
AIESEC

Taking Responsibility Stage

According to @XP, all AIESEC People should take some level of responsibility in the
organization. This will depend on the availability of each person, but each (trainee or
member) must take some amount of responsibility in running the LC. To equip them
to do this, they must receive training on the use of the systems.
When acting in AIESEC people learn a lot of useful skills that benefit them later in
working life (project management, public speaking, strategic planning, marketing,
selling, facilitating, problem solving…). They learn by trying themselves, getting
support and working with others with more advanced skills.
Through experience in running a project in society, taking the responsibility or
leadership role in AIESEC participants realize that they need certain skills and
information to be able to run the project effectively. AIESEC can support these
participants to reach to the relevant resources needed to provide the skills and
information. Generally, people learn better when theoretical information is provided in
answer to questions arising from practical work. Therefore, it is a better motivation for
1
The ability to think with comprehension about what one is thinking. Some propose that meta-cognition represents the seventh
and highest level of learning outcomes in the cognitive domain -- the level of understanding just beyond synthesis and
evaluation
participants to seek theoretical information while executing specific tasks or projects
than to get a lot of lectures beforehand.
Mentors and project facilitators should encourage the participant to use the expertise
s/he has got from her/his studies. This also fulfils the gap between theory and
practice, which often exists in the because of the education system. It’s important that
the things that participant does throughout the program link to her/his expertise to be
used later. That means that if we want to have learning, which one can apply later on
in her work, it’s good to keep already in mind the possible future working context.
Teams/learning groups should be based on trust and respect for one another. If there
is a culture of open and sincere communication, feedback, discussion and debate
about any topic is possible and healthy. This creates the security and openness
needed to learn optimally. However, the existence of trust does not automatically
create a culture of open communication. This culture has to be created consciously
through dialogue and facilitation. There are certain group process methods and
dynamics to facilitate this.

Objectives of This Stage

 Understanding AIESEC current reality (exchanges/examples/people).
 Learn the basics of driving the Core Work Process.
 Feeling ownership over the organization
 Contribute to the organization as a whole
 Drive the CWP either as a team leader, member or team support
 Take ownership over own AIESEC experience

Some Things LCs Can Implement

 Train AIESEC People (trainees and members) on the use of tools
/structures/systems
 Integrate their trainees and new members into the LC culture and provide access
to information online and in the office.
 Trainees who cannot go for company visits can contribute in external scanning
and giving contacts.
 Involve them in integration or re-integration of other trainees.
 Make each learner take part in or be responsible for their own matching and also
for matching others.
 Contributing to another member/s’ learning process.
 Organize own preparation with other trainees.
Concept of intense teamwork
This is particularly important for those whose learning duration does not give enough
opportunity to develop into a team through prolonged LC work. A team can be
formed with others undergoing such experiences due to the intensity of the common
experience or task performed and not necessarily the duration.

How can it happen?

 Voluntary work with other “trainees” as a team.
 All “trainees” being responsible for planning and running the reception and
integration of other trainees. This makes them get to know one another.
 “Trainees and members” work together to create Learning Partnerships conscious
effort to create such a team.

