Internationalisation of the Curriculum and
Support for International Students
Title of Case Study:
MALAYSIAN INFLUENCES ON THE DEGREE
CURRICULUM
Institution and initiating department/faculty:
Anglia Ruskin University/Ashcroft International Business School
Departments/faculties in which initiative implemented/to be implemented:
Key Contact:
Name: Brenda Eade
Address:
Ashcroft International Business School
Anglia Ruskin University
Bishop Hall Lane
Chelmsford
CM1 1SQ
Tel:
Email:
Others involved:
Name:
Dr Jonathan Smith
Tel:
Email:
Name:
Tel:
Email
Name
Tel:
Email
Abstract
This paper gives a specific example of how the Ashcroft International
Business School (AIBS) is internationalising its curriculum, and is offered in
the hope that it may assist others in using this type of arrangement to
internationalise their curriculum.
As indicated in its name, AIBS is involved in a wide variety of innovative
international partnerships, and the paper will begin by providing some brief
details on the range of these. One of the initiatives is a franchise agreement
with a college in Malaysia for them to deliver a degree in Business
Management. Delivery and assessment of the programme is a shared
undertaking between the Malaysian college and AIBS, with AIBS moderating
the programme and providing the award.
We have found this franchise arrangement has provided us with a strong drive
to internationalise our curriculum because the programme offered must be
applicable and meet both our own students’ and the Malaysian students’
needs.
This paper will examine this specific franchise agreement, not as a way of
publicising our international work but in a critical way that aims to highlight
some of the dilemmas and challenges we’ve found in internationalising our
curriculum. It will detail how those involved in its delivery within AIBS view the
programme and how they provide an international focus to it. It will also
present the Malaysian partner’s view on the arrangement and how well they
see their needs being catered for. An evaluation of the arrangement is then
provided which presents some of the questions, dilemmas and difficulties we
are currently grappling with.
Background
AIBS is one of the five faculties at Anglia Ruskin University, which has
campuses in Cambridge and Chelmsford. Its International Policy Statement
says:
“The University is committed to developing its involvement in
international education through the learning experiences it provides its
students, the professional activities of its staff, its research and
development activities and the partnerships it establishes world-wide.”
And that it will seek:
“to provide every student with opportunities to gain an understanding of
the significance of the international dimension in the context of their
studies and respond to the changes brought about by an increasingly
global economy through taught elements of the curriculum, study abroad,
language learning, study visits, learning resources and career guidance.”
A small example of AIBS’ international focus includes:

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Undergraduate franchises with two colleges in Malaysia and one in
Trinidad.
Postgraduate franchises in the Netherlands and Hungary.
Dual Award degrees offered in partnership with Germany, France and
Holland
Students from Germany, France, Denmark joining the final year of the
International Management degree programme.
Description of activity
The BA (Hons) Business Management
This is the three-year full time degree taught in English and franchised to the
two colleges in Malaysia. It has a modular structure with some compulsory
modules and some optional ones to be selected from various business and
management subject areas. These include marketing, accounting, human
resource management, information systems, economics, decision making and
strategy. In addition to the degree being run in Malaysia it is the most popular
course for UK students, and is also offered on both of AIBS’ Cambridge and
Chelmsford campuses. It is also franchised to the School of Accounting and
Management in Trinidad. Approximately 250 students in Malaysia, 800
students in Trinidad and 300 students in the UK follow this programme each
year.
One optional module designed especially for the Malaysian students is
Malaysian Taxation. This is taught by a Malaysian tutor with expertise in that
area but mirrors the curriculum for the UK equivalent module.
To give some specific details now on how the curriculum is internationalised
we will focus on Malaysia and two areas of the curriculum, namely strategic
management and marketing.
We begin by taking a look at the UK lecturers’ perspective of how they
internationalise this curriculum.
For Strategic Management an issues based approach is adopted focussing on
global issues such as the environment, ethics, local versus global products,
international transactions versus FDI for global expansion. These issues are
set against a backdrop of a single corporation that is genuinely global. In the
case of marketing, the tutor believes that concepts and theories are being
taught which are applicable in all parts of the world, and consequently the
content of the modules is international. Care is taken that the assessment
involves a case study on a company with an international brand such as Coca
Cola. However, where European companies (such as Easyjet or Ryanair)
have been used as examples, Malaysian students have not felt
disadvantaged as they have been able to access information about the
companies via the internet. (Interestingly Air Asia has now set up business in
Malaysia, basing its structure on the cheap airlines of the UK). Furthermore,
we have found difficulty in using local Malaysian companies as case study
examples as they are not as open with the publication of information on the
internet as those in the UK or Europe, and students therefore find it difficult to
research around the local company.
