Aspects of Inter Nationalization

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Aspects of theinternationalization ofmanagement education

Basu Sharma and Judy Ann RoyUniversity of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

Growing globalization of national economies through trade and investment,

increasing internationalization of production through multinationalcorporations, together with the rise of new forms of business organizationssuch as networks and strategic alliances expanding across national boundaries,have been the order of the changing business landscape in the 1990s. Thisdevelopment has obviously created a necessity to further our understanding ofprocesses and consequences of internationalization and their implications formanagement education. Consequently, there is now a heightened concern withinternationalization of management education.

Literature on globalization of management education has begun to proliferatein the last few years. While there appears to be a general consensus that there isno alternative but to go for internationalization of business education,differences are apparent concerning the depth, scope, and mode of

internat ionalization[1,2]. T hese differences a re r eflected along variousdimensions curricula, course contents, modes of delivery and research. Theobjective of this paper is to examine some of these differences to discernimportant emerging trends in internationalization of management education.

The art icle is organized into five sections. The first section examinesdimensions of internationalization, looking at concerns related to cur ricula,research and executive management development programmes. The next twosections describe the modes of delivery of internationalized managementeducation and the emergent pat terns. Section four looks at the implicationsthese dimensions, modes and patterns have on the future of managementeducation. The final section offers a summary of the article and the conclusionsof the study.

Dimens ions of internationalizationInternationalization or globalization entails a notion of exchange or, moreconcretely, trade. If one looks at management education in this frame ofreference, one quickly discovers that the import aspect of globalization (i.e.imports of foreign nationals into the business programmes) has already had ahistory for some time now; however, the export aspect of internationalization ofmanagement education has begun to gain momentum only recently, at least inNorth America[3]. This development is largely a result of world markets beingdriven toward a converging communality, especially in the last few

Journal of ManagementDevelopment, Vol. 15 No. 1, 1996,

pp. 5-13. MCB University Press ,0262-1711


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decades[4]. This is also a result of growing concern with competitiveness ofbusiness and societies in the global marketplace. The tendency has beengrowing at such a pace that a transformation of management education seemsinevitable before too long. Given this development, one of the questions to askis: what modes and methods have been used in the process of internation-alization of management?

Interna tionalization of management has been promoted along severaldimensions:

curricula challenge;

research activities, with both content and outlets being relevant;

executive development programmes.

Curricula challengeThe rapidly changing environment has continuously presented new curricularchallenges to institutions providing management education[5]. The challenge ofthe 1960s was the need to balance between a liberal and vocational emphasis inbusiness education[6,7]. The challenge of the 1980s was the need to maintain abalance between upholding academic standards and becoming relevant to thebusiness community[8]; the latest challenge for business educators is thechallenge of intenationalization. This is also an area which has not receivedmuch attention in North America. According to a survey article onmanagement education published recently by The Economist:

One snag is t hat , for all their global blust er, the schools often rely too heavily on aninternational mix of student and faculty to globalize their courses, leaving their curriculamuch the same. Those schools that have put globalization on the curriculum tend to tackle itin rather less depth than their traditional, easier-to-pin-down subjects[9, p. 12].

In fact, the inspiration and urge to internationalize curricula came initially fromthe American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) in the1970s. Even in the 1980s, the AACSB urged and required business schools toincorporate an international dimension in their curr icula. To quote the AACSB,The purpose of the cur riculum shall be to provide for a broad educationpreparing the st udent for imaginative and responsible citizenship a ndleadership roles in business and society domestic and worldwide[10, p. 26].

Even though there are a variety of ways of internationalizing curricularcontents, evidence indicates that curricular changes in terms of content have

taken different forms, e.g.: introduction of new courses in international aspects of functional areas;

making an introductory course in international business required; and

using material which is more tuned to intercultural businessenvironments.

However, as Ahmed and Krohn have noted: most textbooks devote only achapter or less to international topics rather than taking an internationalapproach throughout[11, p. 78]. Again, while this inadequacy needs to be


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recognized, it is also important to understand that there is no one optimal wayof doing this. As a matter of fact, the AACSB itself had recognized this quitesome time ago. To quote the AACSB, There is no intention that any singleapproach is required to satisfy the worldwide dimension of the curriculumstandard, but every student should be exposed to the international dimensionthrough one or more elements of the curriculum[10, p. 26].

