Developing an aligned and sustainable internationalisation strategy

Internationalisation is important for many business schools, with forms ranging from international student recruitment, student mobility, articulations, dual/double degrees, internationalisation at home, international research collaborations to transnational education (TNE). Drivers behind include income generation, diverse student population and learning environment, student and staff international experience, research outputs and impacts, societal impacts, and of course, rankings and accreditations. Depending on business schools’ ambitions and resources, they have chosen a couple of models or spread across many. 

Why internationalisation strategies need to change 

The internationalisation landscape for UK business schools has changed significantly over the past couple of years. The decline in international student recruitment to the UK, rising demand for TNE in international markets, the increased influence of international partners, reduced national research funding, shrinking budgets, and competing priorities are all forcing business schools to rethink their internationalisation strategies. 

Schools need to be more focused on where, when, and how to play to ensure internationalisation continues to provide a source of competitive advantage. In the current context, (re)developing an aligned and sustainable internationalisation strategy is more pivotal than ever. 

What does an aligned strategy look like? 

What do I mean by ‘aligned’? There are several aspects to consider.  

First, internationalisation should align with the business school’s overall strategy and priorities. By doing so, internationalisation contributes directly to the achievements of the business school’s strategic objectives and creates value that directly speaks to return-on-investment (ROI). This is particularly important when resources are tight.  

Second, it should align with the business school’s learning and teaching and research strategies. Internationalisation does not exist in a silo. It is inherently linked to business schools’ core academic missions: learning and teaching, student experience, and research. After all, what are we trying to internationalise, and for what purpose? 

In this sense, internationalisation needs to benefit learning & teaching and research and enhance their impacts, while leveraging opportunities available within the two areas to strengthen the relationships with international partners. By aligning with these strategies, resources can be used more effectively, the impact of opportunities in one area can spill over into and amplify others, and challenges can be addressed more quickly. 

Third, for business schools how have existing accreditations or are planning to apply for one, aligning with accreditation bodies’ standards earlier on. Different accreditations have different requirements for internationalisation, and being familiar with the updated standards prior to the new internationalisation strategy development helps business schools self-evaluate areas needed for development and progress to international standards.  

It all sounds straightforward, but it requires timely and careful coordination and orchestration from business schools’ internationalisation directorates.  

Building a sustainable internationalisation strategy 

Being sustainable is another important aspect of an effective internationalisation strategy. This has three implications.  

First, resources match the support needed by the strategic priority areas to ensure that key initiatives transform inputs into desired outputs and outcomes. To do this, with limited resources, business schools need to decide what they choose not to do.  

Second, business schools need to have regular, consistent, and effective engagement with key external stakeholders to ensure continued progress being made towards their strategy objectives. These stakeholders include international university partners, alumni, UK growth agencies, local organisations, companies, and governments.  

Such engagement can not only help business schools monitor the performance of current collaborative projects and address challenges in a timely and collaborative manner, but also act as a valuable and efficient channel for gathering market intelligence. It can help schools capture and better understand shifting demand in international markets from the perspectives of prospective students, alumni, local employers, and governments. This understanding can subsequently help business schools fine-tune their strategies. 

Building sustainable international partnerships 

What I want to emphasis here is that developing a sustainable relationship with international partners goes beyond signing an MoU/MoA and shaking hands, or attending a yearly networking event. It requires business schools to actively engage with their international partners, arrange regular check-ins or visits, actively listen, focus on the mutual beneficial aspect of partnerships, co-create solutions to address challenges, and proactively identify opportunities to add value to the partnerships.  

We need to constantly remind ourselves of how we want to be treated in a partnership and ask why our existing partners should prioritise their time and resources to engage with us over others.    

Creating the right governance structure 

Third, a clear governance structure. Governance provides clarity around decision-making and supports accountability. It should reflect the key internal stakeholders involved in internationalisation, as well as how they communicate and make decisions.  

When designing the governance structure of internationalisation, it is useful to draw up an internal stakeholder’s map and identify key decision makers and enablers. Depending on the setup of a business school, the governance structure can be linear or matrix-based.  

In our business school, we initially adopted a linear structure. However, to expand communication and feedback channels, enhance transparency, and facilitate decision making, we have now moved towards a matrix format. Our internationalisation directorate links to key internal stakeholders across subjects, directorates, professional services, and research clusters, with the ultimate decision on new partnerships made at senior leadership team level. 

Turning international ambitions into impact 

Underpinning an aligned and sustainable internationalisation strategy is a clear understanding of international partners’ true needs and challenges, the business school’s own resources – financial, human, and networks – and priorities, and the connections between different initiatives. 

Developing this understanding requires internationalisation staff to create effective and consistent engagement and stewardship plans for key internal and external stakeholders. 

Developing an internationalisation strategy should not be a box-ticking exercise. Instead, business schools should use the process as an opportunity to think holistically and proactively, align interests, needs, and priorities with international partners, and co-create opportunities and solutions that turn their internationalisation ambitions into tangible and impactful outcomes. 

I am happy to share further experience with anyone interested in finding out more about aspects I’ve discussed in this blog.