Leadership Role Stage

Individuals can take over leadership roles at different stages. This will depend on
which flow they choose to go through the AIESEC experience.
To have a leadership role before going on a traineeship is not only valuable for the
individual but also leads to leadership becoming a stronger part of the talent base that
we promise to the companies. Taking a leadership role before going on a traineeship
would further develop all your characteristics and skills that the “Taking responsibility”
stage would bring.
The individuals choosing to take a leadership role after their traineeship or during their
traineeship (either in an organization or in AIESEC) can add the learning’s from their
ongoing traineeship to that leadership role, as well as bring in aspects to their new
environment from their home country to the leadership role. There is also the option of
coming back after your traineeship experience and then take on a leadership role in
AIESEC. The opportunities and learning’s this would bring to the teams the person is
leading, and the new aspects brought in are of course immense.
Having a leadership role obviously means that you are supporting the development of
others, and the experience they go through. It also means that you are leading the
organization to create opportunities for all AIESEC people to develop themselves.
Therefore the role of the leader is extremely important when it comes to develop the
change agents.
Being a leader is often a challenging role. But it’s also a role of great self-development.
To support that development mentorship and reflection becomes two important
ingredients in this stage. Having the support of a mentor means that someone will
coach you and lead you towards your goals and vision. The discussions with a mentor
often lead to insights and new perspectives to your experience and future paths. The
self-reflection is an other element to support your development. With time for reflection
you will recognize the development and experiences you have gone through and see
how you can continue that development and strive towards your goals and vision.
All principles of the AIESEC experience are of course important for each stage and
should follow you through it. The principles of “Take an active role in your learning and
in the learning’s of others” and “Meta-Cognition and Personal reflection skills” comes
in strongly in this stage. As mentioned earlier you as a leader are supporting the
learning’s and the developments of others. Also to further develop yourself and
thereby others, the “Meta-Cognition and Personal reflection skills” is an important
element in this stage.

Objectives of This Stage

 Learning about yourself by continuously reflecting and enhance a conscious
learning
 Learn about personal development by guiding others in their personal
development
 Develop Team leadership skills

Some Things LCs Can Implement

 Work with self reflection in the LC
 Have a mentorship program for AIESEC people (with for example alumni or
externals)
 Train AIESEC People (trainees and members) on leadership issues

Resources
1. Mentoring Toolkit:
Excellent guide on the Global AIESEC Experience Implementation community about
mentoring. Can be used as education material, and as a resource kit.
http://www.aiesec.net/members/clubs/globalcoreworkdesignpioneers/file-storage/do
wnload/Mentor_training_toolkit.pdf?version_id=16974088

2. Leadership Guide:
Tools for leadership development. Can be used in your MC to work with leadership
development of your country.
http://www.aiesec.net/members/globalmemberdevelopment/file-storage/download/N
WLALeadershipTool.pdf?version_id=15663690
Good Case Practices:
 Australia has worked a lot with leadership tools and leadership development.
 Germany’s NaLDS, National Leadership Development Seminar, a one week
international conference and a good platform to discover your values, get to know
more about leadership and develop your personal vision.

Working Abroad Stage

The Working Abroad stage is not initiated once the SN leaves the country. Various
important processes have to be in place before the SN leaves. The process of
Working Abroad starts from common induction process, that is, being able to recruit
the best, talented individuals with the right characteristics, competencies, and
attitudes to be part of AIESEC. The working abroad stage is “special” in its own sense
because it touches the entire exchange process from the external scanning, market
segmentation, recruitment, common induction, AIESEC involvement, preparation,
integration, re – integration etc. The working abroad stage, supported by Taking
Responsibility is the ultimate experience that one can experience in AIESEC.
Therefore both stages have to support each other catering for the individuals’
personal and organizational goals.
The selection process of the participants to the Working Abroad phase is designed
based on the goals and content of the program and defined selection criteria of
members that are suitable to take part to the program. The selection process is a very
essential part of the program: it’s the part through which we can ensure that the
exchange participants are suitable, motivated and committed to go through each step
of the program. During the physical exchange, all the learning’s, reflection and goal -
setting that the individuals have undergone will now be challenged and confirmed by
the reality of the experience.
The entire learning experience people go through will enable them to develop some
“Change Agent” characteristics. Furthermore, an international exchange experience
will provide an opportunity to be exposed to local issues (as can be seen from
Community Involvement) but also to global issues (through interacting with other
internationals). The proposed learning process includes a component for goal setting
for all the participants. People are also responsible for building and customizing parts
of their own learning process. There are mentorship sessions throughout the entire
experience to provide guidance, support and evaluation to the person’s learning
process. Once a mentorship plan is drafted make sure that the mentors have
sufficient knowledge about AIESEC and the direction of where the organization is
heading.
The 5 principles of the AIESEC Experience are shown very clearly in this stage. It is
where the individual going through the process goes through “personal reflection” by
living out of the comfort zone and “challenging one’s worldview”. “Creating networks
concept” should also be maximized in this stage.