Research activitiesInternationalization of business research may be examined in terms of contentand outlet. As to the content, the degree of internationalization will be reflectedin whether researchers have refocused the scope of their enquiries in their

respective discipline so as to examine culture, practices and behaviour in othercountries, or companies in foreign countries. Both country-specific andcompany-specific studies (or comparative studies of both) will come under thisarea[12,13]. Over the years, there have been significant developments in cross-national or cross-cultural research in the field of management. Any reasonablereview article in any specific area of business will certainly reflect this.

Where the research outputs are published by researchers, this can also beconsidered an indicator of internationalization of management research in alimited sense. Ricks[13, pp. 83-4] has compiled a useful list of such outlets. Agrowing number of publication outlets, as listed by Ricks, certainly reflects thefact that the research and publication side of business education has been quitesuccessful in internationalizing management education.

Executive educationExecutive education is often touted as the most powerful catalyst fororganizational effectiveness. Most of the countries around the world have beenspending a considerable amount of money on such education. For example, UScorporations have been spending $30-40 billion a year on executivemanagement development education[14].

The demand for executive management education is spur red by the rapidityof technological changes, globalization of companies and national economies,and the declining shelf-life of an MBA, among others[9,15]. In fact, there hasbeen a lot of criticism of business education to inexperienced students, and it isoften reasoned that only people with experience can appreciate theories and canassess applicability of such theories to practice[16]. This has led to a morepractice-oriented management education management development.

There are two major providers of such education: in-company programmeand university-based executive education. With the growing apathy towardsMBA education, business has gradually been indicating its preference forproducts of management development programmes. Many of thoseprogrammes are conducted in house by larger corporations. Lately, universitieshave also begun to play a role in this with many business schools having begunto offer management development programmes to capture this market.(Incidently, such programmes have significant international focus.)


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Modes of delivering internationalizationThere are various modes of delivery of internationalized managementeducation. These include: international cases; simulation exercises; study-abroad programmes; and international internships.

International casesProbably, Harvard Business School has been the undisputed leader in usinginternational cases in the teaching of business management. Over the years,case method of teaching has become popular. Many schools have begun toemphasize this mode of delivery. The number of case-clearing houses hasincreased, and the focus on international cases has, accordingly, done the same.

However, the case method as a t eaching tool has not always receivedfavourable comments. Mintzberg[16] believes that cases are par t of the businesseducation problem, not the solution, as long as they are used in a prescriptivemanner. Also, Thakur and Vozikis have pointed out that the traditionalmethod of case analysis creates a temporary excitement with little residualvalue in enhancing the students analytical skills and power of synthesisthrough decision-making[17, p. 36]. Another problem associated with casemethod is cost associated with the creation of case material itself[18]. Manyinstitutions lacking resources may not be able to develop or even buy new casematerials.

Simulation exercises

Like cases, leading business schools have begun to pay attention to experientialexercises and computer-based games that focus on internationalmanagement[19]. For example, INSEAD has developed and used such computerprograms as Markstrat which simulates the process of running an effectivemarketing strategy and Sigma which simulates aspects of internationalmanagement. At the University of Hawaii, a Multinational Management Gamehas been used extensively. The game was designed as a top-managementdecision-making exercise. It has gained so much popularity that the game iscurrently used at the Pacific Asian Management Institute, the Japan-AmericanInstitute of Management Science, and the Korean Management Programme[20].Popular business simulation games used in the USA include INTOP, TIMS,BSG, SPLAN, MMG and WISE. Klein et al.[21] have provided a good descriptionand an excellent evaluation of each of these games.

