International Business Teaching for Remote Students: Challenges and Adaptations

Abstract

Just as in other service industries in developed economies, in the higher education sector also, internationalization is the inevitable path to gaining competitive advantages in the global economy. Transnational education refers to “all types of higher education study program, or sets of courses of study, or educational services including those in which the learners are located in a country different from the one where the awarding institutions are based” (Mujaba, 2014). Global demographic trends are an important driver as the developed countries with many good business schools are declining in the number of college-age students, while many of the developing countries that are short of higher education resources have rapidly growing populations of college-age students. As with the globalization of business, higher education also faces many choices and modes of entry with varying degrees of risk and commitment. The easiest is exporting higher education, and for example, business schools often admit foreign students to their home campus to achieve this goal. Providing online instruction to overseas students is another example. Establishing foreign campuses to deliver education is an example of foreign direct investment (FDI). Compared to exporting, this requires a deeper commitment and understanding of the host market and may follow after sufficient experience in a market with exporting. In addition, there can be opportunities to evaluate joint ventures and franchising possibilities. Unfortunately, the pathways to successful business school global expansion are just as complicated as for other industries, if not more. If we examine business schools’ foreign market entry strategies, at the most conservative level, schools can introduce individual courses to foreign students, for example, as a part of international exchange programs. International exchange programs undeniably carry merits as a less-risky form of entering the global market. In addition, engaging faculty, staff, and students through international