Objectives of This Stage

 Have a thorough selection process prior to the working abroad stage. The goal of
the selection process is to select the best possible students for the Working
Abroad phase of the AIESEC Experience.
 Successful fulfilment of the exchange process as explained above in paragraph
one.
 An international experience that fits into the individuals’ learning goals and also
the organizational goals.
 Close personal interaction with a new culture, broadening one’s horizons. The aim
is to provide the “AIESEC people” with relevant working and professional
development, and to allow them get integrated into the local culture as deeply as
possible.
 Cultural and socio-economic interaction provides practical opportunity to create a
holistic worldview. Challenge you to understand your own culture and consciously
review your paradigm, that is, - Challenge your worldview!
 Gain motivation about the possibility of change by driving change even in a small
scale through a community involvement program.

Activities / Components That Are Run in the Working Abroad Stage

 Cultural preparation
 Goal - setting for your AIESEC involvement
 Becoming a mentor
 Community involvement

Some Things That LCs Can Implement

 Involve intensely [Yes Trainees preparing session drafts and be hardcore
facilitators just like AIESEC members] the trainees and returnees in the selection
and preparation process of “AIESEC people” going on a traineeship. Intense
involvement of all AIESEC people in the outgoing preparation seminar and
throughout the recruitment and selection of AIESEC people in the country where
the trainee is doing his/her traineeship.
 Engage alumni, partners, and lecturers amongst others, to start a mentorship
program that will provide guidance to the AIESEC people in terms of personal and
professional development.
 Exposure to global, local and social issues through a community involvement
 program. Fully organized knowledge sharing about the country where the trainee
comes from etc.
 Include the “AIESEC people” in the learning networks identified in the LC. Support
can be provided to create new PBOXes coupled up with learning networks.
 Involve the trainees in the day-to-day operations of the LC to increase LC capacity
and to increase results. [Provide expertise in selling, raising TNs within the
company where the trainee works, market segmentation, LC strategies, SN
preparation]

Heading for the Future

1. REFLECTING ON AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE
In this final stage of the @XP individuals have the opportunity to reflect, review and
share their learning’s from the opportunities, challenges and discoveries they have
encountered over their AIESEC Experience. Through mentoring others and being
mentored they can review and reflect on their worldview and values, identifying how
these have changed over their experiences. They can use this opportunity to adapt
their personal learning plan for the next stage of their development beyond AIESEC.

2. STRENGTHENING NETWORKS TO DRIVE CHANGE

Through Learning Networks, LC activity, conferences and exchange experiences
individuals will have the opportunity to network with other individuals who share
similar passions and vision. In the H4TF stage they have the opportunity to
strengthen these networks with others who are also in this phase and to create
common action plans on how to drive change in society. Examples of these networks
could include; peer-to-peer learning networks of individuals going into a similar sector,
networks of entrepreneurs planning a start-up company or NGO, or accountability
groups to help individuals follow their visions.
Through workshops and networking possibilities networks of AIESEC graduates with
practical and theoretical knowledge on an issue or industry will be connected with the
organizations and institutions that can provide them the opportunities, networks and
advice to help them turn their dreams into reality.

Objectives of This Stage

 Individuals have reviewed and reflected on their key learnings from their AIESEC
Experience to further expand their worldview
 Networks of individuals with common visions and interests are enabled to make
positive change in society.
Take an active role in your learning and the learning of others
What is it? – you are in charge of your own learning and also to help others learn

Why is it important to the outcome of the Learning Process?

