This document outlines the background of the INSEAD Alumni Association and its achievements over the past two years, a Profile in short including a description of the desired competences of the candidate for the position of President, and an overview of information and documents that will be made available to the candidates that will be invited for an interview.

Background

The IAA is formed of the national alumni associations, which represent the interests of INSEAD alumni. Its president sits on the Board of INSEAD and is the interface between the school and the alumni. The IAA seeks both to support the school and to provide and facilitate structures within which alumni can derive value (professional, intellectual or social) from their association with INSEAD and with other alumni, once they have left.

The IAA has recently entered into a formal partnership agreement with INSEAD whereby many of its resources and activities are pooled with those of INSEAD’s own alumni relations operations to create a foundation for a greatly enhanced portfolio of services to alumni. The Partnership Board is chaired by the IAA President and managed by the Director of Alumni Relations.

Profile

1. A senior Alumnus with credibility, based upon successful leadership and experience, to lead a volunteer organization for 3 to 4 years, with sufficient resources (time, energy, money) to commit.
2. Should be willing to dedicate at least 2/3 days per month and willing to travel.
3. Ideally, the candidate will have had experience within the IAA, NAA’s or similar (volunteer) organizations.
4. The main responsibilities of the position are

• Leading the Association, its strategy process and vision building, and especially chairing its Executive Committee (3/4 times a year), the Annual General Assembly and the Meeting of Presidents at the May International Council meeting.
• Chairing the IAA-INSEAD Partnership Board in a democratic, efficient and effective way. The IAA-INSEAD Partnership Board includes the Dean and other senior faculty members; it is the main vehicle through which INSEAD and the IAA manage jointly the relationships with and between the alumni community and seek to create value for alumni as a whole; the partnership has a permanent staff and substantial financial resources; the Board meets 4 times a year.
• Commitment to make the new IAA-INSEAD Partnership a success;
• Ensuring respect for, and implementation of, the statutes of the IAA, the Credo of the IAA, and the Code of Conduct for NAAs, to the benefit of all Alumni and INSEAD;
• Offering a platform for discussion for every National Association to truly feel it has a say and impact and at the same time managing it for expedient handling and decision-making;
• Leading, motivating and recruiting the Executive Committee of the IAA. As these are voluntary positions where people still need to commit an important amount of time, effort and energy personally, it is essential that the candidate is able to build enthusiasm, commitment and motivation within his team;
• Sitting on the INSEAD Board with a direct role in the governance of INSEAD, and also making sure that alumni views are heard and understood within the Board;
• Responsible, and accountable (to the General Assembly) for leading the IAA

Competences

• Visionary Leadership; ability to lead a strategy process, define and communicate a vision and lead the implementation of the necessary changes
• Excellent Communicator; effective in communicating and dealing with the various constituents (alumni at large, the NAA’s, INSEAD management, INSEAD Board), getting the point across, also being an affective listener; fluent in English, fluency in French would be an asset
• Stature & Credibility; in dealing with INSEAD, Board and International Council, it is important that the candidate has proven himself at a high level in business, or other management or board positions; must have unquestionable authority and integrity
• Appreciation of cultural differences; the candidate has shown he/she can effectively operate in a multicultural environment, ideally through having successfully led multinational activities in board or management positions.

Age, nationality and sex are irrelevant. The candidate should have the drive and perseverance to keep things and issues moving along as well as being engaged and respected enough to be listened to both within the Association and within INSEAD, especially on the Board, and to be able to effectively represent the views of the Alumni.

 Available Information for Candidates

• IAA President’s Report to the General Assembly on 16 November 2002
• Executive Report of the General Assembly (of 16/17 November 2002)
• Minutes IAA-INSEAD Partnership
• Cooperation Agreement, 3 year plan & budget IAA-INSEAD Partnership
• Milestones INSEAD-IAA Partnership
• Outlook 2003 by current President
• IAA President’s Quarterly Reports of 2002 (last 2)
• IAA Finance Report 2001/2002
• IAA Credo
• IAA Code of Conduct for National Associations
• A copy of the latest IQ and Alumni Relations Electronic newsletter

The nominating committee:
Paul Lomas, Loudon Owen, Roger Wippermann and Carsten de Koning.

Please send your NAA President a brief summary about the Candidate you wish to nominate, more or less based on the attached form. It would be appreciated if you could send recommendations as soon as possible, as we have set March 1, 2003 as the date for assembling the first list of candidates. Click here for the sample nomination form.