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Identity development in institutional change of international branch campuses in Malaysia: an empirical study
Abstract
While existing research has explored the development of international branch campuses (IBCs) in Malaysia from several dimensions, the discussion on the IBCs’ identity development within the dynamics of higher education internationalisation can benefit from further elucidation. Applying the framework of institutional change, this research inquired how Malaysian IBCs proceeded with identity development in their institutional change and fit into the internationalisation agenda as a new set of players. Semi-structured interviews and non-participant observation were used to collect data, along with relevant documents used subsidiarily in the study. The results showed that the IBCs experienced various identity development processes in their institutional changes, showing a stable growth and enrichment of international, regional, and local elements. The identity development within IBCs’ institutional change sheds light on the development of higher education internationalisation.
Neo-Nationalism and Universities: Populists, Autocrats and the Future of Higher Education published by Johns Hopkins University Press is an Open Access Ebook accessible via Project MUSE.
The rise of neo-nationalism is having a profound and troubling impact on leading national universities and the societies they serve. This is the first comparative study of how today’s right-wing populist movements and authoritarian governments are threatening higher education.
Universities have long been at the forefront of both national development and global integration. But the political and policy world in which they operate is undergoing a transition, one that is reflective of a significant change in domestic politics and international relations: a populist turn inward among a key group of nation-states often led by demagogues that includes China and Hong Kong, Turkey, Hungary, Russia, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In many parts of the world, the COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity for populists and autocrats to further consolidate their power. Within right-wing political ecosystems, universities, in effect, offer the proverbial canary in the coal mine—a window into the extent of civil liberties and the political environment and trajectory of nation-states.
In Neo-Nationalism and Universities, John Aubrey Douglass provides the first significant examination of the rise of neo-nationalism and its impact on the missions, activities, behaviors, and productivity of leading national universities. Douglass presents a major comparative exploration of the role of national politics and norms in shaping the role of universities in nation-states—and vice versa. He also explores when universities are societal leaders or followers: When they are agents of social and economic change, or simply agents reinforcing and supporting an existing social and political order.
In a series of case studies, Douglass and contributors examine troubling trends that threaten the societal role of universities, including attacks on civil liberties and free speech, despairing the validity of science, the firing and jailing of academics, and anti-immigrant rhetoric and restrictions on visas with consequences for the mobility of academic talent. Neo-Nationalism and Universities is written for a broad public readership interested and concerned about the rise of nationalist movements, illiberal democracies, and autocratic leaders.
Literature suggests that state–market relations in Asian transnational education appear as a hybrid of economic socialism and economic liberalism as well as of supra-territoriality and sovereignty. Such a notion of hybrid focuses on how Asian states manage the struggles over the meaning and value of higher education, thereby addressing various ways in which states participate in neoliberal globalisation. This paper argues that Asian states’ higher education policy choices are restricted by local politics and the resulting policy agendas. This argument explains the paradoxical situation that Malaysia continuously encounters when developing its regulatory regime to govern transnational education. The argument also illuminates the recalibrations that appeared in the transnational education policies of Singapore and Hong Kong. The paradox and recalibrations reveal how a political perspective on transnational education is important to understand Asian states’ responses to globalisation in higher education regardless of the nature of their regulatory regimes.
Following a major statewide developmental education reform in Florida, we explored institutional transformation among Florida College System institutions. We used statewide survey data to examine lead administrators’ perceptions of challenges encountered during the planning process, ways in which colleges engaged in sensemaking (i.e., social processes for developing shared understanding) and organizational learning, and perceptions of the institutional transformation processes and outcomes following the reform. We found that institutions engaged in numerous types of sensemaking and organizational learning practices to promote change. Yet, despite different approaches taken to institutional transformation, almost all respondents reported that the change process was highly collaborative and involved a broad range of stakeholders.
Late entry into a market is an institution strategy that has been little researched in the context of higher education. The purpose of this research was to identify and analyse the different positioning and differentiation strategies adopted by late entry institutions to gain a competitive advantage. The sample consisted of seven campuses established by foreign universities in the UAE between 2012 and 2018. Data were collected from sources freely available in the public domain, such as institution websites and promotional materials, as well as wider media coverage. Applying a content analysis procedure to institution websites, the results revealed that although the communicated identities and strategies adopted by institutions are largely homogeneous, they also implement a range of positioning and differentiation strategies. One of the strongest differentiation strategies appears not related to any part of the marketing mix but to the targeted market segment – specifically, targeting students of a specific nationality.
