Das Swajan Go! Pasia Asian market entry and development strategy of Poznan University of Economics Go! Pasia Strategia wejścia i działania Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego w Poznaniu na rynku azjatyckim Master Thesis Supervisor: Prof. dr hab. Marian Gorynia The thesis was defended on: October 07, 2014 Field of study: International Economic Relations Specialization: International Business Faculty: International Business and Economics Poznań 2014
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Das Swajan
Go! Pasia Asian market entry and development strategy of Poznan University of Economics
Go! Pasia Strategia wejścia i działania Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego w Poznaniu na rynku azjatyckim
Master Thesis
Supervisor: Prof. dr hab. Marian Gorynia
The thesis was defended on:
October 07, 2014
Field of study: International Economic Relations Specialization: International Business Faculty: International Business and Economics
Poznań 2014
Recommended Citation:
Das, S, 2014, Go! Pasia: Asian market entry and development strategy of Poznan University of Economics, Master Thesis, Poznan University of Economics, Poznan, Poland
Or
Das, S, 2014, Go! Pasia: Strategia wejścia i działania Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego w Poznaniu na rynku azjatyckim, Praca Magisterska, Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Poznaniu, Poznań, Poland
Content List Introduction and Thesis Overview Introduction...................................................................................................5
Thesis Background........................................................................................6 Thesis Problem and Motivation....................................................................6
Thesis Objectives and Questions..................................................................7 Delimitation..................................................................................................7
Literature Review..........................................................................................8 Source Material.............................................................................................9
Chapter Two: Push-Pull Factors 2.1 International Students ....................................................................25 2.2 International Students’ Decision Making Process ........................25 2.3 Factors Influencing International Students’ Destination Choice....25
Bibliograpghy...............................................................................................................90 List of Tables................................................................................................................97
List of Figures..............................................................................................................98 Annex..........................................................................................................................100
Page | 5
Introduction and Thesis Overview
Introduction
The unavoidable contemporary issue, globalization, is the outcome of technological
revolution (Altbach & Knight 2007). The rise of different influential institutions made the
fact disclosed that the world is flat (Friedman 2005) and it is influencing the universities to
go across the national borders through market competition (Yang 2002; Czarniawska &
Genell 2002; Nicolescu 2009). Maximizing the outcomes with limited resources tendency
adopted by national governments within the context of economic globalization has reformed
social institutions, including universities (Ivy 2001; Hemsley-Brown & Goonawardana 2007;
Belanger et al. 2002; Mazzarol et al. 2003). Thus, seeking out a competitive strategy is
prompted for modern universities not just to serve local or regional communities but to
international arena in greater extent (Pimpa 2003; Lockwood & Hadd 2007). As a result, the
higher education is seen highly internationalized than before and continues its expansion
across the world (Teichler 2004) and it will remain as a central force for most countries
(Altbach & Knight 2007).
Through the way of internationalization, the universities across the world begin competing
with each other irrespective of their motives. When European and American universities are
mislaying their legendary reputation, universities from Australia, New Zeeland, Canada,
Russia, Japan and Korea are experiencing substantial growth in international student
enrollment (OECD 2013a). Besides that, China is targeting to host 500,000 international
students by 2020 (Sharma 2012). But in Europe, excluding Great Britain and Germany; to
some extent Norway, Sweden and Finland; most countries are suffering to gain the
competitive edge. EU’s contemporary strategy to regain its lost reputation is the formation of
ERASMUS Program, Bologna Process and Lisbon Treaty have expedited the
internationalization process but in wider extent it has made the universities rather
regionalized (Agoston & Dima 2012; Knight 2008). Thus, individual countries and respective
universities are adopting higher education marketization strategy in order to increase their
service export revenue (OECD 2004). In some countries, universities are even forced to
transform their activities in respond to pressures from political and commercial groups
(Czarniawska & Genell 2002).
Page | 6
Thesis Background
The case of Poland is still under observation in term of Higher Education
internationalization and marketization, although it has a long history of quality education
dating back to 14th century. The country’s rapid transformation started in last decade of the
last century just after collapsing the centralized economic system. All most every sector had
to go through this process. The reformation of the whole education system was a top priority
for government. There participating in global competition was beyond the country’s
possibility.
Through the massive changes and implementation of European standards over last two
decades, Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education is now stepping out of its national
boarder in order to participate in global market competition (Czarniawska & Genell 2002).
The launch of central educational web portal studyinpoland.pl for studies in English in 2008
(Łukaszczyk 2013); and promotional campaign ‘’Ready, Study, GO! Poland’’ in 2012 in co-
operation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Foundation for the development of the
Education System and the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland are two
recent examples. Now, the government has set a target to host 5% foreign students at Polish
universities by 2020 (Łukaszczyk 2013).
Thesis Problem and Motivation
Implementation of European Standard in higher education system has expedited the pace
of Polish universities’ internationalization process. Countries prestigious business schools
like Warsaw School of Economics and Kozminski University have gained the global
reputation by being among the top European Business Schools ranked by Financial Times
and have 564 and 750 foreign students respectively.
Poznan’s popularity among foreign students is highly noticeable. City’s classic university
- Adam Mickiewicz has more than 1,000 and Medical University 900 foreign students. When
it comes to technical and business studies, the number of foreign students is way below the
satisfactory level, 92 and 124 respectively at the respective universities – Poznan University
of Technology and Poznan University of Economics.
Despite being the country’s one of the top reputed business schools, Poznan University of
Economics (PUE) or Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Poznaniu (UEP) has yet to pull the
demand among international students like its counterparts. Furthermore, it is still way behind
to advocate the internationalization process fully and prefers to emphasis on regionalization
strategy (Zukowski 2012). No or few cooperation with Asian universities is also noticeable.
These factors have motivated the author to focus on PUE.
Page | 7
Thesis Objectives and Questions
The thesis has two main objectives. The first objective is to discuss why the international
students are important for Poznan University of Economics. And second objective is to
develop a strategy for the university to attract foreign students at its campus. By aligning with
the goals, the author has proposed following questions:
1. Why the international students are important for PUE?
2. How the university can attract foreign students at its campus?
Delimitation
The study is conducted to identify the importance of international students at PUE and to
suggest a potential strategy in order to attract more students, thus, most of the activities of
this thesis work are focused on discussing the university’s policies, strategies and the concern
bodies only related to studies in English programmes and international students only. In this
report, the author has incorporated his own experience at this university and no empirical
research has been conducted among other foreign students to justify his opinions.
Methodology
To answer the question ‘why’ and ‘how’, the qualitative method has taken under
consideration. To answer the question – why the international students are important for a
university, theoretical approach has been considered. It involves with discussing journal
articles in related field and conceptualizing the key issues and finding the importance of
international students at a university. The following issues are discussed-
Effect of globalization and its influence on universities
Urge to reform universities activities in response to globalization
Effect of demographical changes on universities
To answer the question – how the PUE can attract foreign students at its campus, three
approaches have been considered. Those are:
Firstly, identifying the factors that influence international students while choosing a
particular study destination. For this purpose, related journal articles are reviewed
Secondly, discussing the potential activities that a university can undertake in order to
successfully marketing its offers among a target group. The methodology is same like
the initial approach, reviewing related journal articles
After conceptualizing the potential issues and possible activities through an in-depth
review of related journal papers in first and second steps, finally, a tentative
marketing strategy has been developed. Brief overview of activities are:
Page | 8
o Initially, after choosing a potential market, it has been segmented into five
different markets
o After that, each individual market’s behavior is discussed and potential
competitors have been identified
o After that for developing a marketing strategy, at country, city and then institution
level uniqueness have been identified
o Finally, a tentative market positioning strategy has been recommended
The in-depth methodology of the final steps would have described in respective chapter.