- Our education system teaches us to be passive towards learning (take what is

given)

- The world is dynamic and one must always be proactively learning

- It is the only way people will be really committed to the process

Where this principle shows up in the process

- Become more involved with organization prior to going on the traineeship and
you help out with one of the functional areas

- People are informed before entering of what it takes to do an exchange and then
have time to get needed skills and resources

- Encouraging reflection on goals and personal vision

- Joining a learning network

Challenge Worldview
What is it? – All new information is interpreted through the worldview of the person,
including emotions, attitudes, values, passed experiences, and as a result, motivation
and action. It affects a lot how and to what we direct our attention and action in
different situations. We want to create situations that broaden and challenge how a
person thinks and helps them to see the connection between these elements, their
actions, and results.

Why is it important to the outcome of Learning Process?

It is not sufficient to be aware of the problems of the world to achieve change, you
must also understand the causes and possible solutions and this requires thinking
about and understanding many different points of view. It requires skills, confidence
and “shaking” experiences to build a worldview oriented towards positive changes.
Where does this principle show up in the process?

Certain experiences, such as doing an exchange, have the intensity to “shake up” the
worldview. Other experiences include:

- Having a positive impact on a person

- Experiences of failure and success

- Forming and exchange ideas with people from different backgrounds

- Intense teamwork experience

Meta-Cognition and Personal Reflection Skills

What is it? – refers to the capacity to recognize and evaluate your own thoughts,
values, emotions, motives, goals and actions.

Why is it important to the process?

- These skills allow someone to really take advantage of the AIESEC experience,
since it allows them to analize their actions and those of others.

- Facilitates the creation and completion of goals

- Facilitates the creation of values and the will to follow them

Where does this principle show up in the process?

- Giving space to reflect on what one has learned or wants to learn

- Giving space to share visions and learning experiences with others

- Through the role of a mentor

Increasing Practical and Theoretical Knowledge

What is it? – the opportunity to gain professional and personal skills and to apply
them

Why is it important to the outcome of the learning process?

- With more skills, one increases the capacity to have an impact in the world

- Fills a flaw in our education system in which most students to know have the
opportunity to gain practical experience
- Learning increases when there is an opportunity to apply and put into practice
what you have learned in theory

Where does this principle show up in the learning process?

- Experience working as a member in the area of public-speaking, sales, planning,

marketing, team management, leadership, budgeting, etc.

- During the traineeship

- On a theoretical level during conferences or learning activities

Creating a Network of Contacts

What is it? – a group of like-minded people who are interested in seeing you make
the change you want to see in the world

Why is it important to the outcome of the AIESEC Learning Process?

Because it helps to have contacts and support from all of the world when trying to
change it

Where does this principle show up in the AIESEC Learning Process?

- Through running the exchange program and attending conferences you are put
into contact with people from all over the world

- The ability to be in contact with people of similar interest through learning

networks
 Every day, AIESEC is enabling the development of agents of
positive change who create the needed impact in society.
Our rapidly growing network connects high potential people around
the world to generate an increasing volume of AIESEC Experiences.
Every member in our thriving local and global communities of
learning completes a life-changing AIESEC Experience.
Our contribution makes us the first choice amongst young people
and organizations for activating leadership.

Organizational Goals
8,000 Exchanges Realized
9,600 Members Complete a
Leadership Experiences
5,000 Exchanges of Members after
their Leadership Experience
40,000 Members
110 Countries & Territories
Strategy
Product
Leadership
AIESEC Experience is the core product of AIESEC.
Different facets of AIESEC Experience are sold to different stakeholders who Product
AIESEC’s Product Leadership

customize their own experience.

@XP as an experience & how it is lived needs to

continue to evolve & improve, which would ensure our product
leadership. The absolutes of @XP are an exchange & leadership experience & a
global learning environment.
Cost Customer
The objectives & scope of our core processes
need to be standardized across the network. The
processes should be customizable to the reality of countries, which would ensure
our product leadership on the ground, at the LC level.

We have to create a prime quality experience for every

stakeholder.
We need to have an extremely strong & reputable brand which
attracts people & organizations to AIESEC & @XP. We need to reach out &
educate the markets about our product – the AIESEC Experience.