The purpose of this research is to identify the challenges and issues associated with managing expatriate academics at international branch campuses, and to analyze the strategies that have been, or could be, implemented to overcome these challenges and issues. The data used in this study came from an online survey questionnaire that was completed by 14 individuals holding a senior or middle management position at an international branch campus. The survey participants unanimously reported that expatriate academics tend to be highly motivated and committed, and that they are largely satisfied with their jobs. However, many individuals do have issues with adjustment to the new country, to work differences, and to interacting with others. The participants offered a range of suggestions and recommendations that may help institutions to better support expatriate academics employed at international branch campuses. The suggested actions need to be implemented prior to the new recruit’s arrival in the host country, during the induction period, and on an ongoing basis.
The article provides an overview of the second part of a report on international branch campuses (IBCs). The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education (OBHE) and the Cross-Border Education Research Team (C-BERT) are the authors of the report. IBCs continue to grow in number and variety around the world, and the report includes updated estimates and patterns by country, but previously there has been limited attention paid to the success factors of mature IBCs. Defined as campuses in place for a decade or more, the report draws on in-depth interviews with campus and institutional leaders.
This article proposes a new typology of “inward- and outward-oriented” higher education (HE) internationalization based on the spread of innovations that involve knowledge, culture, HE models, and norms. It reviews existing typologies related to HE internationalization; discusses theories of world system, soft power, and knowledge diplomacy; and utilizes the notion of transcultural diffusion of innovations. As a supplement to existing theories, this new typology is constructed primarily for capturing the currents and dynamics of HE internationalization as they relate to the spread of innovations to analyze newly emerging scenarios. The article applies this new typology to a discussion of real-world cases and tests its viability.
Purpose
International Branch Campuses (IBCs) are complex entities and while much has been written about their expansion and development, the literature is largely from an external perspective. There have been few longitudinal studies examining the development of an IBC over time. The purpose of this article is to review the development of one IBC over an eight-year time period, to identify the key learning points for institutional managers of other IBCs or for institutions intending to establish an IBC.
Design/methodology/approach
This article is a culmination of research, conducted during the eight years when the lead author worked at The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC). The author was involved in practical management aspects as well as the research and analysis of IBC development. This article represents a form of ethnographic research where the author conducted interviews, meetings and discussion groups, observed institutional policies, strategies and operations in action and was in an ideal positon to identify and discuss their impacts on institutional performance.
Findings
This article examines key management issues during the early, developing and evolving stages of an IBC and discusses key issues including communication, curriculum, identity and management. Key challenges, procedural issues, managerial responses and strategy will be presented to highlight foundational concerns for IBC development and areas and topics that must be given priority and support.
Originality/value
This article considers the management of an IBC from the reflective standpoint of an author employed in a senior management position, during a period of significant growth of UNMC. The author provides insights and discussion involving practical experience.
Purpose
This research assesses the extent to which the critical relational variables of university reputation, student trust, and student-university identification influence student behaviour towards transnational education partnerships.
Design/methodology/approach
Students undertaking British degrees at two transnational partnership locations (Hong Kong, n = 203 and Sri Lanka, n = 325) completed a quantitative survey questionnaire. A conceptual model was developed and tested using structural equation modelling.
Findings
University reputation and student trust were found to be significant predictors of student identification with each partner institution, and student–university identification was a significant predictor of student satisfaction, loyalty, and extra-role behaviours toward both the local and foreign educational organisations.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that student relationship management strategies should focus on strengthening the higher education institution’s reputation, and increasing the students’ trust and identification with the institution. Moreover, universities should also assess potential partners for these qualities when entering into transnational education partnerships.
Originality/value
Drawing on theories of social and organisational identification, this is the first study to consider student-university identification as the linchpin between the exogenous constructs of reputation and trust, and the endogenous constructs of student satisfaction, loyalty, and extra-role behaviours in both the international education and international business literatures.