Report Structure
The first chapter of this report represents the brief overview of transformation of higher
education institutions in the world, in Europe and in Poland; and the development of global
education industry. It shows how globalization influences the universities’ operational
activities.
The Second chapter of this thesis focuses on identifying the factors that influence
international students for going overseas; and their decision making process while choosing a
particular country, then a city and finally, a particular institution for their future study
destination.
The third chapter identifies the potential activities that a university can adopt in order to
successfully marketing its offerings. It describes the key factors while marketing the
offerings, universities’ international cooperation and marketing mix. The factors are
identified through reviewing the journal articles in related field of studies.
The final chapter of this report will present the practical goal of this thesis work–
recommending a potential strategy that the university can adopt to attract more foreign
students at its campus. It includes PUE’s target market and its segmentation, market
behavior, competitors, unique factors, market positioning approaches and strategies.
Literature Review
The movement of the international students is not new. But over the last few decades the
enormous growth in the students movement inspired the author to identify the factors that
influence the international students to move out of their home country and factors that attract
to choose a host country (Bodycott 2009; Chen & Zimitat 2006; Chen 2006; Chen & Zimitat
2006; Chen 2006; Cubillo & Cerviño 2006; Joseph et al. 2012; Maringe & Carter 2007;
Mazzarol & Soutar 2002; Pimpa 2003; Rudd et al. 2012; Srikatanyoo & Gnoth 2002; Wang
2007; Wilkins et al. 2012; Yang 2007; Cubillo & Cerviño 2006).
Page | 9
As the higher education is no longer considered as a public responsibility rather private
goods (Cai & Kivisto 2013; Agoston & Dima 2012; Bunzel 2007); seen as a multi-million
dollar industry (Gomes & Murphy 2003; Heaney & Heaney 2008; Chen & Zimitat 2006;
Mazzarol 1998); and students as the customer (Svensson & Wood 2007; Cai & Kivisto 2013;
Agoston & Dima 2012; Lockwood & Hadd 2007), researchers have proposed to use service
marketing strategy in order to attract more foreign students and increase the service export
revenue of an institution (Beneke 2011; Binsardi & Ekwulugo 2003; Bonnema & Van der
Waldt 2008; Bowden 2011; Czarniawska & Genell 2002; David & Martina 2011; Gajic
& Taylor 2014; Mazzarol 1998; Joseph et al. 2012; Nadiri 2006; Nicolescu 2009; Wedlin
2008).
The in-depth review of literatures is presented in the respected chapters.
Source Material
The main sources are – journal articles, university’s printed documents including self-
assessment report, strategy for the year 2013-2020; websites– Poznan University of
Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, Kozminski University, Study in Poland and
Financial Times. The thesis related literatures are collected from Google Scholar and the
university’s electronic library. The main databases are - EBSCO databases, Emerald, OECD
iLibrary, SAGE Journals, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink and few more. Furthermore, the
statistics of tertiary level mobile students are collected from UNESCO Institute for Statistics
database.
Page | 10
Chapter One: Transformation
1.1 Globalization
The common used terms in academic world globalization and internationalization are
often confusing, although the phenomena in terms of rationales, objectives and effects are
closely interrelated. To make it simple, we can interpret the globalization as the social
process that goes beyond the national boundaries; its concepts extended to separation and
overlapping the domains those are seen as the fundamental process of integration that
transcend national borders and affects the flow of knowledge, people, values and ideas
eventually (Yang 2002). Agoston & Dima (2012) expressed the similar view noting it as the
flow of technology, knowledge, people, values, ideas that cross national borders. Knight
(2008) defined the globalization as ‘‘the process that is increasing the flow of people, culture,
ideas, values, knowledge, technology, and economy across borders and resulting in a more
interconnected and interdependent world’’. In the context of higher education, Altbach &
Knight (2007) defined the globalization as ‘‘the economic, political, and societal forces
which are pushing the 21st century higher education toward greater international
involvement’’.
The impacts of globalization are enormous regardless of sector. Scott (2000) claimed that
the universities are probably facing the fundamental challenge in its long history due to the
impact of globalization. He identified three main reasons – I) universities’ close association
with its national cultures; II) the impact of development of communication and information
technology which demand standardization of teaching and the emergence of cross-cultural
research activities and networks; and III) National government’s minimalistic in terms of
public expenditure is reducing the universities’ traditional and main source of income.
Knight (2008) recited the five key elements of Globalization from her previous work
(2006 and up dated in 2008), namely – I) the knowledge society; II) information and
communication technologies; III) the market economy; IV) trade liberalization; and V)
changes in governance structures, which (Table – 01) shows the impact of each element on
higher education and its corresponding implications for the international dimension of higher
education.
Page | 11
Table 1: Impact of globalization on Higher Education internationalization Elements Impact on Higher Education Implications for the International Dimension
of Higher Education Knowledge Society Increasing importance is attached to the production and use of knowledge as a wealth creator for nations
A growing emphasis on continuing education, lifelong learning, and continual professional development; creates a greater unmet demand for post-secondary education. The need to develop new skills and knowledge results in new types of programs and qualifications. Universities’ role in research and knowledge production alters, becomes more commercialized.
New types of private and public providers deliver education and training programs across borders—e.g., private media companies, networks of public/private institutions, corporate universities, multinational companies. Programs become more responsive to market demand. Specialized training programs are developed for niche markets and professional development and distributed worldwide. The international mobility of students, academics, education/training programs, research, providers, and projects increases. Mobility is both physical and virtual.
ICTS - Information and Communication Technologies New developments in information and communication technologies and systems. New delivery methods are used for
domestic and crossborder education, especially online and satellite-based forms.
Innovative international delivery methods are used, including e-learning, franchises. Satellite campuses require more attention to accreditation of programs/providers, more recognition of qualifications.
Market Economy Growth in the number and influence of market-based economies around the world. The commercialization and
commodification of higher education and training at domestic and international levels increases.
New concerns emerge about the appropriateness of curriculum and teaching materials in different cultures/ countries. New potential develops for homogenization and hybridization.
Trade Liberalization New international and regional trade agreements develop to decrease barriers to trade. Import and export of educational
services and products increases as barriers are removed.
The emphasis increases on the commercially oriented export and import of education programs; international development projects continue to diminish in importance.
Governance The creation of new international and regional governance structures and systems. The role of national-level education
actors both government and nongovernment is changing. New regulatory and policy frameworks are being considered at all levels.
Consideration is given to new international/regional frameworks to complement national and regional policies and practices, especially in quality assurance, accreditation, credit transfer, recognition of qualifications, and student mobility.