Both tutors believe that visiting the Malaysian institution and liaising closely
with their counterparts is key to understanding the difficulties and differences
of delivering a UK based curriculum in another country. This has highlighted
issues such as availability of texts, difficulty with access to journals and
databases, the need to understand and meet deadlines, and the moderation
of marks. All visiting UK tutors are encouraged to give lectures to the
Malaysian students and to help in dissertation supervision. Video
conferencing has enabled further lectures to be delivered from the UK, and
email contact is maintained throughout the delivery period.
Moving on to the Malaysian lecturer’s perspective of the curriculum, it is
interesting to note that they feel that they are also teaching ‘international
students’, as there is a diversity of nationalities within Malaysia (Chinese,
Malay and Indian). In addition they recruit students from China and other
parts of Asia. As is the case with many UK lecturers, they expressed
concerns about the level of English Language held by some students and the
students’ focus on assessment rather than on learning.
On the positive side, they find “the AIBS curriculum is focussed, practical and
provides the necessary skills for employment”. It also “promotes independent
and critical thinking.” They believe that their students “should not be inward
looking”, and that the examples provided by AIBS encourage students to
undertake research about both European and international enterprises.
Some concerns were expressed about the “cultural differences in leadership
and management styles in Malaysia” which were less innovative and open
than those in the UK. The teaching of ethics is perceived to be problematic as
legislation such as copyright is openly ignored. However, the lecturers
believe that the inclusion of ethics in the curriculum gives students confidence
to ”behave ethically”. Learning styles were also an issue, as Malaysian
school children are taught to memorise facts which makes it difficult for them
to be analytical. They also find independent study problematic and
consequently Malaysian lecturers provide more support between the formal
lecturers and seminars.
Although the Malaysian lecturers liaise with UK lecturers during visits to
Malaysia, and via email, it is regrettable that to date there have been few
visits by Malaysian lectures to the UK. In the future it is proposed to
encourage more visits to the UK as it will further add to the internationalisation
of the curriculum.
For students, however, there has been a two way flow between the UK and
Malaysia, with students studying in both countries taking the opportunity to
study for one semester with the partner institution. This has enhanced the
development of a truly international curriculum in the UK as well as providing
feedback on how effective the delivery of the curriculum is in Malaysia.
Evaluative comments
AIBS is currently re-evaluating its international strategy and we are examining
how we further develop the partnerships discussed in the paper so they are
more equal partnerships. Some of the debates and questions we are having
as we work through this process are:
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Internationalising the curriculum is currently in vogue and is a useful
marketing strategy as it has the potential to increase revenue as
students come from all across the global to study in the UK. However,
globalisation is so widespread and fundamental to the way businesses
need to operate that should we not consider the international
perspective in all programmes and modules as a matter of course?
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It is clearly not possible to make the programme relevant to every
country’s needs, or address every approach in the world, but which
ones do we focus on and why?
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Could it be argued that the reason why UK educational institutions are
so successful in attracting students from across the world to study in
the UK is that those students want to gain a UK perspective? If this is
the case then could it be argued that we would be reducing the
attractiveness of courses to move away from a UK perspective? Or is
this a rather arrogant view that views the UK as the best?
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If we desire to internationalise our programmes, should we be looking
to develop more equal partnerships and by AIBS franchising
programmes and controlling its delivery and assessment of award, are
we really just continuing to operate a colonial system?

Can all who lecture and assess on the programme have an
international perspective, and what is the most effective way for an
international perspective to be given?
Advice to others
Although AIBS has a successful international focus which continues to be a
priority, this does not mean we have resolved all the dilemmas. We have
aimed to share some of these in this paper in the hope that it will assist those
struggling with the same issues of how best to internationalise their
curriculum.
We have found that developing and operating the franchise with Malaysia has
brought both us and the Malaysian colleges tremendous benefits, as well as
helping us to ensure that our curriculum has a truly relevant international
focus. However this continues to raise questions for us and we look forward
to an exciting time of resolving these challenges.
Author Details
Brenda Eade is the Associate Dean in the Ashcroft International Business
School. She has responsibility for academic quality and the quality of the
student experience. She has recently returned from a visit to the colleges in
Malaysia discussed in this paper.
Dr Jonathan Smith is a Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management at
the Ashcroft International Business School in Cambridge. He had a research
sabbatical last semester and is currently exploring the spiritual dimension of
leadership in the UK, Europe, Canada and America.