We need to be always sure about our product portfolio & the value
that the products offer. The portfolio continues to evolve as we find more opportunities with
@XP, but we need to be comfortable with the idea of everyone not wanting our products & not wanting to
associate with AIESEC.
Business Perspective Stakeholders Involved Role in AIESEC Our approach…
Impact - The Community Ensure the relevance We provide complete
- Members (in the capacity of of AIESEC & our AIESEC Experiences
people living an experience of activities that enable our members
their own) to interact with issues
- Alumni relevant to the society
Members - Members Lead & manage the Continuous personal &
organization while professional
living their AIESEC development of our
Experience high-potential people
Enablers - TN Takers Create some part of Concentrated growth –
- Learning/Content Partners the individual AIESEC increasing opportunities
- Mentors Experience – thus for high quality
make a direct experiences in our
contribution existing markets
Processes - The framework of Ensure sustained We have customizable
organizational processes organizational activity processes, which are
guided by effective core
systems
Supporters - Sponsors: financial, in-kind Build AIESEC’s Value-based
- Advisory & Governance capacity to create relationships – focus on
Boards more & more AIESEC continuous improvement
- Individuals & organizations experiences – thus of value created for
sharing their network with make an indirect AIESEC & for our
AIESEC contribution partners
Strategy Map A high volume of
AIESEC Experiences
Impact

Increasing High
Opportunities to Increasing
Quality X
live Issue-based Leadership
Opportunities
Experiences Opportunities

Alignment between
Talent Management –
Individual &
Right Person doing
Members
Enablers

Organizational Goals
Credited for the Right Activity
Relationship Building our High Quality
& Capitalizing on Membership
Partners Networks
A Structured
Induction into
AIESEC
Processes

Consistent & Effective

Clear External Administrative
Positioning Management
Supporters

Sustainable
Partners Actively
Sources of
Engaging in
Revenue
Activities
Making the Scorecard a Reality
Critical Success Factors Organizational Processes

Opportunities to live issue-based Experiences - Market research & segmentation

All our members have the opportunity to take responsibility, live a
- People recruitment & campaign
leadership & exchange experience in issues/markets of their messages
personal interest - HR planning & allocation
Increasing High Quality X Opportunities - Market research & segmentation
There is continuous growth of high quality exchange opportunities
- Marketing & selling
for our members - Exchange management

Increasing Leadership Opportunities - Organizational structure

There is continuous growth of leadership opportunities for our
- Market research & segmentation
members

Alignment between Individual & Organizational Goals - Goal setting & review
The goals of our members are aligned with the purpose and goals
- Performance appraisals
of AIESEC, ensuring a self-driven learning environment in the - People recruitment campaign
organization

Talent Management – Right Person doing the Right - HR planning & allocation
Activity (competencies development &
The opportunities available to our members fit their individual
management)
competence, and ensure personal & professional growth, allowing - Organizational structure
them to make the highest contribution to organizational - Performance appraisals
development - Reward & recognition
A Structured Induction Into AIESEC - People recruitment campaign
All newly recruited students get a complete & structured induction
- Induction process
into AIESEC & their individual AIESEC Experience - Goal setting
- Mentoring
Relationship Building & Capitalizing on Partners - Relationship management
Networks
Through consistent delivery on expectations set, we are able to
use our partner’s networks to create further opportunities for our
members

Credited for our High Quality Membership - External communication interfaces

We are recognized amongst our partners for our highly talented &
- Promotion & marketing
qualified membership - Alumni management

Effective Administrative Management - Planning & budgeting

We have an effective planning & review mechanism in place,
- Review & control (plan & budget)
which allows us to delivery on our organizational strategy - Governance & accountability
(reporting to internal & external
bodies)
- Transition
Consistent & Clear External Positioning - External communication interfaces
We have a clear position amongst our stakeholder groups through
- Promotion & marketing
consistent messages - Relationship management