International education International development cooperation Comparative education Correspondence education
Specific Elements Education providers Corporate universities Liberalization of educational services Networks Virtual universities Branch campus Twinning and franchise programs Global Education Index
International students Study abroad Institution agreements Partnership projects Area studies Double/joint degrees
Foreign students Student exchange Development projects Cultural agreements Language study
Page | 13
Source: Knight (2005) [as cited in Knight 2008, p.2]
Knight (2008) examined different types of actors in different levels involved in promoting,
providing and regulating the international dimension of higher education. The rationales
derived for several reasons. Firstly, the wider aspect of internationalization including vast
programmes and activities has brought new actors in play. Secondly, these activities require
numerous polices and regulations at different levels, such as domestic, regional and
international level. Thirdly, differential boundaries among the levels are becoming narrowed
and weaken.
Table 3: Different types of actors and their roles in internationalization of Higher Education Type of Actor
Government departments or agencies Non- (or semi-) governmental
organizations Professional associations or special interest
groups Foundations Educational institutions and providers
Level/Scope National Bilateral Sub-regional Regional Interregional International
Role Policymaking Regulating Advocacy Funding Programming Networking Disseminating information
Typical Activities Scholarships Academic mobility Research Curriculum Quality assurance Science and technology
Source: Knight (2004) [as cited in Knight 2008, p.10]
1.2.1 Internationalization Rationales
Yang (2002) claimed that the assessment of rationale for internationalization is
problematic. His rationale for internationalization lies in an understanding of the universal
nature of the advancement of knowledge. While knowledge is often contextual, the
advancement of human knowledge that is based on the common bonds of humanity is
arguably a global enterprise. According to him, universities are, therefore, by nature of their
commitment to advancing human knowledge, international institutions.
According to Altbach & Knight (2007), earning money is a key motive for all
internationalization projects of contemporary universities including the traditional ones with
Page | 14
financial problems. Additionally, they mentioned that the traditional nonprofit universities
also entered into the international market. They wish to enhance research and knowledge
capacity and to increase cultural understanding. Many universities are located in countries
where governments cut public funding and encouraged international ventures to generate
their service income. Again, many countries recruit international students to earn profits by
charging high fees.
Four main reasons those are highly influential for universities to internationalize their
operational activities (Altbach & Knight 2007; Knight 2008; de Wit 2011b; de Wit 2011a;
Agoston & Dima 2012). Those are -
1. The political reasons mainly involve with national perspective. Internationalization of
higher education and international education engage with countries’ external policies.
It requires ensuring the national security and peace between nations, although, these
issues no longer carry the same importance as it did in the past
2. The economic arguments for internationalization of higher education have become a
dominant issue. The economic globalization influences the states to focus on
achieving and maintaining economic, scientific and technological competitiveness.
Training a country’s citizens properly and investing in applied research activities are
the ways of achieving these objectives
3. Academic arguments directly relate to the early history and development of
universities. The concept of “universal knowledge” in the very name of “university”,
engage with movement of students, teachers and researchers for years
4. Cultural and social motivation come from acquiring skills and expertise in cross-
cultural relations and communication which are required for personal development of
students, teachers, researchers and university employees. It extends the identity of an
individual from a local to international citizen
Knight (2008) represented more specific rationales from her previous work in two
different categories upon the emerging importance of two different levels, namely – national
level and institutional level. She argued that the four rationales of internationalization do not
define or clarify what constitutes, for example, political and economical rationale. Neither
those four rationales distinguish the rationale between the national and institutional rationale
which are getting higher importance on a regular basis. Her considered factors are presented
in table 4.
Page | 15
Table 4: Higher Education internationalization rationales National level Institutional Level
Human resources development Strategic alliances Income generation/commercial trade Nation building/institution building Social/cultural development and mutual
understanding
International branding and profile Quality enhancement / international
standards Income generation Student and staff development Strategic alliances Knowledge production
Source: Knight (2005) [as cited in Knight 2008, pp.26-31]
1.2.2 Approaches to Internationalization
An approach is not fixed. Approaches usually change during different stages of
development. Thus, there are many different approaches to addressing internationalization
process of higher education. Sometimes different countries or different institutions within a
country may hold a common interpretation of internationalization but their implementation
plan is more likely to be different because of different priorities and conditions. Knight
(2008) identified the approaches from the perspective of National or Sector Level and
Institutional Level. Table 5 shows the details.
Table 5: Approaches to Internationalization of Higher Education at National Level and
Institutional Level National or Sector Level Approach
Programs The internationalization of higher education is seen in terms of providing funded programs that facilitate opportunities for institutions and individuals to engage in international activities such as mobility, research, linkages, development projects, foreign language training, etc. Rationales The internationalization of higher education is presented in terms of why it is important for a national higher education sector to become more international. Rationales vary enormously and can include competitiveness, human resources development, strategic alliances, income generation, commercial trade, nation building, and social/cultural development. Ad hoc The internationalization of higher education is treated as an ad hoc or reactive response to the many new opportunities being presented for international delivery, mobility, and cooperation in higher education. Different national government departments or agencies are individually involved in specific activities but there is no coordinating mechanism. Policy The internationalization of higher education is described in terms of policies that address or emphasize the importance of the international or intercultural dimension in higher education. Policies can be set by a variety of sectors including education, foreign affairs, immigration, science and technology, culture, or trade. In many case, the policies are not developed into programs and thus remain a paper commitment to the international dimension of higher education. Strategic Internationalization of higher education is considered to be a key element of a national strategy to achieve a country’s goals and priorities, both domestically and internationally and includes a well-developed plan across a variety of govt. departments and agencies involving concrete policies and funded programs.
Page | 16
Institutional Level Approach
Activity Internationalization is described in terms of activities such as study abroad, curriculum, academic programs, international students, institutional linkages and networks, development projects, and branch campuses. Outcomes Internationalization is presented in the form of desired results such as student competencies, increased profile, and more international agreements, partners, or projects. Rationales Internationalization is described with respect to the primary motivations or rationales driving it. They can include academic standards, income generation, cultural diversity, and student and/or staff development. Process Internationalization is considered to be a process in which an international dimension is integrated in a sustainable way into the three primary functions of an institution: teaching/learning, research, and service to society. Ethos Internationalization is interpreted as the creation of a culture or climate on campus that promotes and supports international/intercultural understanding and focuses on campus-based or “at home” activities. Abroad/crossborder Internationalization is seen as the crossborder delivery of education to other countries through a variety of delivery modes (face to face, distance, e-learning, etc.) and through different administrative arrangements (franchises, twinning, branch campuses, etc.).
Source: Knight (2008), pp.31-33
1.2.3 Internationalization Strategy
The emerging importance of Higher Education Internationalization has been identified a
long ago and hundreds of research papers are publish on the issues but a complete format of
HE internationalization model is yet to expect. Most works are conducted on an ad hoc basis.
In due respect; only the prominent and well known Canadian researcher, Jane Knight, has
published some handful papers relating to the issues among few others. According to her
paper (2004) as cited by Knight (2008), the internationalization strategies are taken into
considered in three different levels, namely – I) Institutional/Provider Level; II) Sector Level;
and III) National Level. Institutional Level also divided into two different categories –
academic strategies and organizational strategies. The details are presented in Table 6.