Study-abroad programmesAnother valuable means of preparing future managers is to study abroad. Itallows s tudents as well as faculty to experience and be exposed to othercultures directly[22,23]. A var iety of business educational institutions havebeen participating in this mode of the internationalization process. It is a directway of learning about foreign culture, language, and business behaviour, and isalso a more effective way of establishing contacts for future business networks.Hence study-abroad programmes have begun to attract more attention in North


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America in recent years, especially in the USA. This may be an attempt torectify the defect which North American s tudents generally do possess. AsAdler notes, Americans speak fewer foreign languages, demonstrate lessinterest in foreign cultures, and are more nave in international businesssituations than the majority of their trading partners[24, p. 5]. To some extent,this holds true for Canadians as well. Studying abroad will surely contribute tothe solution of these problems.

International internshipsSome institutions have begun to make ar rangements for internat ionalinternship as a part of their programmes. Selected students in a business-

management programme are assigned to specific firms in a foreign country towork for a predetermined period of time. On completion of the internship, thestudents are required to write a report analysing a business problem and topresent it. A faculty member may work as a co-ordinator. Sponsoringcompanies in host countries generally look after local expenses, while homeinstitutions and students together deal with international travel expenses. Insome cases, some external agencies provide grants to cover part of theexpenses. Like study abroad, this is another valuable means of prepar ingmanagers for the global village, which also involves more stakeholders, therebymaking it similar to a co-operative venture.

Emergent patterns of internationalization

As the world gets closer to the twenty-first century, more new forms ofglobalization of management education have begun to emerge. Some of theseemergent patterns are:

joint ventures between two business schools in two countries;

educational networks;

diversification of faculty and students;

globalized multidisciplinary action projects; and

international faculty exchanges.

Joint venturesA joint venture between two business schools in two countries has alreadyappeared as the most potent emerging form of globalized managementeducation. Ventures between Dartmouth Colleges Amos Tuck School (NewHampshire, USA) and the International University of Japan, between theUniversity of Califonia at Berkeleys Haas School and the Nomura School ofAdvanced Management, between Stanford University (California, USA) and theNational University of Singapore, and between the UKs Cranfield School ofManagement and the Sofia School of Management in Bulgaria are some of theexamples in this respect. These ventures take different forms depending oninstitutional strengths and preferences. However, one thing which is common to


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all is that there is involvement of faculty from both the participatinginstitutions.

Educational networksNetworked education will be another likely pattern to evolve in the near future.The networks, like business networks, can be vertical, horizontal, regional andinternational. They are a useful method of efficient division of labour andcomplementarity among management educational institutions. This has notfully taken root yet, hence its potential is far from being exploited. However, thispattern has the greatest potential to succeed in todays global village. In fact,business organizations have been transforming along this line already. So why

not educational institutions!

Diversif ication of faculty and studentsDiversification of faculty and students has become another importantdevelopment in recent years. Almost all the bus iness schools emphasizediversification these days. However, some have been practising in earnest whileothers have been only preaching about it. The INSEAD in France is the mostoutstanding example of diversification as it has MBA students from over 35countries[9] and faculty from a large number of countries around the world.

Global MAPsThe School of Business Administration at the University of Michigan is the

pioneer for the multidisciplinary action projects (MAPs) model. White describesthe model as follows:

In MAP, faculty from four required courses (people, informat ion, measurement, andoperations) team teach with a focus on how to lead, manage, and use knowledge of eachsubject area to achieve world-class operational effectiveness, i.e., quality, cost, delivery, cycletime, and innovation. After faculty lay out basic concepts in 7 weeks (they used to do it in 14),we invite experts from companies like Xerox and Motorola to provide an intensive one-weekexecutive education course to students and faculty on process improvement. Teams ofstudents, guided by faculty, work full-time on a project to analyze and improve a specificprocess in a sponsoring company and then make final presentations and recommendations tothe faculty and company management[25, p. 138].

More and more business educational institutions may go for global MAPs asthey combine aspects of integrative management, teamwork, and globalization.

Rapid technological changes and their diffusion rates make the method ofglobal MAPs a real, viable strategy.

International faculty exchangesThe central par ticipant in internat ionalization of management educationprocess is the faculty, and one of the most effective ways of preparing faculty forsuch a task is through faculty exchanges with foreign business schools[26].There are several instances of faculty exchange programmes around the world,and this mode is becoming increasingly popular as it exposes the faculty


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concerned to a broader understanding of society, culture and business inanother country.

