Policy 34th STAR Board

Policy Document XXXIVth STAR Board January 2012

This document contains the strategic policy set out by the XXXIVth STAR Board. Its purpose is to maximize the value of STAR in the present while preparing STAR for the future. This document starts with the highlights of the policy and continues with an in-depth explanation of these highlights, and their implementation. Finally, the document contains the vision on the future of STAR, as presented by the XXXIVth STAR Board.

Maximizing STAR in the present while preparing STAR for the future

The Policy 4 Improving Processes 6

Efficiency

Standardization & Documentation

IT Restructuring

Enhancing Membership Value 8

Non-recruitment value

Active member value

Portfolio analysis

Embedding STAR in RSM 10 Execution 12 Side notes 14

Lustrum

Long-term: Governance

Vision and Future: Client Stories 16

The Policy

In the policy, the XXXIVth STAR Board (hereinafter called “we”) would like to stipulate that making significant change to a large organization such as STAR requires time, managed in a time span over multiple years. Inherent to annual policy creation is that every board has to reinvent the wheel time after time. To account for this issue, we wrote our policy including operational points for the present, tactical points to start now and finish later, and strategic points for the future.

All in all this policy will serve STAR’s overall mission: “enriching student life” by making sure that we provide the optimal service to our student in the present, while preparing STAR for the future making sure we are still providing our services in the next 10 years. This led us to the following slogan for next year:

“Maximizing STAR in the present while preparing STAR for the future” - XXXIVth STAR Board

Our policy is divided in three levels of implementation.

IMPROVING PROCESSES, on operational level. In the short term, we believe STAR can regain capacity and resources. By improving processes, the Board will have increased capacity to support active members, focus on strategic issues, and to increase efficiency and professionalism overall.

ENHANCING MEMBERSHIP VALUE, on tactical level. In the medium term, we believe STAR needs to prove its value to members, passive and active. We will take the first step by thoroughly analyzing the current portfolio of activities and the value added. We aim for continuity, by balancing the portfolio to make sure STAR remains competitive and will evolve with markets in time. The implementation of the portfolio analysis will start with the succeeding Board, and possibly continued by future Boards.

EMBEDDING STAR IN THE RSM, on strategic level. In the long term, we believe that STAR should be an integral and indissoluble part of RSM. The RSM is one of the main stakeholders, who helped STAR from the cradle to our current position. However, we are still not serving the entire student population of the RSM and are not as involved as desired. We aim to be a secondary factor for upcoming students choosing for the RSM. Achieving this goal would be greatly stimulated by automatic membership. The implementation of embedding STAR in the RSM will start this year by strengthening our relations with different parties within the RSM.

Improving Processes

“An operational approach” The first level of the policy can be divided into four categories. Each category contributes to improve the processes within STAR that serve the Board, Active Members and Passive Members.

Efficiency In large organizations similar to STAR much time is lost on inefficient processes. It is of importance that these processes are made efficient. In return, time regained will be used to assist active and passive members, but also to improve products and service.

Throughout the year we will research and analyze day-to-day processes, and where possible improve these processes. Processes that will be made more efficient: • • •

Digitalize contract signing with DocuSign (April 2012) Empowering the Board assistant for more independence and assistance with operational tasks (January 2012) Increase acquisition tools; RSM Today & Subsidy Wizard (January 2012)

Standardization & Documentation In large organizations similar to STAR many processes are needed to operate. Currently, not all processes are standardized, communicated and implemented. This leads to confusion and inefficiencies. Standardization will help the Board and Active members to comprehend processes and consequently regain time. Processes that will be standardized: • • • • • • • • • • •

Creating promotional material by implementing Onsite Print Manager (March 2012) Structure Master Study Clubs by dedicating a Board member to MSCs White book for knowledge transfer over time and between MSCs (June 2012) At least 4 All-MSC events (Augustus 2012) Monthly functional sessions (2012) Standardized recruitment periods (May-Sept 2012) RSM / MSC Alumni platform to enhance Young Alumni and Alumni network (June 2012) The Big Five Platform to share knowledge and best practises (STAR, EFR, SEFA, Aureus, EBF) (April 2012) Decrease No-Shows by a No-Show policy (October 2012) Monitoring committees by implementing PM tool (April 2012) MSC cooperation platform to enhance MSC cohesion and synergies (February 2012)

IT Restructuring Compared to its direct competitors, STAR has always had advanced IT-systems. In the past however, new issues were solved by implementing new IT-systems, leading to a proliferation of systems resulting in obscurity, incongruent data and inefficiency. To improve these processes, restructuring and downsizing IT-systems is necessary. IT Processes that will be restructured: • • •

Centralizing student data by implementing a one-stop-webshop (January 2012) Optimize frontend experience by implementing a one-stop-webshop (january 2012) Transfer local IT-systems to cloud based environment (March 2012)

Enhancing Membership Value

“A tactical approach”

Many students become a member of STAR because of the discount on books. Recent market research (2010) indicates that 51% of all participants are members “just because of the discount on books”.