Page | 17
Table 6: Internationalization strategies of Higher Education at Institutional Level Strategies at the Institutional/ Provider Level
Academic Strategies
Academic programmes Student exchange programs, foreign language study, internationalized curricula, area or thematic studies, work/study abroad, international students, teaching/learning process, joint/double degree programs, cross-cultural training, faculty/staff mobility programs, visiting lectures and scholars, link between academic programs and other strategies Research and scholarly collaboration Area and theme centers, joint research projects, international conferences and seminars, published articles and papers, international research agreements, research exchange programs, international research partners in academic and other sectors External relations: Domestic and crossborder Domestic: Community-based partnerships with NGO groups or public/private sector groups, community service and intercultural project work, customized education and training programs for international partners and clients Crossborder: International development assistance projects, crossborder delivery of education programs (commercial and noncommercial) Branch campuses, international linkages, partnerships, and networks Contract-based training and research programs and services, alumni Extra-curricular Student clubs and associations, international and intercultural campus events, liaison with community-based cultural and ethnic groups, peer support groups and programs
Organization strategies
Governance Expressed commitment by senior leaders, active involvement of faculty and staff, articulated rationale and goals for internationalization, recognition of the international dimension in institutional mission/mandate statements, and in planning, management, and evaluation policy documents Operations Integrated into institution-wide and department/college-level planning, budgeting, and quality review systems; appropriate organizational structures; systems (formal and informal) for communication, liaison, and coordination; balance between centralized and decentralized promotion and management of internationalization; adequate financial support and resource allocation systems Services Support from institution-wide service units, i.e., student housing, registrar at, fundraising, alumni, information technology; involvement of academic support units, i.e., library, teaching and learning, curriculum development, faculty and staff training, research services; student support services for incoming and outgoing students, i.e., orientation programs, counseling, cross-cultural training, visa advice Human resources Recruitment and selection procedures that recognize international expertise; reward and promotion policies to reinforce faculty and staff contributions; faculty and staff professional development activities; support for international assignments and sabbaticals
Source: Knight (2004) [as cited in Knight 2008, p.34]
Strategies and strategic approach are at the core of success and sustainability of
internationalization at the institutional or provider level; but the concept of organizational
strategies are more likely policy making task which correspond to the tasks of Sector and
national level strategies (Knight 2008). It demands two additional terms, namely - ‘Polices’
and ‘Programs’ to describe the internationalization strategy as a whole. Table 7 shows the
details.
Page | 18
Table 7: Internationalization strategies of Higher Education at National, Sector and
Institutional Level Policy Programs
National Level Education and other national level policies relating to the international dimension of higher education, i.e., cultural, scientific, immigration, trade, employment policies
National or sub-regional programs promote or facilitate the international dimension of higher education. It can be provided by different government departments or nongovernment organizations and may be oriented to different international aspects, i.e., academic mobility programs, international research initiatives, student recruitment programs, etc.
Sector Level Policies related to the purpose, functions, funding, and regulation of higher education
Programs offered by and for the education sector specifically. It can be provided by any level of government or by public or private organizations
Institutional Level Policies that address specific aspects of internationalization and/or policies that integrate the international dimension into the primary mission and functions of institution and sustain it
Programs such as those identified in the section labeled ‘Academic Programs’ those are mentioned under ‘academic strategies’
Source: Knight (2006) [as cited in Knight 2008, p.35]
1.3 Europeanization
An unexpected result of globalization is the growing importance of regions (Knight 2008).
Regional needs and networks have developed a new importance for such formation. The
development of regional-based organizations, consortia, and alliances are illustrating the
regionalization trend and that is consequently establishing a distinctive aspect in between the
internationalization and globalization.
Cooperation within Europe is the best known and, to some degree, the most successful
case of regional collaboration in the higher education sector. In response to globalization and
more precisely to grow the global competitiveness the European higher education sector is
increasingly setting up new agendas with its aim to become the world’s leading knowledge
economy (Van der Wende 2007). Knight (2008) claimed that Europeanization in higher
education is a deliberate and planned agenda of the European Union (EU) in order to
stringent it’s political and economic objectives; whereas, the European Commission (EC)
plays the major role to develop the policies (Van der Wende 2007).
Beginning in mid ‘70s, the educational policies in European Union were concentrated on
stimulating students and academics staffs’ mobility, increasing the cooperation at research
level and accelerating Europeanizing process of university education. To follow the pace, the
intra-European mobility programme, ERASMUS (European Community Action Scheme for
the Mobility of University Students) and common recognition of grading system, European
Page | 19
Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) were introduced in 1987 and 1989
respectively.
However, in the late 1990s, the awareness of global competition was raised in European
higher education sector. Despite of achieving success in enhancing intra-European mobility,
the negative scenario of extra-European mobility was realized. Consequently, Europe had
lost its position of being the number one destination of foreign students to the United States.
Additionally, it was losing too many of its own graduates and researchers to R&D positions
in the United States. Furthermore, the European degree structure became less efficient
because its graduates entered the labor market at an older age than the United States.
The issue of inefficient programme structure became a prime concern among the
educational policy makers. In 1997, the ministers from United Kingdom, Germany, France
and Italy raised the issue to harmonize the Degree Structure. Year later, the ‘Bologna
Process’ (3+2) was introduced in Europe. Initially, it was a bottom-up initiative because the
EC joined to the process later on. The EC, after gaining the power, quickly developed a wide
range of initiatives under what became the ‘Lisbon Strategy’.
The first phase of the Bologna process was focused on the intra-European convergence
and transparency agenda, for example, reformation of curriculum and degree structures. The
second phase was focused on enhancing the international competitiveness and attractiveness
of European higher education and its connections with other regions. Creation of the
ERASMUS MUNDUS program (in 2004) and the development of the European Higher
Education Area (EHEA) and the European Research Area (ERA) were the parallel outcome
of the Lisbon Strategy which aimed to make ‘Europe the most competitive and dynamic
knowledge economy in the world by 2010.’
Europeanization as a form of regionalization, there can be seen two slightly contradictory
directions (Agoston & Dima 2012). On one hand, in the field of university education,
regionalization can be defined as the cooperation process that can evolve up to regional
integration. This means bilateral cooperation and interaction on a horizontal plan and at all
the levels: between the national governments, between the universities from Europe or even
cooperation at regional level between European university consortia and third institutions. In
other words regionalization represents a version of internationalization at a smaller scale. On
the other hand, regionalization can be considered a consequence of the globalization process
which enforces a close cooperation between neighboring countries in order to achieve a
common competitive advantage which helps them to face the pressures that might come from
other parts of the world.
Page | 20
1.4 Commercialization
Teichler (2008) claimed that the academic environments were traditionally competitive
among the scholars who wanted to pursue lifetime academic career. The purpose was to
achieve outstanding individual performance. However, the present competitive scenario has
reshaped to an aggregative form – the university or the department as a whole because of the
changes in universities’ academic activities in response to globalization. Because of the
‘knowledge society’, ‘expansion of higher education’, ‘loss of trust in the academic
profession’ and ‘new public management’, according to him, role of universities has become
utilitarian; lost academic freedom; and relationship among scholars and Higher Education
institutions are predominated by the rules of market.
