International strategies for competitive advantage Professor Tony Dickson Global Higher Education Consulting
Changes in international HE markets Increased demand d for study abroad 3 million students t in 2010, estimated t to rise to 6 million within 10 years. Transnational Education (TNE) growing more rapidly may be more students studying for UK HE qualification overseas than in UK! Traditional receiving countries US, UK, Australia, France, Germany facing more competition e.g. recent Independent supplement for Dutch universities. major increase in HE delivery in English language e.g. France, Scandinavia, China, Korea. Growth of regional HE hubs Singapore, Malaysia, Qatar, UAE, Sri Lanka. Universities as multi-national entities over 160 overseas campuses e.g. Nottingham, Liverpool in China; US universities in Middle East.
Changes in International HE markets Growth of for profit private sector as competitors and partners e.g. Apollo Group; Laureate. Effects of changes in immigration policy and Visa regimes e.g. Australia, UK. Use of Internet and social media information is more available and transparent AND quicker to circulate e.g. recent Australian bad PR after attacks on Indian students. Impact of drive towards Knowledge Economies and competition for higher level skills Warwick in New York!. Turbulence in HE systems through changes in Government policy e.g. Coalition Govt in UK re higher fees and encouragement for more private sector providers.
New models of Higher Education For profit private sector as providers of career education with major online delivery e.g. Kaplan, Apollo, Laureate. Public private sector partnerships e.g. over 40 UK universities now have partnerships with private providers for Pathways programmes Study Group, Navitas, Kaplan, INTO, Cambridge Education Group. Private sector as managers of university campuses and delivery of academic programmes e.g. Navitas, Study Group in Australia. Core management and QA system with distributed delivery network e.g. Raffles Education Corporation with 38 HE Colleges in 12 countries in Asia. Rise of teaching led HEIs with no research base as access widens internationally.
Students as global citizens Rapid increase in student t mobility all our students t are international. ti Increased choice e.g. study abroad, online content, local TNE provision. Major increase in numbers of graduates creating issues around underemployment of graduates e.g. China, India, UK. Employability becoming a key issue affecting student choices. Professional education altering traditional focus of HE content e.g. Microsoft certification, CIPD, ACCA etc as part of core curriculum. Students as customers/consumers e.g. annual NSS survey in UK, i-graduate ISB. Higher parent and student expectations as fees rise e.g. quality of student housing.
Major policy and HR issues Impact of Government immigration i and Visa policy political l versus economic view of international students e.g. recent policy issues in UK and Australia. Competition for higher level skills for Knowledge Economy e.g. Hong Kong; Malaysia; Singapore as regional HE hubs. Tensions around graduate underemployment and graduate displacement in labour markets. Internationalising the staff recruitment base in universities. Creating a genuinely international culture in HEIs. Threat from competition to attraction of research students to UK PhD programmes e.g. KAUST in Saudi Arabia; 985 strategy in China. Challenges of broadening base for international student recruitment dominance of China and India as sending countries.
Summary of key issues Need for clarity in international ti strategy t objectives for status/brand, t income, partnerships, research links? Competition will increase both US and UK have already lost market share over last 5 years. Universities need to decide if they are UK based or prepared to become multinational do we go to where the market is or expect it to come to us? Willingness to form partnerships with private sector is a major choice to make. HR issues at national and organisational levels are crucial Government policy has to be a continual target for the UK HE sector. Supporting students raised expectations is essential they have more choice and will exercise it!