AIESEC MiC

A Strategic Communication Plan

January 13, 2012 Submitted to: Mr. JB Bolaos Prepared by: Imbuido, Katherine Pea, Tabitha Payong, Krisha

ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE Aiesec is the worlds largest student-run organization founded in 1948 by students from seven European countries (Finland, Sweden, France, Denmark, Belgium, Norway and The Netherlands). It develops students into authentic citizens of the world through its unparalleled leadership experiences and global exchanges. With over 60,000 high-potential students developing into globally minded, responsible leaders, it has become known as an international platform for young people to discover and develop their potential to have a positive impact in the society. Per annum, it generates 20,000 leadership opportunities, 5,500 exchanges and 470 conferences. It also carries under its belt a network of over 1 million alumni including heads of state and prominent business leaders. In the Philippines, Miriam College is among the members of Aiesec International. It is called Aiesec MiC to avoid confusion with Aiesec MC, the name used for the Aiesec Philippines Member Committee. Aiesec MiC was established in 1970 and was dissolved in 2005. The revival of Aisec MiC was under the leadership of Nicole Cruz. At present, it is headed by Katlin Sanchez, a Fourth Year Communication Student.

SITUATION ANALYSIS STRENGTHS y y Aiesec MiC is a member of Aiesec International, the worlds largest student organization Aiesec MiC was originally established in 1970, thus, all it needs is to re-establish its glory days before its dissolution in 2005 AiesecMiC bound by the concept of honing future leaders of the global community Aiesec MiC offers the chance to participate in virtual global discussions, virtual team work experiences, online knowledge management and hundreds of physical meetings/conferences and learning teams Aiesec MiC, being a local chapter of Aiesec Philippines, has numerous partner institutions that support the programs and projects of Aiesec. Aiesec MiCs strength lies on its flexible and highly-skilled members

y y

WEAKNESSES y y y Aiesec Mic has poor recognition from the student body Aiesec MiC does not actively inform the students about Aiesec programs Aisec MiC focuses more on external relations with other Aiesec local chapters in the Philippines such as University of the Philippines Diliman, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University and University of Asia and the Pacific Aiesec MiC is usually stereotyped as an organization that is all about global internship

y y

Aiesec appears to not have a distinct identity as Aiesec MiC which incorporates the four core values of Miriam College apart from Aiesec International Prioritizes recruitment for its Global Internship Program over sustenance and recruitment of members

OPPORTUNITIES y y y y y Aiesec MiC has a good base to develop further, given that it already has a good number of programs aligned with Aiesec International Aiesec MiC can coordinate with the International Students department to Aiesec MiC can tie up with the Higher Education Unit departments to strengthen its Global Internship Program Aiesec MiC can encourage students to become part of Aiesec through an active involvement in student functions and assemblies Aiesec MiC can promote itself through Radio MC and Chi Rho

THREATS y y Aiesec MiC needs to appeal the dissuasion of international internships an option for Onthe-Job Training Aiesec MiC has competition from mandatory Miriam College organizations for every course such as the Communication Society (COMMSOC), International Students Society (ISSOC, Applied Arts Society (AASOC), Psychology Guild (Psych Guild) and Junior Philippine Institute for Accountants (JPIA), etc. Aiesec MiC has competition with the International Partnerships and Programs Office (IPPO)which that offer similar experiences to their target audiences

COMMUNICATION PROBLEM Aiesec MiC was originally established in 1970. However, it got dissolved in 2005, after more than 30 years of contribution to the Miriam College Community. Upon its revival in 2008, Aiesec MiC had worked hard to recruit potential members. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of the student body appears to find interest in Aiesec thus proving that within the three years since its re-establishment, Aiesec Mic is in dire need of creating emotional bank accounts to create awareness among its target audience, the students from the Higher Education Unit.

COMMUNICATION THEORY: Organizational Information Theory

Karl Weick, a distinguished American University Professor and Doctor of Psychology, theorized that organizations depend on information in order to function effectively and accomplish their goals. He said that the information environment in an organization is created by the members since they are the ones making the rules, researching for data and making decisions. But, although this is the case, inputs usually vary. Hence, he came up with an approach describing the process by which organizations collect, manage, and use the information that they receive called the Organizational Information Theory. The Organizational Information Theory does not focus on the structure of the organization in terms of its roles which guide its members. Instead, it puts emphasis on the process of organizing. The primary focus of this theory is on the exchange of information within the organization itself, and how members take steps to understand such information for the organizations development and success. For organizations such as the Aiesec MiC, the task of managing vast amount of information is a typical challenge because aside from being a school organization, it is, of course, a member of Aiesec International. This entails Aiesec MiC to take active participation in dealing with global issues. Morever, technological advancements has also increased the options for new communication channels which suggest that the amount of messages that organizations like Aiesec MiC send and receive as well as the speed at which it is sent increase as well. Conversely, organizations are not only faced with the task to decode a lot of messages. They also need to determine which people should receive the information necessary to attain certain goals which in Aiesec MiCs case is to achieve awareness and recruitment among the student body through effective information dissemination. Hence, communication plays a big role. Communication inside an organization is very important since it is the key which enables it to make sense of itself by identifying meanings from confusing messages. Ideally, organizations must be able to evolve and make it recognizable to its members and its environment. This is for the reason that if an organization fails to establish a good understanding within its boundaries, chances are it will also fail to deliver a clear and understandable message outside its borders. This is in the same way that if an organization can make sense of itself, it can be successful in developing a level of understanding with its audience. That being said, during inevitable situations wherein the information received becomes difficult to interpret, the Organizational Information Theory suggests that Aiesec MiC must solicit input from multiple sources through partnerships with the Miriam College Higher Education Unit departments so as to make sense of itself and gather information which they can utilize in communicating with its target audience to increase the possibilities of recruiting future members. It points out, however, that the task of information processing is not completed simply by attaining information but by thoroughly analyzing and distributing the information gained which could influence Aiesec MiC to change and become better at fulfilling its goals.

DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES General

To establish awareness among the students information about Aiesec and its programs

Specific: 1. To create a positive impression of Aiesec MiC as part of Aiesec International 2. To convey Aiesecs message of creative leadership potential among young people 3. To promote Aiesec by creating exposure via Miriam College publications and through formal tie-ups with HEU departments COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES In order to send a clear message of the Mission and Vision of Aiesec as well as to create a lasting impression about Aiesec as an organization which aims to develop leadership potential in young individuals, here are the following activities that will help the Aiesec Miriam College to reinforce its brand recall to its audience: 1. Interactive booth during first day of classes called Lunch and Learn An interactive Aiesec booth will be made in the upper lanai during the first day of classes in Miriam College. This is in line with introducing the organization to freshman students as well as to other students of Miriam College by creating an interactive booth that will help create a positive impression of the organization and at the same time relaying information about Aiesec as an organization. The interactive booth will be dubbed as Lunch/Snack and Learn where in the students (will only have a minimum number of students and can be done in two batches maximum) who will participate in the mini-lecture about Aiesec will receive free lunch/Snack. The set up of this booth will be like a mini-classroom where in there will be couches for the students to sit on. There will also be one member of the Aiesec who will have a mini-presentation about the organization, its mission and vision as well as its values. Although the interactive booth can only have limited participants, the interactive booth can also have Aiesec flyers which interested students can get. 2. A Leadership Seminar for Miriam College Officers (2nd or 3rd week of class) Since Aiesec takes leverage on the fact that it is an organization which aims to develop leadership potential, Aiesec MiC can hold a leadership seminar for Miriam College officers to help them grasp their responsibilities as leaders in Miriam College. Aiesec MiC can invite speakers, through its partners, to talk about leadership and responsibilities or it can embed leadership development exercises in this seminar. Through the activity, Aiesec MiC is not only reinforcing Aiesecs message of creative leadership potential among young people but also

creating emotional bank accounts to its internal audience which is the Miriam College students, especially its officers and student leaders. 3. Feature Articles in Miriam College Student Publication Aiesec MiC can maximize the student publications in Miriam College to be able to create exposure. Aiesec MiC can coordinate with Chi Rho to feature stories of Aiesec interns in their pages or to dedicate a corner for Aiesec news. This can help Aiesec MiC to tell an Aiesecers story and the different opportunities that Aiesec can provide their interns. This is also in line with reinforcing Aiesecs mission, vision and values. 4. Formal Tie-up with Higher Education Unit Departments As part of Aiesecs branding: (a) an organization that provides leadership potential among people, (b) org that provides experiential learning in the global arena (c) org that aims to develop cross-cultural understanding , tying up with HEU departments especially during OJT orientation can help the organization to strategically position itself to be able to still live up to its Mission and Vision and values. Through a formal tie-up with HEU departments, Aiesec MiC can promote its exchange program/internship program to students who will be taking their internships and to those students who want to hone their skills.

TARGET AUDIENCE 1. Members/Potential members (Internal Stakeholder) Aiesecs potential members or members are the young people, both recent graduates or students, who are interested in world issues and are open minded active learners who are looking for learning and development opportunities. In Aiesec Miriam Colleges case, its potential members are the Miriam College students. 2. Enablers/Potential enablers (External Stakeholder) Enablers are the Traineeship Nomination takers or the companies that accept trainees from Aiesec. These companies also have strong corporate social responsibility and therefore have the willingness to work with issues relevant in the society. Some of the potential enablers of Aiesec are the following: Mentors, University professors, Industry specialists as well as Global organizations/companies.

PRIORITY AUDIENCE OF AIESEC MIC: THE STUDENTS

Since Aiesec as an organization aims to provide leadership and development opportunities to young people, the main audience of Aiesec MiCs programs, aside from its members, are the students of Miriam College whose goals and interests are the same with the members of this organization. Also, since Aiesec MiC focuses more in its members, as its main recipient of opportunities, emotional bank accounts with Miriam College students are only established during recruitment week during the first week of classes which resulted to not communicating Aiesecs Vision and Mission. PARTNERS 1. Learning Partners:

2. Exchange Partners:

3.

Supporters or Potential Supporters (External Stakeholder) Aiesecs supporters are the different partner organizations that give financial and in-kind support to Aiesecs activities or even Aiesecs programs. Supporters can also help Aiesec to promote their activities through promoting Aiesec as an organization These partner organizations work hand in hand with Aiesec to provide its members learning and leadership opportunities both for the benefit of Aiesecs members and the development of the company.

4. Media Partner

5. Aiesec in the Philippines Partners

IMPLEMENTATION MANAGEMENT OF THE PROJECT DATE 1 day of classesd

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ACTIVITY Lunch and learn Leadership Seminar Promotions through Miriam College publications Tie-ups with HEU departments (for international internships)

2nd or 3rd Week of Classes All-year round January to May