The growth in the number of international branch campuses (IBCs) has been one of the most striking developments in the internationalization of higher education in recent years. IBCs are overwhelmingly branches of universities in the developed ‘West’. The United States, the United Kingdom and Australia dominate provision. In contrast, IBCs are concentrated in the Middle-East and Asia. The cultural distance between the home and host countries of many IBCs is considerable. This distance poses a major challenge for the successful management of an IBC. Should it localize its curriculum and pedagogy to better meet the learning styles and educational needs of its students or should it provide an educational experience that is comparable to that enjoyed by students on the home campus? This paper takes as its theoretical framework the global integration–local responsiveness (I–R) paradigm. Using an exploratory research design, it finds that the I–R paradigm can be operationalized for IBCs, to predict how faculty, the curriculum and research are likely to be localized in response to pressure from an IBC’s main internal and external stakeholders.
p>There are an estimated 200 international branch campuses around the world. As these campuses evolve in response to the changing regulatory and competitive environment, trying to get a clear-cut definition of an international branch campus is becoming increasingly difficult. Instead of asking ‘what is a branch campus?’ it is more interesting to consider when —at what point the operation ceases to be a foreign subsidiary of the home university in any meaningful sense.</p
During the past 15 years, Singapore has been decidedly committed to transitioning from the Global Schoolhouse project to a twenty-first-century knowledge hub. This chapter describes key initiatives introduced to remodel the city-state into a global knowledge and education hub and a site for the continuing accumulation of capital, talent, and knowledge. Notwithstanding its clarity of vision and strategy, there are a number of practical complexities confronting Singapore's plans to leapfrog into the value-added realms of knowledge- and innovation-related production. The chapter interrogates the state's driving rationales which foregrounds the Global North in imagination and aspiration. An argument is made instead for reimagining the local as a space for the ideas and insights which support creativity and innovation. © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014. All rights are reserved.
Transnational education is becoming a popular way for students to earn an attractive credential from a foreign university in emerging education hubs in Asia. In an era where students are staying closer to home for their education, this paper offers insights into the motivations or choice criteria used by students currently enrolled at international branch campuses in Malaysia. Findings from a survey of 218 undergraduate and postgraduate students plus semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted with 18 students indicated that the motivations for studying at an international branch campus are a function of the combined pull–push factors (i.e. institution and academic reputations, marketability of the degree, low tuition fees compared to home institution, low cost of living, safe country for study, similarity of education systems as well as cultural proximity). The study proposes a model of student destination and institution choices based primarily upon ‘push’ factors which apply to international branch campuses in Malaysia. The success of a given university operating in a foreign market is shown to be influenced greatly by the destination's costs, attractiveness attributes, and locational convenience for students. The findings of the paper are especially relevant to developing market policy-makers of higher education in crafting specific management and marketing strategies targeting students to study at international branch campuses, particularly in Malaysia.
Higher education internationalization has been understood in terms of the interchanging of ideas cultures, knowledge, and values. Internationalization is a significant indicator for quality in higher education which has been attracting the interest of scholars throughout the world. The purpose of this study is to develop a framework of internationalization for the higher education sector in Malaysia. This paper includes a higher education institutions (HEIs) internationalization SWOT analysis for decision making Malaysian international HEIs. The paper reveals that it is important for Malaysia to promote itself as an education hub in South East Asia. However, there are some issues and challenges regarding HEIs internationalization in the Malaysian context. Malaysia should seek comprehensive, attractive and supportive student packages to engage a larger number of international students. Malaysia, like other developing countries, is striving to take its higher educational system to a higher level of performance. This study is among few attempts is conducting SWOT analysis within HEI in Malaysia.
The well-documented growth of international student mobility has been paralleled by the emergence of so-called ‘transnational education’ (TNE), in which universities deliver their educational services to foreign students in their own countries, rather than the students travelling to the foreign university to study. While universities have engaged in limited TNE for decades (notably correspondence-based distance learning courses), transnational activity has expanded significantly over the last 20 years since the advent of the internet and the emergence of partnership-based models in which a third party delivers a franchised or validated programme. In this paper, we investigate the increasing complexity and multidimensionality of TNE partnerships, developing a new three-spectrum framework for conceptualising this activity. We argue that this new framework provides a more tractable way of understanding and analysing the ‘new internationalisation’ of higher education.