Obviously, each of these patterns has its own pluses and minuses. One formmay be appropriate in one situation, while the other in another. Institutions mayhave to make decisions on which form to choose on their own.

Implications for management e ducationOne of the observed facts regarding internationalization of managementeducation in North America is that most of the business and managementschools still preserve nationalistic and regional outlooks. However,management schools in other regions, especially Europe, are different. Allard

alludes to this by recollecting what De Meyer, an associate dean of INSEAD,told him:

I remember when I went to the US to study says De Meyer. When I got there, all I wantedto do was act and be like an American. Not that I wanted a green card; I knew that I wanted tocome back to Europe. But when students come to a place like INSEAD, they dont come to belike the French. Theyre here to defend their own culture[27, p. 77].

However, the emergent trends discussed above adequately point out thatnationalism is gradually giving way to globalized regionalism andinternationalism. The implication of this is that content and method ofmanagement education need to be in line with this change as well. Putdifferently, a more nationalistic approach to management education should berevised to make it significantly international in approach and orientation, and ahost of alternat ive ways to proceed in order to achieve this objective ofinternationalization are discussed in the literature. Ultimately, however, it is theinstitution itself which should determine the best way to go about it in view ofthe opportunities and constraints it faces.

Internationalization is not possible without having internationally orientedfaculty[28]. Consequently, faculty development along the line is a first necessityfew institutions will be able to ignore. Again, there are various ways of doing it,such as globalizing or regionalizing the labour market for faculty recruitmentand creating a central clearing house for faculty exchange[29]. Diversificationof student population and institut ional efforts to promote internationalizationand to sustain it are equally important. This will be the ultimate test ofinstitutional commitment to internationalization of management.

All in all, as Peters has pointed out, A little global breadth goes a long way.And t he absence of a global instinct will increasingly pinch in the yearsahead[30, p. 757].

Summary and conclusionsManagement education has been undergoing a major transformation. One ofthe characteristics of this transformation is internationalization. This articlehas briefly discussed various dimensions of internationalization ofmanagement education. It has also attempted to identify major t rends in the


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internationalization process, together with their implications for business-management education. Given the global restructuring of politics as well aseconomies, it appears that educational institutions have no choice but to rise tothe challenge of globalization. It appears that educational institutions and otherproviders of management education have no choice but to rise to the challengeof global competition.

Internationalization requires a new mindset; it requires both commitment anda reasonable level of competence and, among other things, at least a minimumlevel of competence in international business on the part of faculty as well asstudents[31]. However, different institutions may meet this requirement indifferent ways. For example, it may be done by inserting an international

business course into the core curriculum or by demanding that an internationalcomponent be taught in every course offered[21, p. 159]. Similarly, differentmodes and modalities for delivery are also possible.

To conclude, even though the sand is unsettling at the moment on severalcounts, the futu re of internat ionalization of management education looksanything but promising. However, institutions lacking a vigorous, systematicand coherent strategy for internationalization of existing managementcurricula will be at a serious disadvantage in the years to come.

Notes and references

1. Beamish, P.W. and Calof, J.L., International business education: a corporate view, Journalof International Business Studies, Vol. 20 No. 3, Fall 1989, pp. 553-64.

2. Dunning, J.H., The study of international business: a plea for a more inter-disciplinaryapproach, Journal of International Business, Vol. 20 No. 3, 1989, pp. 411-36.

3. Porter, L.W. and McKibbin, L.E., Management Education and Development: Drift orThrust into the 21st Centur y?, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, 1988.

4. Levitt, T., The globalization of markets, Har vard Business Review, May-June 1983,pp. 98-102.

5. Sharma, B. and Steier, L., Management education and development in Canada: past,present and future, Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, Vol. 7, March 1990,pp. 1-10.

6. Gordon, R.A. and Howell, J.T., Higher Education for Business, Columbia University Press,New York, NY, 1959.

7. Pierson, F.C., The Education of Amer ican Businessmen: A Study of University-CollegePrograms in Business Administration, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, 1959.