Now, the contemporary universities are seen as a site of knowledge production
(Czarniawska & Genell 2002) and a more truthful but humble description of universities
would be ‘‘organizations producing nothing but knowledge’’. It, therefore, seems safer to say
that universities produce research results and knowledge. Altbach & Knight (2007) argued
that the concept of free market stimulates the international academic mobility and sees the
international higher education as a commodity. These, reasonably, seal the higher education
as a private good, not a public responsibility any more. This ideology facilitates Nadiri &
Mayboudi (2010) to argue that if education is a commodity, students should be the customers
in the field of higher education. But Agoston & Dima (2012) directly claimed the students as
customer of educational services and in core of academic activities, and hence, one of the
main source of income for universities.
Now, the World Trade Organization (WTO) provides the regulatory framework to
encourage international trade in education and other service-related industries as part of fair
negotiation under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) (Altbach & Knight
2007). Thus, the activity of Kaplan (owner of 57 colleges in the United States and also the
Dublin Business School in Ireland) seems to be pragmatic in respect to Commercialization of
higher education to Altbach & Knight (2007). According to them, though, quantifying the
financial scope of academic internationalization is hard to sum up but the figure is quite large
because the knowledge industries, especially higher education, often form a substantial part
of total economy of a country. This may diminish the controversy to adopt the concept of HE
Commercialization and specify the education is a multimillion dollar industry (Heaney &
Heaney 2008). But Federkeil (2008) argued that gaining the economical benefit is not all
about Commercialization of HE. Hence, it is better to say that the universities are competing
for students, staff, funding and last but not least, reputation.
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Nevertheless, researchers like Hawkins & Frohoff (2010) are reluctant to mark the
students as customer. In that case, Nadiri’s (2006) argument seems more rational. According
to him, since there is a competitive environment in higher education sector, a university must
identify what is important for the students; inform them what the university is intending to
deliver; and deliver what the university promises.
1.5 Ukrainization
However, in comparison to the global trend, the internationalization, Commercialization
and other marketing activities and approaches are quite new to Higher Education sector in
Poland (Łukaszczyk 2013; Zukowski 2012). The unavailability of prominent research works
or academic papers on internationalization of Polish Higher Education in English are also
visible. Although, a report titled - Immigration of international students to Poland has
been produced by the National Contact Point to the European Migration Network in Poland
(PL NCP EMN) in 2013, compiled by Karolina Łukaszczyk, gives a minimum overview of
current circumstances of internationalization process in Poland. It rather highlights the rules
and regulation, scopes and rights of international students in Poland. Nevertheless, the
relevant issues from the report are presented here.
The urge for internationalization of Polish Higher Education comes from -
The consequences of the demographic crisis in Poland as it is seen that, in the
academic year 2013-2014, 125,000 less students enrolled in universities than previous
year (PAP 2014)
Willingness of individual universities to participate in international students market.
Establishing the Boym Universities Consortium1 in 2010 (Łukaszczyk 2013) in
order to enter on Chinese international students market is such an example
Until 2011, there were no internationalization activities initiated at state level apart from
adopting few Europeanization policies. Thus, for many years, few universities have been
acting as the main influential authorities in regards to the policy of international student
recruitment. They developed their own strategies for internationalization, promotion and
recruitment of international students, taking into account their individual needs of financial
and human resources. Later on, due to increasing the awareness of benefits associated to the
presence of international students in campus, many other institutions have jointed the flow.
1 Boym Universities Consortium consists of five universities: Kozminski University, University of Information
Technology and Management, Tischner European University, Technical University of Łódź and University of
Physical Education and Sport
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In order to improve the efficiency and optimize the promotional related costs, Polish
universities often tend to have multilateral cooperation. The initiative of “Study in Poland”
programme is such as an example. In 2005, the project came into reality through the
cooperation of Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools and Education Foundation
‘‘Perspektywy’’. So far, it is one of the longest running projects promoting Polish higher
education and studying in Poland abroad. Currently 43 universities participate in the project
and use it as their marketing platform.
However, the initial priority of ‘‘Study in Poland’’ was focused on developing cooperation
with Ukraine. The outcome of this project is quite visible. Recently, the inflow of Ukrainian
students has reached to an extreme level in Poland. In total, 35,983 foreign students from 149
countries enrolled in 2013/2014 academic year (PAP 2014), out of which only Ukraine
accounts almost 15 thousands students - a share of 42% of all foreign students studying in
Poland. Recently, this phenomenon has been identified as the Ukrainization of Polish
universities by the concerned groups.
Nevertheless, the issue of internationalization of Polish higher education is becoming a
mainstream in the political debates in Poland. For the first time, the Polish president admitted
the interest of increasing the educational immigration during his visit in China in December
2011. In his statement, he encouraged Chinese students to come and study in Poland. To
signify the issue, the president was accompanied by 20 Polish university rectors in addition to
the Minister of Science and Higher Education. In March 2012, finally, the Ministry of
Science and Higher Education developed and began implementing the promotional campaign
of Polish higher education abroad. Now, the government is updating the recruitment criteria
of international students in Poland. A remarkable changes are noticed on international
students’ rules and regulation empowered by the government in May, 2014.
Recently, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education has also managed to initiate a
number of qualitative changes to support the internationalization process of Polish higher
education institutions. Creating the positive image of Polish higher education abroad through
the promotional campaigns; introducing Polish Accreditation Committee to evaluate the
degree of internationalization of studies; introducing the regulations on issuing joint diploma
with foreign universities, facilitating the foreigners to take Polish language exams are the few
to mention among such initiatives.
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There is also a commercial organisation, named Think Poland2, working for
internationalizing the Polish higher education. They conduct numerous promotional activities
on the universities’ behalf by maintaining a multilingual web portal, thinkpoland.org, and by
participating actively in social media and face-to-face marketing. Through the cooperation
with recruitment agencies from several European, Asian, Australian and Middle East
countries, they recruit students for Polish universities.
Right now, there are many actors and stakeholders in Poland showing enormous interest to
develop the national policies for attracting more international students, especially the
followings are the most important ones -
Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MNiSW)
Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (MKiDN)
Ministry of Health (MZ)
Ministry of Labour and Social Policy (MPiPS)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MSZ)
Ministry of the Interior (MSW)
Bureau for Academic Recognition and International Exchange (BUWiWM)
Local authorities
Public and non-public universities
Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland, Conference of Rectors of
Vocational Schools in Poland
Central Council for Science and Higher Education
Polish Accreditation Committee
Foundation for the Development of the Education System
Students' Parliament of the Republic of Poland, National Representation of Doctoral
Students
Other organizations
Until recently, in the view of national and institutional level, foreign graduates played the
role of ‘‘ambassadors of Polishness’’ but at present, the perspective has shifted from prestige-
related aspects to financial ones. International students are now seen as the possible source of
generating incomes for universities and also a potential solution to country’s demographic
town turn and its effect on labour market. However, Poland has yet to develop a single
2 Think Poland has a network of local and foreign offices in countries such as Australia, Ukraine, India, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Greece and Turkey
Page | 24
strategic document to address the issues related to admitting international students, although,
relevant recommendations and suggestions have been included in many documents like -
Human Capital Development Strategy, Migration Policy of Poland, Directions of Poland’s
Promotion by 2015, Government Programme for Cooperation with the Polish Community
and Poles Abroad, Multiannual Development Cooperation Programme 2012-2015 and few
more.