The authors first survey the factors related to globalization that have stimulated the creation of international branch campuses. They then contend that the viability of an international branch campus should not be solely evaluated from a rational choice perspective oriented toward economic self-interest. Rather, the organizational culture of the branch campus and the home campus should also be considered, particularly since institutions are cultural entities with specific symbolic and interpretive ideologies. After analyzing two recent cases concerning New York University’s branch campus in Abu Dhabi and the new Yale-NUS College in Singapore using an organizational culture framework, they suggest that the creation of international branch campuses should be guided by three primary considerations such as (1) the value added by the creation of a branch campus; (2) how the branch campus is reflective of the unique culture of the home campus; and (3) whether faculty members on branch campuses have the same rights, institutional status, and expectations of shared governance that they would have on the home campus. While the text acknowledges that some conflicts are inevitable, the authors suggest that international branch campuses have the potential to foster awareness, enrichment, and understanding with a deeper investigation of these cultural dimensions.
This article presents a case study of Malaysia’s inroad in internationalising its higher education system for the past three decades and proposes recommendations and the way forward in internationalisation. Internationalisation is one of the critical agenda in Malaysia’s higher education transformation with an end target of becoming an international hub of higher education excellence by 2020. The country is no stranger in internationalisation as efforts in student mobility, academic programmes and international collaboration have started since the 1980s and 1990s. As with other higher education systems globally, it was the private sector that initiated and sustained efforts in internationalisation of Malaysian higher education. With the growth in international student enrolment, the country has established itself as a student hub; however, greater focus and clarity in direction should be set forward in accelerating Malaysia’s progress in internationalisation, with research and development as a potential catalyst. The article also questions Malaysia’s current standing with regard to internationalisation and the need in facilitating higher education institutions to build their capacity in internationalisation, highlighting the important roles of individual institutions at both public and private sector that drive the country’s internationalisation agenda.
Previous research has found that the images of universities formed by prospective students greatly influence their choices. With the advent of international branch campuses in several higher education hubs worldwide, many international students now attempt to construct images of these institutions when deciding where to study. The aim of this research is to identify the sources of information and other influences that impact upon the images of international branch campuses formed by prospective undergraduate students. The study involved 407 students studying at nine international schools in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It was found that recommendations and feedback resulting from personal relationships was by far the most influential factor shaping the images of institutions constructed by students. It was also discovered that elite institutions can benefit from positive home campus images based on heritage and prestige, which positively influence the images constructed of the international branch campuses operated by these institutions. The implications of the findings for higher education institutions are discussed.
This paper presents findings from an empirical study of an international branch campus established through a partnership between a Malaysian property development conglomerate, the Sunway Group, and Monash University, an Australian university known for its global aspirations. Using Lefebvre's concept of social space we analyse the perceived, conceived and lived spaces that constitute the campus of Monash University Malaysia and its urban setting in the township of Bandar Sunway. Dramatically transformed from a disused mining site and showcased as a ‘progressive’ urban project, the township symbolises the Sunway Group's commercial success and political pragmatism in managing the dynamics of Malaysia's ethnicised political economy. The broader student experience suggests that the configurations of power that shape ethnic and class relations at the scale of the national are reproduced in the composition of the student body, in students' on-campus interactions and in the rhythms of their everyday lives within the township. By attending to the material, symbolic and imaginary dimensions of one international branch campus, we provide a more nuanced and textured understanding of the globalisation of higher education, highlighting different forms of agency exercised by key actors.
Past research revealed that International Branch Campuses (IBCs) are simultaneously under two types of isomorphic pressures. On the one hand, they are obliged to conform to the institutions of their host countries, which lead them towards homogenising with the local Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), hence deviate from their parent unit’s model. On the other hand, they are required to maintain their parent unit’s identity across borders. By adapting to the local context, IBCs gain legitimacy in their local milieus and thus reduce tensions with local stakeholders. By maintaining similarity with their parents, they differentiate from the local competitors and therefore better compete in the market place. This paper addresses the duality (between adherence to the parent’s and local expectations) by studying six important Australian and British IBCs in two major higher education (HE) hubs in South East Asia. We identify the determinants of the IBCs’ strategic choices and their responses to institutional pressures. The analysis suggests that IBCs have maintained a high level of similarity with their parent units in terms of curriculum, but not so much in terms of staffing. We argue that staffing will continue to be the biggest strategic challenge faced by IBCs.