Sources of Sustainable Revenue - Product development for ER

We have the required revenue from diverse sources for
- Reserves & Investment
sustainable operations in the long-run management

Partners are Actively Engaging in our Activities - Relationship management

There are ample opportunities for our partners to engage with
AIESEC & understand the organization
Measuring Performance
Critical Success Factors (CSFs) Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

1. A high volume of AIESEC - No of countries

Experiences - No & % of people with both X & leadership
experience
- No of members who leave AIESEC after
developing the defined competencies (Quality of
@XP)
- Satisfaction of members with their AIESEC
Impact

Experience (Quality of @XP)

2. Opportunities to live issue- - No of issues, markets AIESEC is working with
based Experiences - No & % of members leaving AIESEC who have
had an issue-based @XP
3. Increasing High Quality X - No of Xs
Opportunities - Absolute & relative growth in X opportunities
4. Increasing Leadership - No of leadership opportunities
Opportunities - Absolute & relative growth in leadership
opportunities
5. Alignment between Individual - No & % of people wanting an X & Leadership
& Organizational Goals experience & actually getting it
- No & % of members who have a mentor
Members

6. Talent Management – Right - Quality of people at each stage of the AIESEC

Person doing the Right Activity Experience
- Retention rate of members
7. A Structured Induction into - No of members
AIESEC - Absolute & relative growth in membership
- No & % of people with clear goals & plans for their
future
8. Relationship Building & - Absolute & relative growth in the no of enablers
Capitalizing on Partners - Retention rate of enablers
Enablers

Networks
9. Credited for our High Quality - No & % of our partners who directly want to recruit
Membership AIESEC alumni
- No of organizations that interact & recognize
AIESEC for youth leadership development
10. Effective Administrative - No of AIESEC entities who have a year plan & an
Management operating budget
- No of AIESEC entities that have the required
Processes

infrastructure to be able to operate

11. Consistent & Clear External - No of media coverage received
Positioning - No of people who apply to join AIESEC with the
expectation of having a leadership experience
- No of conferences/forums we are invited to as
representatives of youth leadership
12. Sustainable Sources of - No of AIESEC entities who have at least 6 months
Revenue of their operating budget as a reserve
Supporters

- Retention rate of supporters

13. Partners Actively Engaging in - Absolute & relative growth in the no of supporters
Activities
 AIESEC Identity

AIESEC 2010

The triangle with the

Until Goals
2010 numeric goals

Strategy Product Leadership

The 1st time we have
defined a focused
strategy & activity
Activity & The AIESEC 2010 Scorecard framework
Reviewed
Annually Measurement (the CSFs & KPIs)

Global
Created
Library of GN National
Focus
Annually Actions Initiatives Plans
Areas
The New Terminology
Identity and AIESEC 2010 The vision & mission of AIESEC collectively come from the Identity
& the AIESEC 2010 statement
The AIESEC 2010 The Balanced Scorecard of AIESEC – the execution framework of
Scorecard AIESEC to become the organization described in the AIESEC 2010
statement
Goals The organizational goals of AIESEC – referring to the triangle & the
5 quantitative goals set till 2010
Strategy Product Leadership is the core strategy of AIESEC & the term
strategy should be used in the context of Product Leadership
Business Perspectives The 5 business perspectives of AIESEC are Impact, Members,
Enablers, Processes and Supporters.
Approach Our unique approach towards each of the business perspectives to
guide our activities towards those particular stakeholder groups.
Critical Success Factors Critical Success Factors are the key things that we need to be
(CSFs) good at to achieve AIESEC 2010. CSFs are defined for each
business perspective of AIESEC & are the key to operational-izing
AIESEC’s strategy.
Key Performance Quantitative indicators to measure our performance on the
Indicators (KPIs) Critical Success Factors over a period of time. Key Performance
Indicators (KPIs) are defined for each of the CSFs.
Strategy Map All the defined Critical Success Factors linked together in a cause
& effect relationship give the Strategy Map.
Library of Action Steps A list of ideas, concrete actions that can be taken at the country
level, which would help improve the performance of a country on the
particular Critical Success Factor. A library of action steps would be
created for each of the CSF’s during the global planning.
Global Focus Area A focus on a holistic solution to move the whole organization
towards the fulfillment of the AIESEC 2010 Scorecard, worked on
collectively by different entities of the organization. 3-5 Global Focus
Areas can be defined while laying down the global plan for a year.
Targets The measurable goals for a Global Focus Area.
Measurables’ Quantitative indicators to measure & track our performance on
the targets defined for a Global Focus Area. Measurables’ are
defined for each of the Targets.
Action-Steps Things to be done to deliver on a Global Focus Area.
They are very similar to the actions outlined in the library of action
steps, but are in a different context.
GN Initiatives Initiatives defined by the different Growth Networks on the basis
of the external & internal reality of the GN.