To summarize the concept, it is obvious to say that universities cannot avoid the impacts
of globalization and thus, reformation has become an inevitable phenomenon (Heyneman
2010). Thus, the operational activities are required to be adjusted in accordance to the
international standard. Furthermore, universities’ existence largely depends on its financial
viability. This signifies the importance of international students at a university. And in order
to participate in global market competition, universities cannot ignore the necessity of
marketing activities.
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Chapter Two: Push-Pull Factors
2.1 International Students
According to OECD (2013b, p.1), ‘‘international students are those who have crossed
borders for the purpose of study’’. In the report, OECD mentioned that according to
UNESCO Institute for Statistics, the OECD and EUROSTAT, the students who are not the
residents in the country of their study or the students who receive their education in another
country are called International Students. The notion ‘foreign student’ relates to student’s the
citizenship. This is why the international students are considered as the subset of foreign
student and often various institutions use the data on foreign students when the data on
international students are not available.
2.2 International Students’ Decision Making Process
Taking a decision to study abroad, for many students and their families, is a most
signification and costly decision they would ever take (Mazzarol 1998) because this is a
lifelong capital investment for them (Srikatanyoo & Gnoth 2002). The students’ decision
making process is highly sophisticated and has three distinctive stages (Mazzarol & Soutar
2002; Srikatanyoo & Gnoth 2002). Primarily, the student must decide to study in a foreign
country; secondarily, select the host country; and finally, selecting an institution.
2.3 Factors Influencing International Students’ Destination Choice
The international students’ decision making process is linked with ‘push-pull’ factors
(Mazzarol & Soutar 2002). Taking a decision to study abroad is the influence of ‘push’
factor. And selecting a country and then considering an institution come under the ‘pull’
factor. Students in under or less developed countries, especially in Asia and Africa, have
limited access in their higher education sector which push them out of country for their
higher education. In their empirical study on students from Indonesia, Taiwan, China and
India, Mazzarol & Soutar (2002) described that the mains ‘push’ factors which influence the
students are–
o having a perception that overseas education is better than the local one
o having higher entry barriers at local universities
o unavailability of the desired study programme
o a desire to gain better understanding of western culture; and also having a desire of
migration after the graduation
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On the other hand, the ‘pull’ factors that influence the international students to choose a
particular host country and then an institution are–
o students’ awareness or knowledge of the host country
o parental influence while deciding a host country (Pimpa 2003)
o students’ social links or friends and relatives’ recommendation for a particular host
country
o alumni influence
o geographical proximity or closeness to students’ home country
o cost of study – fees, living, travelling and other opportunity costs
o scope of work
o students’ safety issues- racism and other discrimination, local environments– weather,
life-style and climate
In addition to these ‘pull’ factors, Mazzarol and Soutar (2002) suggested that the
students’ decision also influenced by institutional reputation of quality education;
institutions’ link or partnership with the students’ known institutions; word of mouth or
alumni influence; number of enrolled students at the institution; and recognition of students’
home country qualifications.
Srikatanyoo & Gnoth (2002) claimed that institution’s country image is the main
influential factor when students take a decision for their future study destination. They
mentioned that a positive (negative) country image creates positive (negative) beliefs towards
an institution and its programme among the students. They also mention that an institutional
image matters. According to them, country image and institutional image are interlinked.
Like the country, a successful brand can change its country image too through aggressive
marketing activities among the consumers. According to them, the quality of an institution’s
particular programme vary from year to year, class to class, student to student, lecturer to
lecturer and so on. It signifies that the quality of education can be different in institutions and
same way in different countries. Their conceptual model of country image that influence
students decision has five propositions. Binsardi & Ekwulugo (2003) found that lower tuition
fees can attract more foreign students at UK Universities as the country is facing gradual
decline in foreign student’s inflow. The respondents in their study ranked the factor on top
than other issues.
Cubillo & Cerviño (2006) proposed a theoretical model in which they have showed that
students’ purchase intentions affected by students’ personal reason, country and city image,
institution image and programme evolution. Their conceptual model is an extension of
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Srikatanyoo & Gnoth (2002) conceptual model (see figure 1). Personal reasons and City
image are their additional proposal. They argued that city image is the environment where the
service would be produced and consumed. The physical environment in a city holds the
facilities that require while studying. And personal reasons direct to the students’ future
career aspects and the influence of their family, relatives, friends and teachers’
recommendations.
Figure 1: A Model of International Students’ Preference
Source: Cubillo & Cerviño (2006), p.7
Maringe (2006) empirical study on 387 students from Southampton, England showed that
the most important factors for students are ‘programme’ and ‘price’ related issues. Another
empirical study of Maringe & Carter (2007) found that African students’ overseas decision
making also has the similar effect of Mazzarol and Soutar’s (2002) ‘push’ factors. Their
study was carried out on UK context. They have proposed six elements model. Where the-
Push factors
o students’ home country’s political, economical and Higher Education (HE)
capacity
Key influencers
o friends and family influence
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o internet based information
o private agencies
o direct contacts
o school staffs
o British council
o media
Pull factors - country level
o international recognition of HE qualification
o high quality HE experience
o safe environment
o easy application process
o international HE experience
Pull factors – institutional and course level
o course availability
o post qualification employment data
o post qualification progression data
o institutional research/teaching profile
o labour market data
o accommodation cost and availability
Risk and anxieties
o financial risk
o opportunity risks
o family and socio-cultural risks
o legal administrative risks
Experiential dissatisfies
o information inadequacies
o financial uncertainties
o post registration marketing deficiencies
Yang (2007) found the similar push factors like Mazzarol and Soutar (2002) in his
empirical research on Chinese mainland students’ motivational factors to choose Australia as
their study destination. The primary reason was having the better perception of foreign
education than the local one and the secondary factor is the difficulties in gaining entry into
the local universities. However, gaining westernized experience was the Chinese students’
least preference in their study which is contrasting Mazzarol & Soutar (2002) findings.
Page | 29
Although students’ future perspective complies the same with them like high skill migration
opportunity in Australia after graduation is one of the main factors that attract the students.
The other factors in M. Yang’s study that influence Chinese students to choose Australia for
their overseas study destination are:
o English-speaking country
o World-class education system
o Climate
o Lifestyle
o Improve English skill
o Good reputation
o Qualification is recognized in China
o Easy and quick visa application process
o Part-time jobs
o Lower level of crime and discrimination
o Lower cost of living and tuition cost
o Parents, relatives or friends’ recommendation
o Education agent’s recommendation
o Relatives and friends living or studying in Australia
o Future migration opportunity
Bodycott (2009) conducted another empirical research on mainland Chinese students and
their parents. His study has found that educational exhibition/fair and friends and relatives are
the most important factors for them to decide a foreign study destination. For both students
and parents, the important source of primary information is the educational fairs those are
conducted by private organizer and regional governments throughout the year. The crowed
are pulled through the media coverage and print media advertisement. The parents are also
interested to attend various seminars where they can directly interact with the institutions’
representatives which have direct influence while deciding a study destination. His study
results, however, were different than the previous results which are mentioned here earlier.