One significant form of transnational higher education is the International Branch
Campus (IBC), in effect an “outpost” of the parent institution located in another
country. Its organizational structure is alignable with offshore subsidiaries of
multinational corporations (MNCs). The implications of organizational structure for
academic freedom in teaching and research are discussed in this article. Drawing
on examples from the literature, the investigation shows that over time as the IBC
establishes its reputation locally, there is pressure for an increase in the academic
freedom of academic staff. Our study suggests that over time and depending on the
strategic choice of the parent university, the maturity of the offshore institution can
be reflected in the increased academic freedom afforded to academic staff. In the
interim, the limits to academic freedom and organizational constraints to intercampus
collegiality can often lead to conflict.
Although many organizational researchers make reference to Mead’s theory of social identity, none have explored how Mead’s ideas about the relationship between the ‘I’ and the ‘me’ might be extended to identity processes at the organizational level of analysis. In this article we define organizational analogs for Mead’s ‘I’ and ‘me’ and explain how these two phases of organizational identity are related. In doing so, we bring together existing theory concerning the links between organizational identities and images, with new theory concerning how reflection embeds identity in organizational culture and how identity expresses cultural understandings through symbols. We offer a model of organizational identity dynamics built on four processes linking organizational identity to culture and image. Whereas the processes linking identity and image (mirroring and impressing) have been described in the literature before, the contribution of this article lies in articulation of the processes linking identity and culture (reflecting and expressing), and of the interaction of all four processes working dynamically together to create, maintain and change organizational identity. We discuss the implications of our model in terms of two dysfunctions of organizational identity dynamics: narcissism and loss of culture.
Addresses the relationship between organizational culture, identity and image. Argues that contemporary organizations need to define their corporate identity as a bridge between the external position of the organization in its marketplace and other relevant environments, and internal meanings formed within the organizational culture. Offers an analytical framework using the concepts of organizational culture, identity and image and suggests implications, including the need for symbolic management in and of the organization and the need to combine knowledge from the disciplines of marketing and organization studies.
Erikson's seminal work on identity development focused on the question, Who Am I? Despite theoretical overlap between identity theorists, current research has primarily taken different paths. Those focused on identity statuses have primarily assessed current conceptions of exploration that presumably lead to future commitments. In contrast, narrative identity theorists have primarily focused on reconstructions of past events. Thus, current researchers are not taking advantage of the strengths of these two approaches. This article reviews research and examines ways in which the approaches might be integrated with two claims. The authors propose, first, that narrative is the means by which identity exploration can be carried out, and second, that narrative processing reflects commitments and can promote greater consistency between those commitments and behaviors.
This research investigates the attitudes, working conditions, experiences, and job satisfaction of academic staff employed at offshore campuses. An online survey questionnaire was completed by 72 academic staff in 10 different countries, which included China, Malaysia, Qatar, the UAE, and Vietnam. It was found that the desire for adventure and travel, and to experience a foreign culture, were the most popular motivations for working at an offshore campus. Common challenges and disadvantages of teaching at an offshore campus are the lack of job security, support for research, academic freedom, and opportunities for development and advancement. However, such academics often have motivated students, smaller class sizes, greater autonomy at work, fewer meetings, higher disposable income, and less of the ‘publish or perish’ culture. Almost three-quarters of our research participants believe that it is possible to have an attractive career teaching in transnational education, at offshore campuses.
Internationalization as a concept and strategic agenda is a relatively new, broad, and varied phenomenon in tertiary education. During the past half-century, internationalization has evolved from a marginal activity to a key aspect of the reform agenda. This analysis addresses the following points: What are the historical developments of internationalization? What do we mean by internationalization? What are the key factors in international tertiary education that impact, and are impacted by, this phenomenon? What initiatives and policies are developed to enhance the internationalization of tertiary education? What are the key data, trends, and challenges that are crucial for the future of internationalization, abroad and at home, in a critical time of transformation as a result of nationalist-populist developments, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic?
https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20190626135618704
During the past two decades, a growing number of universities, mainly from developed countries, have established branch campuses in developing countries. From the developing country perspective, attracting foreign universities can help mitigate financial constraints and capacity shortages that impair the state’s ability to provide greater access to higher education, while also improving teaching and research in general. However, foreign universities may also be detrimental if they crowd out their domestic counterparts. We explore different scenarios and policy options for developing countries aiming to attract foreign universities, building upon a review of four case studies from Chile, China, Kazakhstan, and Malaysia. Our analysis illustrates how host countries can provide incentives to align incoming foreign universities to complement and strengthen the areas of weakness in their higher education systems.