This is the terminology that we would be using in AIESEC for the coming 5 years. It is important that all of use
the different terms in the right context. We should be comfortable in calling each other on wrong usage of
terms. Also, this would take a certain amount of un-learning on our part. We would have to stop using some of
the terms that we have been so comfortable with so far.
The Most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQz)

Why does AIESEC need to define its strategy now?

Over the years AIESEC has not had one clear focused strategy for the whole organization. With
AIESEC 2010 defined as the vision for AIESEC till the year 2010 to guide AIESEC’s activities &
operations, this is the right opportunity for us to define this strategy. A defined strategy would help us –
1. Understand what we need to focus on & what the must do’s are for AIESEC
2. Better communicate the direction of the organization – bring in clarity, simplicity & consistency
3. Ensure continuity over a period of time in our actions
4. Improve our current results & become the organization described in AIESEC 2010

Why have we decided to use Balanced Scorecard (BSC)?

Balanced Scorecard (BSC) was introduced as a performance management system in the early 90’s
but today managers have leveraged the scorecard further. The BSC has evolved from just being a
performance management system to a way of running business.
The Balanced Scorecard is a simple framework to align a multi-layered organization like
AIESEC. Benefits for AIESEC of using Balanced Scorecard –
1. Builds a clear relation between the AIESEC Identity, AIESEC 2010 & the real activity that
happens at the LC level. This is something that has been quite ambiguous in the past & would
help us answer a lot of questions for ourselves as an organization.
2. The BSC helps in communicating the direction of the organization in a very simple manner &
ties together the different aspects of the organization. Thus, it would help us negate the effects
of the high turnover of members within AIESEC, by making the current direction easily
communicable & understandable.
3. The Balanced Scorecard also provides an effective measurement framework for what we need
to do. Thus it would help us solve the perennial problem within AIESEC of not being able to
measure what we are striving for through our activities.

Does every organization choose between Cost Leadership, Product Leadership & Customer
Intimacy?
Cost, Customer or Product is one of the frameworks’ that is used in strategic management to
represent the choice that businesses have while choosing a strategic focus. There are other such
frameworks available. However, the most important thing is to use one of the frameworks to make a
choice & then align the operations of the organization to deliver on the strategy. This is one of the
most commonly used frameworks & seemed the most applicable to AIESEC.

Is the scorecard going to trigger another change process in AIESEC?

NO! Although AIESEC will always be changing and evolving, this scorecard is not meant to begin a
new design process, but to implement the results of the last phase of our change process. The
scorecard is meant to help us operational-ize AIESEC 2010 & make the vision come alive in each one
of our LCs. AIESEC 2010 is a continuation of our current direction as an organization, which was not
the case with AIESEC 2005. AIESEC 2005 described an aspiration for AIESEC and the change
process in the early 2000’s, directed how our core processes would have to change to deliver on
AIESEC 2005. AIESEC 2010 builds on our current aspirations & goals as an organization, which we
are already gearing ourselves as an organization to achieve.
The AIESEC 2010 Scorecard is an effective management tool for AIESEC, which can be used at
any level of the organization till 2010 & possibly beyond.
Will the scorecard change over a period of time?
The basic structure of the scorecard would remain the same till 2010, which includes the
organizational goals, core strategy, the business perspectives & logic. However, the scorecard would
be reviewed & rejuvenated on a yearly basis to make sure that the Critical Success Factors are
relevant for the reality of AIESEC. In this way we would ensure the relevance of the AIESEC 2010
scorecard. Thus, the overall theme of the scorecard would remain the same till 2010 but minor
updates would be done to ensure its relevance.