8. Cheit, E.F., Business s chools and their critics, Califor nia Management Review,

Vol. XXVII, 1985, pp. 43-62.

9. The Economist, A survey of management education: a job for life, The Economist,2 March 1991.

10. AACSB, Accreditation Council Policies and Procedures and Standards, 1981-82, AmericanAssembly of Collegiate Schools of Business, St Louis, MO, 1982.

11. Ahmed, Z.U. and Krohn, F.B., Internat ionalizing business programs at non-AACSB-accredited collegiate institutions, Journal of Education for Business, Vol. 66 No. 2,November-December 1990, pp. 78-82.

12. It is important to make a distinction between foreign and international business. Rickshas some insights to offer regarding this: The study of advertising practices in Turkey is


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foreign to North Americans, but it is not internat ional If, however, advertisingpractices in Turkey are compared to advertising practices in Canada, then thiscomparative research could be considered international in scope[13, pp. 78-9].

13. Ricks, D., The field of internat ional business and JIBs role in it, in Rugman, A. andStanbury, W.T. (Eds),Global Perspective: Internationalizing Management Education, CIBS,University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, 1992, pp. 77-84.

14. Vicere, A.A. and Freeman, V.T., Executive education in major corpor ations: aninternational survey, Journal of Management Development, Vol. 9 No. 1, 1990, pp. 5-16.

15. Storey, J., Management development: a literature review and implications for futureresearch: profiles and contexts,Personnel Review, Vol. 19 No. 1, 1990, pp. 3-11.

16. Mintzberg, H., Training managers, not MBAs, in von Zur-Muehlen, M. (Ed.), The Searchfor Global Management: Mapping the Future of Management Education and Development,

Canadian Federation of Deans of Management and Administrative Studies, Ottawa, 1990,pp. 31-42.

17. Thakur, M. and Vozikis, G., Pedagogy and the case method: a comparat ive analysis,Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, Vol. 7 No. 1, 1990, pp. 29-36.

18. Bok, D., Higher Learning, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1986.

19. Faria, A. J., A survey of the use of business games in academia and business, Simulationsand Games, Vol. 18, 1987, pp. 207-24.

20. Edge, A. and Keys, B., Cross-cultural learning in a multinational business environment,Journal of Management Development, Vol. 9 No. 2, 1990, pp. 43-9.

21. Klein, R.D., Fleck, R.A. Jr and Wolfe, J., A role for management games in internationalizingthe business school curr iculum, Journal of Management Education, Vol. 17 No. 2, May1993, pp. 159-73.

22. Ronen, S., Comparative and Multinational Management, John Wiley & Sons, New York,NY, 1986.

23. Tashakori, A. and Dotson, M., Study abroad programs in business: planning, organizing,and marketing, Journal of Education for Business, Vol. 65 No. 2, November 1989, pp. 74-8.

24. Adler, N., International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior, Kent Publishing, Boston,MA, 1986.

25. White, J.B., MBA: is the tr aditional model doomed?, Har vard Business Review,November-December 1992, pp. 137-8.

26. Nehrt, L.C., The Internat ionalization of the curriculum, Journal of International BusinessStudies, Vol. 18 No. 1, Spring 1987, pp. 83-90.

27. Allard, C., Around the world in 80 case stud ies, Canadian Business, Vol. 64 No. 12,December 1991, pp. 76-80.

28. Shooshtari, N.H. and Fleming, M.J., Field study abr oad progr ams as a method ofinternationalizing business faculty, Journal of Education for Business, Vol. 65 No. 7, April1990, pp. 298-301.

29. Easterby-Smith, M. and Preston, D., Internationalizing European management schoolsthrough faculty development, European Management Journal, Vol. 9, No. 3, September1991, pp. 301-5.

30. Peters, T., Li berati on Management: Necessary Disorganization for the NanosecondNineties, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, 1992.

31. Blockhus, W., Internat ionalizing education for and about business, National BusinessEducation Association Yearbook, No. 28, 1990, pp. 105-15.

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Aspects of Inter Nationalization