We also reflect on how policy-makers can deal with the challenges associated with
the dual embeddedness of international branch campuses.
Absolute poverty levels are declining around the world but, measured by income and GDP per capita over time, inequality is getting worse between and within many countries. How is this possible when higher education is celebrated as a vehicle for economic success and when the massification and digitisation of higher education means it is available to more people, in more places, than ever? This paper explores these questions with reference to three discourses: on development and global inequality; on the purpose and responsibilities of higher education; and on the disruptive potential of online learning.
A majority of international branch campuses (IBCs) have been established during the last two decades, with China, Malaysia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates being the countries hosting the largest numbers. IBCs are often considered education providers within the host country; but there has been ongoing debate about their role as contributors to the scientific wealth of the host country. This study develops a methodology to investigate the research activity at branch campuses based on their publications. The main methodological challenge was to identify publications from these entities, as they are often not indexed and visible in the publication databases. This was solved through a search query extracting publications with affiliation data including the host country or city for the branch campus as well as the name of the institution. Using the publication sets for each research active IBC, the study illustrates not only that they are increasingly active in research, but also how their publication quality and collaboration patterns relate to their host country as well as to their home institution. The results also indicate that IBCs appear to have a role in the academic research development of some hosting countries; Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia.
All universities must achieve legitimacy, as this is essential to attract students, staff, and resources, including funding. To achieve legitimacy in transnational higher education, universities must conform to the rules and belief systems in the host countries. Adopting a case study approach, this research aims to investigate the different institutional influences on three Chinese international branch campuses (IBCs) that operate in South East Asia. The institutional factors behind the strategies taken in establishing and operating such branch campuses are discussed, as well as the different legitimacy building strategies adopted to counteract the liability of foreignness in the host countries. It was found that legitimacy is established through three modes: legitimacy conformity, selective legitimacy conformity/nonconformity, and legitimacy creation, which are adopted according to the IBC’s dependence on local resources and the strength of the institutional forces in the host country.
Internationalization in European higher education has developed over the last 20 years, from a marginal point of interest to a central factor—also called mainstreaming of internationalization. Indisputably, globalization of our societies and economies has expanded the influence of competition and market processes on the manner in which internationalization is implemented.
Transnational education is growing apace in recent years, with international branch campuses (IBCs) becoming an increasingly prominent feature in Asia’s higher education landscape. This paper examines a Sino-British IBC in China as an inroad for illuminating the mobilities such set-ups entrain as a migration infrastructure tied to transnational work and workplace. Using Bourdieu’s concepts of field, capital and habitus, we interrogate the processes of ‘branch-making’ in relations to the IBC in question, teasing out its strategies in recruitment, and, as part of its social and material environment, opposing circumstances that motivate the re-mobilisation of academic migrants. The paper argues for a need to consider not just interventions of the state or individuals’ personal decisions in comprehending skilled migration, but also how the workplace possesses the power to shape movement and generate mobilities.
Higher education in Malaysia has a relatively short but interesting history. This article examines the development over the course of six decades in terms of the state–university relationship, actors and stakeholders, and the ecosystem in which universities, higher education institutions and ministries operate. To enable a systematic analysis of the higher education system, the developments were characterized into five distinctive eras: 1959–1969, 1969–1996, 1996–2004, 2004–2013, and 2013 and beyond, where each era was marked by a watershed event. Importantly, the analysis based on these distinctive eras also helped to put in place the socio-political, socio-economic, and socio-historical context into understanding the development of higher education in this country over the past six decades. With this understanding of the past and present, we will be better informed to understand and make sense of the future development of the higher education in Malaysia.
Higher education institutions (hereafter HEI) are increasingly adopting practices from the private sector. One such practice is strategy formulation and strategic development processes. To study such practices and processes is important as we need to strengthen our knowledge of how new practices may influence and change the HEI on the inside, while also recognizing that strategy formulation is about how the HEI interprets its relationship to the environment.