How do we align the rest of our year to the scorecard? How do we integrate the work that we
have been doing with ‘Execution’ to the scorecard?
The foundation level of implementation of AIESEC Experience, Brand & Culture of Excellence defined
as minimums of implementation for 2005-06 are our first steps towards realizing AIESEC 2010.
Achieving the foundation level of implementation is the best way to prepare your LCs to deliver on the
AIESEC 2010 Scorecard. Thus the focus for 2005-06 needs to be achieving the foundation level
of implementation, while aligning your activity, planning & review structure to the scorecard.

How does this strategy relate to the strategic triangle that we have been communicating so
far?
The strategic triangle of AIESEC Experience, Brand & Culture of Excellence was previously used to
describe the current direction of the organization. The strategy of Product Leadership & the AIESEC
2010 Scorecard are focused towards achieving the 3 organizational goals, which are an extended
description of the strategic triangle, thus ensuring continuity in our organizational direction.
The 3 organizational goals in the AIESEC 2010 Scorecard are –
1. An increasing volume of AIESEC Experiences
2. Connecting high potential people around the world
3. First choice for Activating Leadership

What are the minimums that I take home & how much can I adapt?
The AIESEC 2010 Scorecard is an effective management tool for AIESEC, which can be used at any
level of the organization till 2010 & possibly beyond. The most important thing is to ensure that activity
in your country is aligned to the Critical Success Factors described in the scorecard. The library of
action-steps around each CSF is the input from the global plan to the national plans – the activity that
should happen at the country level.
The minimum for countries to implement are –
1. Plan around the globally defined goals for 2010
2. Country performance would be measured against the globally defined Key Performance
Indicators (KPIs) coming from the AIESEC 2010 Scorecard
Countries are expected to contribute to the 3-5 global focus areas & the GN initiatives, if they have
been allocated a responsibility of if it is advantageous for them & creates further opportunities for
them.
To what extent you use the scorecard to manage operations of AIESEC & for communication, beyond
these, can be defined by you depending upon how relevant the scorecard is for your reality.

A measure of success for AIESEC is ’Number of People with both Exchange & Leadership
Experience’, which means people could go through an exchange or a leadership experience in
any order. Then, why are we setting quantitative goals only for people who go on a exchange
after completing a leadership experience?
Yes, the measure of success for AIESEC is ’Number of People with both Exchange & Leadership
Experience’ at any point of time. This is why it is one of the Key Performance Indicators in the AIESEC
2010 Scorecard. However, from an organizational perspective it is more advantageous for AIESEC if
people go on exchange after having taken a leadership role in AIESEC.

1. This would give us competitive advantage in our Universities in the long-run, compared to
other student bodies since we would offer a more complete leadership experience.
2. More & more of our interns would have made a substantial contribution to AIESEC’s results.
3. In this way we are also able to ensure a standard high quality of interns for our TN-takers,
since more & more of our interns would have taken a transformative leadership experience in
AIESEC.
4. It helps us re-inforce the core essence of AIESEC’s brand of ’Activating Leadership’ because
increasing number of organizations who interact with AIESEC would interact with an intern
who would have already taken a leadership role in AIESEC.

This gives a clear focus to our activities since we know what we are striving for (rather than also
setting an organizational goal for the Number of People who take on a Leadership Role in AIESEC
after completing an Exchange experience).