He found that higher quality education was the main push factor for the students which
would provide them international and intercultural experience; while immigration and future
employment prospectus and economical factors are less important. The parents’ push factors
are beyond the educational experience. The economical growth in mainland China enables
the prosperous future for the Chinese in their home country. Parents think that study abroad
would bring their children long-term social and economical benefits. According to his
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finding, following factors were most important for the students while choosing a study
destination –
o Onsite accommodation
o Range of programs available
o English-speaking environment
o Language and academic support services
o General facilities – buildings and grounds
o International education experiences during courses
o Relatives or friends studying in the area
o Social and emotional support services
In his study, factors that were rated not important by students are:
o Knowledge and awareness of the institution, its reputation, and general knowledge of
the destination country
o Tuition fees, living expenses, travel cost and social cost
o Geographical proximity to mainland China
o Immigration prospects after graduation
o Future employment prospects
On the other hand, parents rated the following factors which are less important unlike the
previous studies –
o Employment prospects
o Migration possibilities
o Proximity to home
o Scholarships
o Cost of tuition
Another empirical research conducted by Rudd et al. (2012) on Chinese students’
decision making process for UK business schools found that the country image and the
reputation of the British education are the highly influential pull factors (Binsardi &
Ekwulugo 2003). Other influential factors are the western culture, university facilities, school
image and city image. For them getting a UK visa is much easier compare to other countries.
Half of the interviewees expressed that they considered friends recommendation while
making the decision. Interesting factor was the family influence. Only one third of the
respondents mentioned that their family helped them to take the decision which highly
contradicts with Bodycott’s (2009) findings where the parents play an important role while
deciding the students’ study location.
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The recent OECD (2013b) report showed that the main pull factor are the tuition fees,
study language and the country’s immigration policy matters most while deciding where to
study. Although the country’s reputation of higher education and the quality programme play
significant roles for international students.
2.4 Key Issues
After analysing the most prominent journal articles in the related field, following issues
are found out –
Country’s adverse political and economical conditions push students to go abroad
High entry barriers and unavailability of desired programme(s) in local institutions
push students out of country
Students perceive that international qualification is better and bring them a prosperous
career
Experiencing westernized culture increase a country’s attractiveness
Family, relatives, friends or teachers have influence on students’ decision
Some students like to earn money while studying and also some like to settle down in
western countries after graduation
Students’ global awareness and information gained through media and internet sources
have significant influence on students’ decision
International reputation of a country’s higher education attract international students
A country’s easier immigration procedures, lower living cost, higher social safety-
issues like low or no racism and discriminations, better environments like lifestyle
and familiar weather and climate increase a country’s attractiveness
Job facilities during study and migration possibilities after study attract foreign
students in a country
Geographical proximity and the presence of relatives or friends in that country increase
the students’ psychological attachment
The level of socio-economic development affects a country’s image
Higher safety and security, social facilities and lower living cost increase a city’s
attractiveness
International atmosphere and educational environment can bring more foreign students
in a city
Availability of job has an influence towards the attractiveness of a city
A close distance from other developed cities or countries increase a city’s
attractiveness
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An institution’s prestige, global or national ranking, academic reputation and high
profile teaching staffs attract foreign students at a university
An institution’s wider range of programmes offered in English pulls the demand
among foreign students
International students consider facilities like access in modern technology, onsite
accommodation and others while making the decision
Partnership and cooperation with foreign universities and offering scholarship to
international students increase an institution’s recognition
Alumni can bring international students through recommendation
Attending educational fairs in foreign countries and direct contacts from university’s
representatives or staffs create the association
A program’s international recognition increases the university’s reputation
International students consider a particular programs’ quality
Wide range of program’s specialization and wide range of offered courses increase a
programme attractiveness
Programs’ suitability to current job market increases the demand
Lower tuition fees, simpler admission procedure and acknowledging foreign
qualification increase the programme attractiveness
The above mentioned factors have enabled the author to identify 52 factors that influence
international students’ decision making process. These 52 factors are divided into two
categories- ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors. The push factors are categorized into two levels –
Country Level and Personal Level. The pull factors are categorized into four levels – Country
Level, City Level, Institutional Level and Programme Level. However, the factors or the
levels are not listed in any particular order.
Push Factors – Country Level
1. Political and economical conditions
2. Home universities’ entry barriers
3. Unavailability of desired programme
Push Factors – Personal Level
1. Higher quality of foreign education
2. Future career prospectus
3. Experiencing western culture
4. Working while studying
5. Migration after graduation
6. Family influence
7. Others’ recommendation
8. Global awareness
9. Internet based information
10. Media influence
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Pull Factors – Country Level
1. International recognition
2. European country and culture
3. Socio-economic development
4. Cost of living
5. Easier immigration process
6. Scope of work during study
7. Future migration possibility
8. Safety issues
9. Environments – weather and lifestyle
10. Geographical proximity
11. Presence of relatives and friends
Pull Factors - City Level
1. Social facilities
2. Safety and security
3. Cost of living
4. International atmosphere
5. University environment
6. Working possibilities
7. Proximity
Pull Factors – Institutional Level
1. Institution prestige
2. Ranking position
3. Academic reputation
4. Wide range of programme
5. Programme offered in English
6. High profile teaching staff
7. Accommodation facilities
8. Technological facilities
9. International partnership
10. Scholarship offer
11. Alumni influence
12. Direct contact
13. Presence in educational fair
Pull Factors - Programme Level
1. International recognition
2. Quality programme
3. Programme specialization
4. Wide range of courses
5. Programme suitability
6. Simplified admission process
7. Tuition fees
8. Foreign qualification recognition
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Chapter Three: Success Factors
3.1 University Marketing
Dramatic growth in service sector in developed countries has witnessed another significant
emerging industry in 1980s and 1990s (Nadiri 2006) is the International Education which
contributes, in some countries, larger amount than the country’s most important exporting
products in national economy (Mazzarol 1998). Because of its intangible nature, marketing
education to the targeted communities was ignored in earlier days (Mazzarol 1998). Later on,
classifying the education as a marketable service in similar way like any other service
marketing (Russell 2005; Wang 2007) has brought a new dimension in education sector
(Knight 2008) and emphasizes are given to maximize the service export revenue along with
others which diminish the argumentative factor whether the higher education is a marketable
service or not.
Ivy (2001) suggested that the universities should create a distinctive image in the market
place. His study found that the universities in UK and South Africa are conducting aggressive
marketing communication just to maintain a positive image among the prospective
communities. The empirical study of Binsardi & Ekwulugo (2003) on international students
studying in UK found the reason why the UK is struggling to maintain its growth in
international students enrolment at British universities like it’s counterparts- the USA and
Australia in spite of having such a world reputed promoting agency- the British Council.
Their finding claims that the UK competitors’ are marketing their higher education
aggressively in their target market. According to Nadiri (2006), in order to I) build a good
image of the institution, to improve the satisfaction level among the institutions’ students and
stakeholders II) gain the competitive advantage over the counterparts and III) increase the
market share universities should employ marketing activities. Hemsley-Brown &
Goonawardana (2007) claim that institutions are competing with each other for international
students because of increasing student mobility globally, diminishing university funding and
government backed-up recruitment campaigns which are necessarily influencing universities
to build an effective institutional brand.
However, Nicolescu (2009) argued that in one hand, higher education is still seen as a non-
profit sector in most countries and this is why applying marketing concept in higher
education does not function like it does for business sector; on the other hand, education is a
service and therefore, related service marketing concepts can apply to higher education in
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spite of having peculiarities. His theoretical review on applicability of the marketing concepts
in higher education concludes with partial agreement, although it requires more in depth
research work as he mentioned concept like higher education branding is still at its
pioneering stage.