Internationalization of higher education has undergone significant change in the current scenario. The approach to traditional internationalization which was based on international co-operation and rarely a profit making activity were at the center of traditional internationalization has changed significantly from the last two decades. Emergence of the new phase of internationalization of higher education is characterized by self-economic interest of maximizing profit and capturing student market by expanding institutional reach in other countries. The intention of students to go abroad and the functioning of universities has changed substantially in the current scenario. The governance by comparison and competition for international students has made radical change in the governance of institutions. The remaining work is done by the globalization of higher education, essentially motivated by profits rather than by either government policy or goodwill. The observed competition in recent decades in the international higher education market has led to the marginalization of teaching–learning, which is assumed to be the central role of educational institutions. The central focus of the present article is to trace the change in internationalization of higher education in general, with special reference to student mobility and how it is changing the role of educational institutions in the new phase. In connection with this, the present article aims to contribute to the body of knowledge under the broad head of internationalization of higher education.
The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of institutional factors and practices on the student experience and development of organizational identification in students in the context of transnational university partnership programs, collaborations between a U.S. “home” institution and a “host” institution abroad offering degree programs through distributed delivery models. Organizational identification is known to benefit the institution, influencing effectiveness and long-term institutional strength, and student engagement and satisfaction, both during the program and when they become alumni. Previous research has established that contextual factors—both environmental and structural—influence the development of organizational identification in students in single university settings and that student identification with the institution is positively related to their future support of their alma mater when they become alumni. However, little, if any, research exists on how organizational identification develops in students in transnational university partnership programs and whether it will contribute to students' desire to affiliate with and maintain a connection to one or both of the partner institutions when they become alumni. ^ Two Carnegie Mellon transnational partnership programs were examined through cross-case analysis: the Athens MSIN, a partnership program with Athens Information Technology in Athens, Greece, and the Chennai MSIT, offered through partnership with the SSN School of Advanced Software Engineering (SSN SASE), in Chennai, India. Each program utilizes a different approach and delivery model to offer its program and therefore provided the research with contrasting examples of transnational university partnership programs for exploration. ^ Findings from this study suggest that the student experience, which is shaped by environmental and structural factors in the delivery of the program, influences identification with the institution. Time spent at the home and host institutions, integration with other students enrolled at both institutions, the nature and degree of interaction with home and host institution faculty, the integration of the home institution culture into the program and access to home institution resources and services while at the host institution represent significant elements of the student experience in the context of transnational partnership programs that influence students' sense of belonging to the institution.
Analysis of higher education internationalization has typically gone in two directions. Those concerned with the practical aspects of internationalization—such as student mobility programs, campus internationalization efforts, and similar initiatives—have been focused on the “local” aspects of the theme. Policy-makers and others more concerned with strategy for universities or governments, or with broadly understanding internationalization as a trend, have engaged in “global” analyses. Here, the focus has been on broader strategic, structural, socio-economic, and political issues. The dialog between these strands in the discussion has been quite limited.
At the start of 2016, there were 230 international branch campuses operating worldwide, but of the campuses that were established since the mid-1990s, around 10 per cent have failed. The purpose of this article is to propose a framework that the strategic decision makers in higher education institutions can refer to when evaluating opportunities to develop branch campuses in foreign countries. The framework derives from empirical evidence that was the product of a rigorous search of the literature and other secondary sources, and it has drawn upon business management theories such as institutional theory, Porter’s industry-based view, and Barney’s resource-based view. Thematic analysis was used to identify the following themes, or influencing factors, in the data: environmental, industry, and organisational. The framework provides higher education managers with an analytical tool to guide a process of systematic data collection and analysis, which includes reflection on institutional objectives, resources, and competencies. It is likely that the systematic, data-driven approach promoted by the framework will in future reduce the number of international branch campus failures. © 2016 Association for Tertiary Education Management and the LH Martin Institute for Tertiary Education Leadership and Management
This book examines the understanding, practices and challenges that Malaysia's higher education institutions face in their efforts to internationalize. This issue is of great importance to academics, policy-makers and students in Malaysia, given the country's aspiration to become a hub for higher education. Malaysia is considered to be one of the success stories in the developing world in its efforts to internationalize its higher education. In the last decade or so, Malaysia has evolved into an emerging contender for international students, based on its transnational programmes and relative cost advantages. Increasing inflows of international students have changed Malaysia's position in the global arena from a sending to a receiving country as well. The findings in this book show that providers and students alike agree that internationalization is here to stay and that there are huge challenges ahead, while managing internationalization remains a prerogative for both institutions and the country. The lessons garnered from Malaysia's experience will also assist other developing countries that are embarking on the same internationalization journey © 2013 Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. All rights reserved.