However, we believe that there should be more reasons for a student to become a member. With recent developments and increased competition in the book market, we need other reasons for people to become a member. Often, those reasons are present within the association but poorly communicated to students. In other cases we should critically review our services and products to check whether we are offering members what they expect from their study association. STAR should still have a purpose in 10 years. To ensure this, we are going to work on three points: Non-recruitment value STAR has great recruitment events where companies and students are brought together for future employment. However, much value can still be created from non-recruitment activities. STAR is in a position close to a large group of students. This can be collectively exploited to offer companies and students mutual benefits. This year, we intent to create the following value: • •

Offering members discount with the STAR Membership card (February 2012) Increasing academic value by incorporating study materials in the STAR webshop (April 2012)

Active member value As an association, STAR has always been a place for learning and gaining experience. In return, active members can make or break the association. To guarantee a constant inflow of new active members we need to focus on the value added to active membership. The STAR Academy, originated from the Stichting Intern Auditoren Fonds (SIAF), will focus on supporting just that.

• • • • •

Financial compensation on trainings (January 2012) Personal coaching from a STAR alumni (March 2012) A personal development plan for flagship committees (March 2012) Training for all active members arranged by the corporate partners of STAR (January 2012) Portfolio analysis

Portfolio analysis STAR has a very broad portfolio offering 53 projects in five main pillars (Academic, Social, Recruitment, Community and Publishing), serving bachelor students as well as master students.

However, times are changing and so are the needs of the students. To make sure we fully address our member wants and needs we believe it is important to critically review our current portfolio. This year we will work on the following points: • • • • •

Revision of the STAR Management Week concept (March 2012) Create a vision document for the Erasmus Recruitment Days (April 2012) Critical analysis of the current portfolio (June 2012) Analyze the balance between the five main pillars (June 2012) Adapt the portfolio to the analyses above (September 2012)Portfolio analysis

Within the current portfolio, the booksale holds a special position. We do want to move away from it being the main reason to join STAR. In the present however, we want to ensure that we offer a premium service. This means we will work on the following points: • • • •

Negotiate a new and better contract with the partner offering the best deal (June 2012) Improve service by adding a home delivery system (September 2012) Increase market coverage by adding second-hand books (March 2012) Improve customer experience by implementing the webshop (January 2012)

Embedding STAR in RSM

“A strategic approach”

The relationship between STAR and the Rotterdam School of Management is of great importance, as it is one of the main stakeholders of STAR. The current relation is warm and open, although there are still many areas where the relationship can be improved, especially in areas where we do not collaborate like corporate relations and alumni. Furthermore, we do not service the entire student population, including MBA or MPhil students.

The relationship between STAR and the Rotterdam School of Management is of great importance, as it is one of the main stakeholders of STAR. The current relation is warm and open, although there are still many areas where the relationship can be improved, especially in areas where we do not collaborate like corporate relations and alumni. Furthermore, we do not service the entire student population, including MBA or MPhil students.

The aim is to make STAR an integral part of the RSM, that it even becomes a decision criterion for new incoming students. The ultimate goal would be an automatic membership, ensuring STAR’s right to exist for the coming years. To improve on these lacking areas we will work on two areas for the upcoming year: • • • • •

Strengthen the relationship with the RSM Faculty Collaborate with the RSM Corporate Network initiative on a commercial level (January 2012) Increase contact between Master Study Clubs and their respective departments (June 2012) Increase awareness of faculty matters by obtaining one permanent seat for one STAR Board member in the Faculty Council (April 2012) Cooperation between the STAR Alumni Board and the RSM Alumni office, at least once. (December 2012)

Embedding STAR in RSM includes focussing more on RSM students and making sure we service every RSM student. We furthermore think that STAR can be an added value in the communication towards new students, for RSM as well as STAR. To enhance this focus we will be working on the following points: • • • •

Involve all RSM student in STAR Cooperate with the MBA Association, CEMS and MPhil on at least two projects (December 2012) Work towards a more prominent place on the RSM website, flyers and other marketing tools including open days. (December 2012) Setting the first steps toward automatic STAR membership (August 2012)

Execution

There are notes important for the execution of this policy. Although the policy is written for 2012 it includes middle and long term goals. We aim to find a balance between implementing measures this year that fall within future plans, while not hindering future STAR Boards in forming their own vision and policy for their year. We hold the privilege to make changes to the policy if conditions require us to do so.

Another important element of the execution of this policy is that any decision made will be supported and driven by data. It is very appealing to believe in the experience and knowledge of the Board, but that does not necessarily mean that this is in line with the general opinion of members. We tend to support decisions by quantitative and qualitative information gained from surveys and professional analyses.

One final point in the execution is focused on international students. STAR is an international organization with many international members, both active and passive. Although we have activities focused on international students, we have noticed that our current portfolio is not sufficient for them. Many student organizations and student initiatives have sprouted to fill the gap between the current portfolio of STAR and their demand. To remain the number one association in all five main pillars for these students we should not lose our focus.

