8 mba student blogs about his life and times at the asian institute of management.

This blog, like most things, is evolving. The AIM Blogger will be changing from a blog into a community site. From a blog with the perspective of one person to a website looking through the eyes of every student at the Asian Institute of Management. I guess it's pretty apparent that my life outside of AIM after graduation has expanded tremendously. And while I still consider the institute my home (I still teach a couple of courses there as needed), the story of the struggling b-school student no longer there. Francis did a wonderful job contributing and this legacy of the student's side must be preserved for the long term. So expect some hiccups while accessing the site. For instance, the domain "theaimblogger.com" may be inaccessible at times. The site's old URL "theaimblogger.blogspot.com" can still be used to access this site. Finally, feel free to ask questions about the changes in the site. :)

AIM students, led by the Philanthropic Activities Society of AIM (PACTS of AIM), have been leading relief operations for days now since the Typhoon Ondoy hit Metro Manila last September 26, 2009. Relief efforts have been focused on repacking donations to proper relief packages. Also, PACTS of AIM has been the interface of the AIM community in receiving cash and in-kind donations and forwarding them to the other relief efforts in the city. Props to the AIM students who have stepped up in this moment of crisis-- you have proved that there will be future managers and business leaders who will rise to the occasion when needed. :D Here are some more pics: The photos are taken from the PACTS of AIM Facebook Page.

The video you see above is just one of the shocking scenes that happened in Manila as Typhoon Ondoy (internationally known as Typhoon Ketsana) slammed the city. Thankfully, the Asian Institute of Management was spared from much flooding-- despite the water reached approximately 50cm in Paseo De Roxas Avenue, the street in front of the campus. But for a brief moment, the Zen Garden became a pond. Now that the storm has passed, relief operations are now underway in the city. The Philanthropic Activities Society (PACTS) of AIM are participating in the relief operations for the victims of Typhoon Ondoy. Spearheaded by MBA Cohort 3 student Laurice Alaan, the PACTS have volunteered manpower to the efforts and have been collecting relief goods and donations. AIM alumni and students who would like to support the initiatives of PACTS, please contact Laurice at alaan.mba2009_b3 (at) student.aim.edu . This is a worthy cause and I join the PACTS in encouraging the AIM community to do our little part in the relief efforts.

This is the final part of the "How Socially Responsible Should Managers Be?" Series. In the previous posts, I talked about the need for social responsibility for managers and Prof. Jun Borromeo's thoughts on this gap. For this blog post, I'm sharing Prof. Junbo's plan on how to address the seemingly widening gap between what managers are doing and what managers ought to be doing. Prof. Junbo's idea is quite simple: Bring all the folks from the MBA, MM (Master in Management), and MDM (Master in Development Management) together. To quote Junbo: "...It is time to bring all of our degree program students together under one roof (in a manner of speaking). Of course this does not mean that there will only be one program. It simply means that we have to find a vehicle that will give all degree students, during their stay at AIM, the time and the opportunity to learn together and from each other's diverse backgrounds and experiences. Imagine in one can group, comprising 7 or 8 students from MBA, MM, and MDM, the diversity in age, gender, nationality, religion, education, work experience, industry, sector, management experience and position." Prof. Junbo touches on the concept of "Leadership Plus," a type of leadership that has the edge of the different thrusts of the degree programs. The components of which are: Self-mastery, or the pre-requisites for leadership. Project Management, or the art of leading and getting things done. Communication, or the art of being effective across cultures (organizational and societal). If you ask me, this is a very good idea, but it's also quite lofty. There will be challenges of the logistics and scheduling, but the benefits are just tremendous. Ask any MBA, MM, or MDM student and this idea will appeal to a side of them. But at the end of the day, this idea will help imbue a a stronger sense of social responsibility among Asian Institute of Management graduates.

Just a quick one: We had a photoshoot for the upcoming AIM Alumni Leadership Magazine this morning and it was a pretty quick shoot. The folks from the Alumni Relations Office needed extra photos for the layout on the article I contributed to the magazine. If you have a chance to grab a copy of the issue at the end of the month, please do. The article I contributed is about The AIM Blogger and I feel that it covers some of the things I've not been able to talk about in the blog. So, will it be an explosive tell all? To give you a hint, I originally titled the article "Confessions of an MBA Blogger." So go figure. :)