The establishment of an international branch campus can impact upon a diverse range of stakeholders in both home and host countries. Many of the arguments against international branch campuses are based on ethical issues, such as the lack of academic freedom and civil liberties in host countries. Ignoring ethical issues may deny institutions the achievement of legitimacy, which can result in financial losses and reputational damage. Thus, the purpose of this article is to identify the ethical issues that higher education managers should recognise and address when considering the establishment of an international branch campus. A framework based on analysing how home and host country stakeholders might be impacted by the establishment of an international branch campus – and how they might influence higher education institutions – is proposed. It was found that institutions which are flexible, quick to learn, and possess the dynamic capabilities necessary to drive organisational change might be the institutions that have the greatest chance of success in foreign markets. Given that at the start of 2015, at least 24 new international branch campuses were planned or in the process of being built, it is concluded that higher education institutions will have to continue treading the thin line between trying to fit in with their host cultures while simultaneously trying to achieve academic freedom and improve local social, political, and legal conditions.
The intensity of internationalization has increased with an escalation in internationalization activities, leading to increasing student, program, and institutional mobility. In Malaysia, the internationalization of higher education in terms of student mobility has changed tremendously in the last two decades as the country has shifted from a sending to a receiving country. Policy-wise, the government has targeted to be a regional hub for higher education. The objectives of this article are to examine government policies, their rationales, and the response of public and private institutions toward these policies. The findings show that while there is also a new emphasis on research and knowledge generation, government policies essentially focus mainly on increasing inbound students to increase export revenues. Institutions' response vary between public and private as the former have access to research funding from the government while the other is much more fee-dependent and therefore tend to focus on international students as an additional source of revenue but both view internationalization targets set by the government as an end by themselves.
Cultural identity is a ubiquitous concept in intercultural communication and across social science disciplines. Based on a review of a broad range of literature addressing issues of cultural identity, this article describes how the pluralistic turn in ideology in American society at large and the blurring of boundaries between academic research and social activism have influenced how cultural identity has been defined and conceptualized in recent decades. Employing the author's analytic framework of “ideological circle” consisting of assimilationism, pluralism, integrationism, and separatism, the author examines implicit or explicit ideological messages emanating from various conceptions of cultural identity. The results reveal five different basic themes of cultural identity: (a) an adaptive and evolving entity of an individual; (b) a flexible and negotiable entity of an individual; (c) a discrete social category and an individual choice; (d) a distinct and communal system of communicative practices; and (e) a discrete social category and a non-negotiable group right.
Examines the role that institutions, defined as the humanly devised constraints that shape human interaction, play in economic performance and how those institutions change and how a model of dynamic institutions explains the differential performance of economies through time. Institutions are separate from organizations, which are assemblages of people directed to strategically operating within institutional constraints. Institutions affect the economy by influencing, together with technology, transaction and production costs. They do this by reducing uncertainty in human interaction, albeit not always efficiently. Entrepreneurs accomplish incremental changes in institutions by perceiving opportunities to do better through altering the institutional framework of political and economic organizations. Importantly, the ability to perceive these opportunities depends on both the completeness of information and the mental constructs used to process that information. Thus, institutions and entrepreneurs stand in a symbiotic relationship where each gives feedback to the other. Neoclassical economics suggests that inefficient institutions ought to be rapidly replaced. This symbiotic relationship helps explain why this theoretical consequence is often not observed: while this relationship allows growth, it also allows inefficient institutions to persist. The author identifies changes in relative prices and prevailing ideas as the source of institutional alterations. Transaction costs, however, may keep relative price changes from being fully exploited. Transaction costs are influenced by institutions and institutional development is accordingly path-dependent. (CAR)