AIESEC | A Gen Y Business Model AIESEC has shown remarkable growth from 2008 to 2010. This growth has come precisely at a time when the economic and subprime crises crippled organisations and economies, when borders are closing to international talent, and migration and immigration are the hot topics on every government’s foreign policy. This success is due to AIESEC’s leadership adapting our business model to one that is flexible, youth-driven and dynamic. Some of the trends include:
1. Increased Mobility to Emerging Markets
In comparison to 2005, most of AIESEC’s international internship programme is concentrated in the emerging markets. Brazil, Russia, India and China (the BRIC countries) contribute 25% of the overall internship numbers. Latin America has grown at a rate of 90% in the last year by providing internship opportunities to students within and outside the region. In the first quarter of 2010, the African countries of Uganda, Tanzania and Mozambique grew at a rate of over 150%. Most of the students taking up these internship opportunities are from Western Europe, North America, Mainland China and Eastern Europe.
2. Youth Interest in the Non Profit Sector
AIESEC offers internships primarily in Non Governmental Organisations. We have seen a considerable increase in the interest of young people wanting to experience development work in other countries; particularly in those where the cultural differences are vast. AIESEC provides over 6,500 opportunities every year in the development and education field. India alone provides over 1,200 opportunities to work with NGOs and community development projects. In 2009, over 2,000 students from Europe took the opportunity to work in short term internships in the non-profit sector.
3. Improved Communication due to Information Systems & Social Media
AIESEC developed our own internal information system to manage its business. This system, called myaiesec.net, stores and analyses AIESEC’s membership data as well as provides an opportunity for our members to learn business intelligence techniques during their time in the organisation. It is a virtual world of AIESEC which has largely contributed to growth in the organisation. We have seen that our volunteers enjoy working with an interactive system to drive their results. Combined with our social media channels we have seen that young people communicate the fastest across countries and cultures on Facebook, Twitter and other such channels. This has considerably reduced the time it takes to communicate and create business relationships across borders .
4. Faster Leadership Cycles
The most unique aspect of AIESEC is its ability to thrive over 62 years despite changing its leadership at all levels annually. All executive leadership terms in AIESEC exist for one year. We have seen an increasing number of leadership roles being shorter than one year – where teams are created only for the purpose of a project and these teams are extremely effective as they know their goals and deliver on them in a short period of time .
5. Dual Experiences carry a Competitive Edge
AIESEC’s objective is that all our members engage in leadership development by taking on a leadership role and an international internship to broaden their cultural horizons. We have seen an increase in members taking on both experiences. These members see a greater competency development as they combine team and project management activities with the opportunity to experience a completely new culture and working environment. Full time leadership roles on a local, national and international level enable a student to run an organisation and understand the nuances of people management at a considerably young age, providing them with a strong platform for future employment .
AIESEC 2010 | Top Contributors Membership:
Leadership Roles:
International Internships:
Dual Experiences:
1. Mainland of China 2. Brazil 3. Germany 4. India 5. Poland 6. United States 7. Colombia 8. Russia 9. Romania 10. Turkey
1. Brazil 2. Mainland of China 3. Germany 4. India 5. United States 6. Poland 7. Colombia 8. Canada 9. Japan 10. United Kingdom
1. India 2. Mainland of China 3. Poland 4. Turkey 5. Brazil 6. Ukraine 7. Russia 8. Germany 9. Malaysia 10. Indonesia
1. Mainland of China 2. United States 3. Germany 4. Brazil 5. Japan 6. Poland 7. Ukraine 8. Canada 9. Colombia 10. United Kingdom
AIESEC | Global Annual Report
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