Internationalisation can, when incorporated into the HEI’s strategy, offer students, staff and the organisation several benefits. It can advance strategic thinking leading to innovation, offer advantages in modernising pedagogy, encourage collaboration between students and staff, stimulate new approaches to learning, and new research collaborations.
Today, many HEIs have internationalisation strategies. Promoting internationalisation as an integral part of the overall strategy – similar to promoting entrepreneurship – requires top-level leadership, bottom-up and cross-institutional support, further to incentives and reward structures to promote internationalisation in teaching, research and knowledge exchange. Constant internal and external communication, monitoring, evaluation and an on-going refinement of strategy and practices are needed to assure continued advancement in internationalisation.
Integrating internationalisation into the strategic development of the organisation as a whole and in terms of its entrepreneurial agenda facilitates the allocation of resources and builds synergy between different activities. This is important for informed decision making and the monitoring and evaluation of progress towards organisational change, internationalisation and the promotion of entrepreneurship.
Building synergies between the different strategic objectives of an HEI is important, particularly between internationalisation and entrepreneurship education. HEIs should identify activities – in the areas of teaching, research and knowledge exchange – that either fall under several strategic objectives or can build links between objectives – and reflect this in the allocation of resources. Aligning the internationalisation and entrepreneurial agendas can facilitate the promotion of high-growth entrepreneurship, as according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, in 2011 approximately 21% of all entrepreneurs in “innovation-driven economies” (which includes most of Europe and other developed countries) have over 25% of their customers based in foreign countries. Technical higher education institutions in particular provide potential breeding grounds for “born global” start-ups, high technology firms and high-growth companies. Links between entrepreneurship education and the internationalisation strategy should ideally be reflected in interdisciplinary courses and extra-curriculum activities.
Through their internationalisation activities, HEIs can also act as gate keepers and intermediaries for local companies in accessing foreign markets. This should be taken into consideration for knowledge exchange activities (e.g., local internships of international students) and in lifelong learning activities for local entrepreneurs (e.g. advanced training programmes for internationally outward looking traditional firms and start-ups).
Linking internationalisation objectives with the entrepreneurial agenda can have a strong impact on the competitiveness of regional and local economies through attracting international research initiatives, developing corporate partnerships and promoting the mobility students and staff. Partnerships with local employers can result in internships and career opportunities for international students in local firms during and/or following their studies.
Information and Computing Technology (ICT) can be instrumental in better articulating and communicating the internationalisation process and its links with the entrepreneurial agenda. The use of ICT can increase access and choices in internationalisation; prepare students for international mobility; enhance the sharing of experiences made abroad; and organise virtual exchange activities between the home HEI and international partner organisations.
