Research Handbook of Global Leadership

2017

In Malaysia the concept of a reputable university is very hotly debated. It was a hot issue when an opposition Member of Parliament mentioned that Malaysian universities are not ranked among the top 100 world universities. Some of our premier universities did poorly in the ranking. One of the key factors of transforming Malaysian universities into reputable universities is leadership. In the context of globalization, Malaysian universities need leaders who can work on a global stage. This study attempts to understand the concept of global leadership, which is important for leading a university of international repute. This research employed qualitative means, utilizing the in-depth interview for data collection. Data were collected from eight past and present top leaders of a university in Malaysia. The data collected from the interviews were then transcribed verbatim, coded, analyzed, interpreted and discussed accordingly. There are various factors that will enable our universities to become internationally reputable universities. Among others are abundance of resources, quality academicians, quality students and good governance. Based on the findings of the study, one of the key factors of transforming our universities into reputable universities is leadership. In the context of the new environment, we need leaders who can become global players.

What is global leadership? How can we develop global leadership for a university? This study was conducted using the qualitative approach through in-depth interviews of eight selected top leaders in a selected university. Based on the in-depth interviews, the findings discussed are as follows; Global leadership is related to diversity. Global leaders need to be developed with additional competencies to lead a university and to be able to compete worldwide. Global leadership has to operate in diverse situations. This means that a global leader has to understand different cultures, different ideas and different beliefs. So a global leader has to understand leading in diversity, which requires a different set of competencies. These include attitudes, skills and knowledge. This study is significant because it fills a gap in current knowledge regarding the experience that leaders perceived to be important in understanding and developing global leadership. Keyword: Global leadership, global leadership competencies, global leadership and diversity, global leadership development.

Internationalization has been du jour in higher education circles for years, frequently mentioned in university mission statements and strategic plans, but very little thought has been given to what it actually is, leading to a nebulous notion of its outcomes. Many people use it interchangeably with "globalization," adding to the confusion. There is no truly universal definition of internationalization and this has allowed non-academic entities to become more involved in driving it forward, but away from its academic, Humanities-based core. The increasing use of technology, especially massive open online courses (MOOCs), presents a further challenge and the rising costs of providing an international experience effectively limits internationalization to a small number of students. Despite the changing higher education landscape, the university maintains an important role in developing internationalization strategies. However, in order to be successful, these universities must develop their own international pathways and rely less on what other universities and nonacademic organizations are doing.

2008

Contributors address the role of senior managers in relation to internationalisation, globalisation, and sustainable development and share how these often overlapping challenges can be addressed. Consideration has been given to a range of potentially competing demands including the relationship between what Paul Luker describes as the 'core mission and values of HE' and what Caruana and Hanstock describe as 'marketisation discourse'. The Global University: The Role of Senior Manager is written by higher education institution senior managers, for HEI senior managers. Supported by HEFCE Leadership, Governance and Management Funding, 'The Global University: the role of senior managers' is a companion publication to 'The Global University: the role of the curriculum'. Many of the contributors are regarded as critical champions of internationalisation in the UK as well as thoughtful strategists in the process of affecting sustainable university-wide change...

International Journal of Teaching and Case Studies, 2019

Universities have always been international in the sense that the very nature of knowledge imparted by them does not know national boundaries. The connection between university and universalism is self-evident. However, internationalisation as an operational expansion of particular universities beyond national boundaries is a relatively new phenomenon. This case presents some of the leadership challenges associated with the internationalisation of a medium scale teaching oriented state university located in the West Coast, USA. For this university, the priority for internationalisation has moved from the fringes to the very core, bringing with this a range of challenges and opportunities. The senior administration of the Case University needs to reinforce its leadership intent and make certain key strategic policy decisions, if the internationalisation effort is to sustain and grow.

This contribution looks at the way in which university leadership can extend their support for internationalisation, taking a leaf out of the book of Frederick I Barbarossa who influenced the life of international scholars and students alike within his realm.

Handbook on Globalization and Higher Education, 2011

The university is generally regarded as an international, if not global, institution -in terms both of its historical development; and of its future trajectory. This supposedly fundamental characteristic is accepted as a 'given', too easily perhaps because it tends to emphasise one element in the formation of the modern university (the international, or global) at the expense of other, arguably more significant, elements (the local and the national); and also because it may also place too much emphasis on a single strand, however important, in its future direction, leading to the adoption of a single-path model of development. The purpose of this chapter is, not to debunk, but to problematise this idea, that the university is (or should be) first and foremost a global institution. The intention is to lead to a more rounded and more nuanced account of the university's global role.

Evaluating Education: Normative Systems and Institutional Practices, 2020

No university of ambition officially claims to be local. Touting international reach and reputation is a nearly essential feature of university strategic planning worldwide. Yet being a global university is paradoxical. Academic institutions historically are servants of particular cities, regions, and nations, and one of their essential functions has been to connect particular places with world affairs. International rankings regimes, the search for tuition revenue among schools in a few large markets, and the remarkable consistency with which nations pursue status through higher education: all of these deepen the implication of universities in the fate and future of particular locales.