When we compare STAR to other associations we have noticed that we are miles ahead when it comes to internationalization of our association. Just like RSM, STAR is an internationally renowned association, well adepted to the many needs of its international members. However, these needs are changing as well and many new initiatives of international students have arisen in the past couple of years due to the fact that no-one would fullfill these needs. That is why it is very important to keep these international students in our mind when executing this policy to make sure we will keep serving them as well as they are an important part of our association. This goes for both active and passive members as the international students are well represented in both groups.

Side notes

Lustrum Next year, STAR will celebrate its 35th birthday in the form of a Lustrum year. For this year a reservation of €40.000,- was made to be spend on Lustrum activities. The 35th year will get a Lustrum tone by enhancing the activities we already have, not by implementing any Lustrum activities. The preparations for the Lustrum year will be taken this year. The Lustrum year will contain: • • • • •

An enhanced SMW with a larger budget to create a Lustrum SMW in 2012.

An improved Active Members weekend in September 2013 A spectacular Alumni Event in the form of a Gala in August 2013 The STAR logo and identity will be updated and implemented in August 2012 With these actions we will give the academic year 2012-2013 the Lustrum tone it deserves!

Long-term: Governance In the past couple of years many STAR Board members were forced to put down their function either by financial, legal, personal or health reasons. We believe that one of the driving factors behind these reasons is that the Board operates above maximum capacity for an entire year. Many opportunities are presented to STAR every year, of which too much are not being seized. Also, servicing the entire RSM population, including MBA, MPhil and CEMS, required extra time and resources.

While “Improving Processes” is one of our main policy points to gain resources and time, we also touched upon the current governance model of STAR. Growth requires the right governance, and although we can improve by becoming more efficient in our current form, we need to look ahead and think about new governance models as well.

This year we will benchmark with several other associations and a taskforce will research different models and options regarding governance. A new governance model is something we do not aim to achieve this year, but is something we want to think about for the future.

Vision and Future

“A tactical approach” For the last element of our policy we want to present you with our vision on the future of STAR. Through three different member stories we would like to take you on a journey to what STAR will look like in one, three and five years from now.

1 Year from now Merel wakes up with a full schedule and a busy day ahead. Just before class she makes a quick stop at the coffee corner in the C-hal to get a coffee with 10% discount through her STAR membership card. After class she heads over to the STAR office where she logs in with her own laptop. Although she uses her own laptop she can access all of her STAR documents online. Being part of the Race of the Classics committee she has to prepare the flyer which is due in two days. Fortunately Onsite Printmanager makes sure that she has the flyers in time to start the promotion. While checking the subscription list, she notices that two MBA students have already signed up! To get some extra attention, she calls the Board Assistant to ask if her message can be posted on the STAR Sin-Online channel. Having done all that, she checks her personal e-mail and sees she has a message from her German class, financed by STAR Academy. When a fellow committee member drops by, she records her progress in ManyMoon and shuts down her laptop. They both go to the social to join in one of the most exciting 4-player Mario Kart game ever!

3 Years from now Alex arrives at the STAR office in the morning. As a commercial for the STAR Management Week he is suited up and ready to attend the RSM CorpNet Meeting. On today’s agenda is an exchange of companies from the RSM network to the SMW. After the meeting, Alex heads back to the office and borrows a laptop from STAR. He logs in online to acces all his documents. His agenda shows that the entire committee has an extensive training next week, as part of the personal development offered by STAR Academy. As part of his routine he checks the Black List from last year to see if there are participants trying to join again this year. His alarm reminds him of a meeting with the MBA Committee to check if the SMW serves the recruitment needs of the MBA student. He joins his committee and the old SMW committee for dinner later, and after dinner they go to meet up with about 100 active members at the Wednesday STAR Villa Night, ranging from bachelor to even MBA students!

5 Years from now Lara just got accepted for studying Business Administration at the Rotterdam School of Management. Before enrolling she checked the website of RSM and read all about the program and the study association offering her lots of chances to do more than just studying. She already spoke to some STAR members at the Open-Day and really liked what she heard. Thinking back, STAR was one of the factors convincing her to apply for the Rotterdam School of Management. Fortunately, membership is included with studying at the RSM. Fresh from high school and with a pro active attitude towards studying she discovers she can buy her books online. After creating an account at the STAR web shop by using her Facebook account, she chooses her favorite electronic payment method and decides to let her books be delivered at home. Two days later she receives her first ever STAR Membership Card. Curious as what it can offer her she visits the web shop again where she finds out that the shop offers much more than just cheap books! Not only does she see many useful products with discount, but also the entire range of activities STAR has to offer for Bachelor, Master, MBA, MPhil and PhD students. Excited about the many possibilities she now knows for sure that she made the right choice and that STAR will guarantee an amazing student time!

34th STAR Board Thomas Snuverink Marlies Ruigerwaard Karl Kluun Daniel Gaspersz Job de Groot Raymond Tsang-A-Sjoe Milou Houtman David Boudeling Thijmen Kaster