Cross Border Higher Education

Abstract 

This paper focuses on convergence and divergence dynamics among leading British and French business schools and explores how the pressure for accreditation influences these dynamics. We illustrate that despite historical differences in approaches to management education in Britain and France, these approaches have converged partly based on the influence of the American model of management education but more recently through the pursuit of accreditation, in particular from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business and the European Quality Improvement Standard. We explore these dynamics through the application of the resource-based view of the firm and institutional theory and suggest that, whilst achieving accreditation is a necessary precursor for international competition, it is no longer a form of competitive advantage. The pursuit of accreditation has fostered a form of competitive mimicry reducing national distinctiveness. The resource-based view of the firm suggests that the top schools need a more heterogeneous approach that is not easily replicable if they are to outperform the competitors. Consequently, the convergence of management education in Britain and France will become a new impetus for divergence. We assert that future growth and competitive advantage might be better achieved through the reassertion of national, regional and local cultural characteristics.

full text : http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8551.12007/abstract;jsessionid=565682783D7B898418E32CADB50BB424.d04t04?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to identify and critically evaluate key issues faced by an institution in the quest to implement higher education internationalization.

Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative research is conducted in a post-1992 UK university. A total of 20 interviewees from three key departments participated in this project. Content analysis, critical discourse analysis and categorisation of meaning were applied on analysing three sources of data collection.

Findings – This study identifies critical issues that impede international strategy implementation within an institutional context. These issues include resource allocation, communication, operational process, cooperation and coordination, organizational culture, resistance to change, student support and external environment. Researching findings indicate that most issues are rooted internally. Higher education (HE) internationalization is deemed to be integration and cohesion.

Research limitations/implications – This research contributes to rich understanding of challenges of the present case study; therefore, further research in this area is encouraged to test these highlighted issues through quantitative population studies in other institutions.

Practical implications – Research findings show different understanding of critical issues of HE internationalization, and highlight the areas that need to be improved. This study encourages different key departments to conduct and evaluate internationalization internally.

Originality/value – This research suggests that HE internationalization is primarily an internal matter of integration rather than a process driven only by external environment. This study addresses particular forms of critical issues within an institutional context through a qualitative analysis.

full text: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=17073223&show=abstract

Especially in Norman, the home of a great university, we should pay attention to a trend that gravely threatens America's future. Step by step, public

Abstract

Purpose - To analyse the rapid development of the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and the implications for business education. To critically examine the educational and business models of the MOOCs. To assess their present scale and scalability. To explore the responses of the universities to this challenge.

Design/methodology/approach - An analysis of the origins, structure and orientation of the MOOCs and to assess their future trajectory. To compare this development with earlier waves of e-learning.

Findings - The Massive Open Online Courses have considerable potential for growth with high quality products supported by leading universities. However they still need to resolve issues other e-learning organisations have faced including assessment, high drop out rates, and how to maintain viability.

Research limitations/implications - The MOOCs remain at a developmental stage, and it is not yet apparent whether their growth trajectories will be as ambitious as anticipated. However they are a definite advance over earlier online learning systems, and are worthy of further research regarding their performance.

Practical implications - The recent origin of the MOOCs involves an idealistic phase that is inspiring, but the question is will it last? Have the MOOCs the resilience to continue to develop as the universities have done over many decades? Further research will be required on this.

Originality/value - This is one of the first studies of the MOOCs to emerge which compares them with earlier initiatives in e-learning, and considers the adaptive responses of the universities.

A study into transnational education has found that it can help train students to fill skills gaps in host countries, but also warned that it can contribute to a brain drain and has not led to enhanced research...

full text http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/transnational-education-brain-drain-warning/2003844.article

Each day the world is more connected and the population and companies think that international experience increases students' professional capacities in the areas of communication, flexibility, innovations and ambitions among others. It is the duty of institutions of higher education to ensure that graduates have received a complete training, including skills to cope with globalization. While only a small percentage of graduates actually have the opportunity to take part in an international program abroad during their studies, internationalization of the home campus offers many possibilities. Allowing and inviting professors to participate in global education, universities must think of implementing a comprehensive strategy to modernize teaching methods and train global citizens.

full text here: http://www.gpejournal.org/index.php/GPEJ/article/view/54

Abstract:

Purpose: This paper provides an overall picture of Vietnamese international student mobility which remains silent in Vietnamese international education and migration research. Design/methodology/approach: This paper traces the evolvement of Vietnamese student outflows in a historical approach by analyzing official documents published by governmental agencies, public media and international education and migration literatures. Findings: While the early Vietnamese student movements from the early 20th century to the 1986 Open Door period were mostly shaped by political purposes, the current trend is influenced by social and political transformations in Vietnam and host countries and by changes in the practices of higher education internationalization policies in host countries. It also argues that the present movement of Vietnamese students, which is seen as the government's strategic approach to improve the quality of the existing workforce for their industrialization process by 2020, becomes politicized as human capital is recognized as the focal force for the country's development and global integration. Originality/value: By analyzing the factors behind Vietnamese international student mobility, the paper hopes to contribute an understanding of the international student movements and professional migration in Vietnam which are still under-researched.

full text here: http://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv55926