International Strategies in English Universities

The Huddersfield Business School’s heard Professor John Anchor from the School’s Strategy and International Business Research Group present his research on “International Strategies in English Universities”.

As John says “Internationalisation has become one of the keys to the competitiveness of many, but not all, universities. Internationalisation has also changed the context of the strategic management of universities. Several studies have addressed the trajectory of and the implications of the internationalisation of higher education. However, the international strategies of universities themselves is an under researched area.”

John’s presentation explored the international strategic management process in four English universities; particularly in terms of how international strategies are formulated and implemented. A qualitative exploratory approach, via semi-structured interviews and document review, was employed. The results of the study has led to the development of a model which conceptualizes the stages of the international strategic management process in English universities.  It is suggested, in particular, that English universities follow a five-step non-linear process to formulate and implement their international strategies.  

Professor John Anchor, says “My co-authors and I are now looking at the theoretical conceptualization of this model using themes which are derived from the literature on dynamic capabilities”.