Learning problems in transnational business education and training: the case of the MBA in Thailand

Crossborder curriculum partnerships: medical students' experiences on critical aspects

BACKGROUND

The past decade has witnessed an upsurge in medical curriculum partnerships established across national boundaries to offer students at the foreign institution (host) a learning experience comparable to that of students at the exporting institution (home). However, since the learning environments and national healthcare contexts differ greatly between institutions, concerns have been raised in the literature about potential low quality of curriculum delivery, inadequate preparation of students to practice in the host country healthcare setting, and a culture shock for host students having to study a home curriculum.. The experiences and opinions of medical students related to these concerns have not been investigated. This study takes an explorative approach on key challenges faced by host institution students.

METHOD

Three hundred sixty-one host students recruited from 3 partnerships completed a survey about their motives, transition from high school, language, preparedness for practice, future career planning, and general satisfaction. Descriptive statistics of closed-ended items and thematic analysis of open-ended items were performed.

RESULTS

Findings revealed that students generally held positive views of the education they received. Switching to a new language of instruction (English) and learning environment was not perceived as a major obstacle. However, a significant portion of students who as non-nationals did not speak the language of the patient population felt this complicated effective workplace-based learning.

CONCLUSION

Despite differences in learning experiences, host students felt the partnership afforded opportunities to acquire unique academic competencies and boost their career. Further adaptation of the home curriculum to the host country healthcare system may be beneficial, without losing sight of medical curriculum partnerships' potential to offer graduates an international outlook on global healthcare.

Twelve tips for crossborder curriculum partnerships in medical education

Crossborder curriculum partnerships are a relatively new and fast-growing form of internationalization in which the curriculum that has been developed by one institution (the home institution) crosses borders and is implemented in another institution (the host institution). These partnerships aim to provide comparable learning experiences to the students in both institutions and are driven by a variety of motives, such as strengthening international networks, increasing financial gains, and stimulating research spinoffs. Although popular, crossborder curriculum partnerships are also criticized for their potentially low educational quality, failing to address fundamental differences in teaching and learning between the home and host institutions, and not addressing the educational needs of the host country's health care system. Our aim is to provide guidance to those considering or engaged in designing, developing, managing, and reviewing a crossborder curriculum partnership or other forms of international educational partnerships in medical education. Drawing from research, personal, and institutional experiences in this area, we listed twelve tips categorized into four themes, which contribute to the establishment of sustainable partnerships that can withstand the aforementioned criticism.

The challenges of managing transnational education partnerships

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the challenges of managing transnational education (TNE) partnerships from the perspective of the home university managers.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopts a qualitative, “insider researcher” methodology’. It uses a sample set of eight mangers who operate from the home university and 13 “in-country” managers who are seconded to head up the overseas TNE partnerships. The samples are all drawn from UK universities to standardise for other variables (e.g. legislative framework).

Findings

It finds that the managers based at the home campus report a generally negative attitude, emphasising the riskiness and the lack of scalability, sustainably and profitability, as well as the general resistance to TNE from staff on the home campus. The in-country managers, in contrast, experience the same lack of empathy from their peers at home, but this group tends to more closely associate themselves with their local colleagues and to be drawn into building relationships with local stakeholders.

Research limitations/implications

The limitation of this research is that it is based on a sample of managers from the same country.

Practical implications

In practical terms, the findings suggest that universities need to do more to increase awareness and commitment to their TNE partnerships amongst staff at the home campus, while providing better professional development and more frequent rotations for their in-country managers.

Originality/value

This paper extends the very limited literature on the management of TNE partnerships.

Developing Global Business Capabilities in MBA Students

The need to develop global business capabilities in MBAs is clear and growing, and faculty must create efficient and effective processes for developing these capabilities.The author offers for consideration an approach that utilizes theory combined with practice to begin developing global business capabilities during a one-semester course. The five global mind-sets (reflective, analytical, worldly, collaborative, and action) offered by Mintzberg provide a useful framework for categorizing the desired learning. He demonstrates that by using a variety of complementary approaches, including case analyses in multicultural teams, local and foreign business-opportunity analyses, a business-venture proposal that bridges two countries, and a focused study tour, students can make real progress in learning the five mind-sets. Pre—post questionnaires and qualitative data support the conclusion that MBAs who participate in an organized and diverse learning experience can begin to develop global business capabilities in a concentrated period of time.