3.2.1 University Marketing Strategy
Mazzarol (1998) surveyed 315 education institutions from Australia, Canada, New
Zealand, the UK and the USA and found that universities-
Undertake carefully managed branding and positioning strategy to develop the
institutional image in international market
Develop quality courses and programmes in order to be distinguished in market and
gained the competitive advantage over the competitors and
Form strategic alliance with foreign institutions which increases the universities’
market coverage in abroad and enables to use the partners’ resources and reputation
Lowry & Owens (2001) suggested establishing a distinguished position in the market in
order to enhance an institution’s ability to maintain and increase enrollment. According to
them, an effective positioning increases a university’s competitive advantage. Failing to
position according to the students’ need will weaken a university’s competitiveness. They
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propose to form an advisory committee which would represent the university and then to
appoint an advertising or marketing agency which would work in cooperation with the
advisory committee in order to adopt the university’s positioning strategy. Their suggested
positioning process (see figure 2) should start with an initial research among the prospective
students’ community and reviewing the articles, journals and other media those rank the
universities to find out the university’s present image. The following process is to identify the
desired target market and to determine the desired positioning. Then the university should
develop a positioning strategy by comprising the marketing variables (4Ps – product, price,
place, and promotion) and executing though proper communications. Finally, the university
should evaluate the strategy, although they mention that it is a long term process and the
result may not be satisfactory in short term evaluation.
Maringe (2006) claimed that students adopt a consumerist approach while choosing an
institution for their Higher Education. He argued that neither an institution can be best at
everything nor it can meet all demands of applicants. Thus, an institution needs to identity its
main strength and then positions it in appropriate market. Positioning, according to him,
involves three elements-
developing an institutional brand or image
deciding on market segments to serve and
developing a communication strategy that highlights the institution’s capability to
deliver
Bonnema & Van der Waldt (2008) suggested using market segmentation strategy in
university’s marketing communication activities. They mentioned that using single message
for all targeted communities is no longer application because different student group has
different needs. Ho & Hung (2008) cited that using effective marketing strategy can attract
more students. They proposed using Sarvary and Elbarse’s (1995) concept which suggests
that after analysing the market environments, an institution should use three methods in order
to develop an effective marketing strategy. Those comprise-
segmenting the market
selecting the target market and
positioning the product in target market
David & Martina (2011) proposed to use integrated university marketing communication
strategy while the universities planning to develop the marketing strategy. Their proposed
model comprised with five elements (see figure 3), namely–
Advertising through university website and other social media
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Personal promotion through education fair
Direct sales through offering the courses by e-mail
Public relation through press conference and annual report and
Sales promotion through road show and knowledge contest
Their study showed that university website is the mostly mentioned source of information
among the students.
Figure 3: Integrated marketing communications of a university
Source: David & Martina (2011), p.64
3.2.2 University’s International Partnership
Universities’ international partnership or international collaboration or strategic alliance
with foreign institutions is commonly understood as universities’ strategy to promote its
internationalization activities. It creates greater connectivity among universities’ staffs with
different backgrounds (Spencer-Oatey 2013). It also increases student mobility. Mazzarol
(1998) argued that strategic alliance with foreign partners gives competitive advantages to
universities. Because it enables them to gain benefits of economies of scale, get access to
partners’ distribution channels, capital and knowledge and reduce risk and competition in
local market. He mentioned that it is one of the most important success factors for promoting
universities in international market. However, there are very few available literatures on this
topic.
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According to Chan (2004), universities create strategic alliance for many reasons but most
importantly and often they link up with other institutions for being able to compete in higher
education market globally. He argued that massification and marketization of higher
education have brought severe competitions among the universities for funds, students and
faculties; and this is the impact of globalization of market.
Ayoubi & Al-Habaibeh (2006, p.391) mentioned that universities’ international
partnership objectives are becoming mostly business driven. Their investigation on four
member universities of Russell Group3 from United Kingdom found that they aim to achieve
six main objectives from international partnership-
Exchanging students
Developing collaborative programs and joint degrees
Recruiting fees-paying students
Conducting joint research
Exchanging staff
Developing overseas teaching programs
Creating strategic alliance may be quite easy, according to de Wit (1998) [as cited in
Chan 2004, p.38], but the success stories are very few. However, Spencer-Oatey (2013,
p.246) mentioned that universities commonly face a) negotiating common goals b) managing
communication c) negotiating different pedagogic viewpoints and d) transnational students
support challenges while forming a strategic alliance. The key success factors of an
international collaboration, according to Prichard (1996), van Ginkel (1998) and de Wit
(1998) [as cited in Chan (2004), pp.38-39], are-
The mission and objectives should be clearly defined and realistic for both short and
long term. Partners should have clear sense of partnership, committed towards their
mutual goals and advantages should be equal for all members
Partners should be chosen carefully and must be aware of cultural and other difference
among them while working together to achieve a mutual objective
While working together, partners must choose a project leader who has got expertise in
related field and can lead throughout the task
3 The Russell Group represents 24 leading UK universities which are committed to maintaining the very best
research, an outstanding teaching and learning experience and unrivalled links with business and the public
sector.
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In a project, the leader must recognize the discrepancies of each partner and
decentralize the task accordingly
Before taking any task in hand, all partners must understand the required time and
resources to realize such project
Having regular updates and keeping constant among the partners are key factors of an
alliance and thus, it should be maintained strictly
3.3 Business School Marketing Mix
According to Ivy (2008), marketing mix is the organizational framework or a set of
controllable marketing tools that a firm considers to meet or satisfy its customer demand in a
target market. The university must do every possible thing to influence the demand of its
offerings. Traditionally, 4P marketing mix model (product, price, place and promotion) is
used for tangible goods. But for intangible products or services, 7P model (product, price,
place, promotion, people, physical facilities and process) is adopted for satisfying the
customer needs.
Figure 4: The Business School 7P Marketing Mix Source: Ivy (2008), p.294
Ivy (2008) claimed that using traditional marketing approach or the 7Ps models (product,
price, place and promotion people, physical evidence and process) for service sector like
education may require an alteration while marketing the business education. He proposed
new 7P business school marketing mix (see figure 4). Three of his proposed elements are
covering the traditional marketing mix, namely- Price, Promotion and People. The new ones
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are- Programme, Premiums, Prominence and Prospectus. His study found that the most
important marketing mix is a programme element which is followed by prominence element.
He divided the traditional promotion element into two areas– standard mass media
advertising which stays as the ‘promotion’ element in his new 7P; and the hardcopy
promotional material like university prospectus or leaflet and direct mail posted to the
prospective students are leveled under the ‘prospectus’ element. The price element remains
unchanged, although people element has a little addition like face-to-face teaching in addition
to traditional one’s personal contacts. He claims that the premium is the least important
element, although, lack of these facilities can diminish the attractiveness of a school because
prospective students consider these are the standard facilities of an institution.
Programme. The most prominent element is the programme which is the ‘product’
element in service marketing mix. The variables are the ‘range of major’ that a university
offers to study and the ‘range of electives’ that a study programme offers to choose. These
two variables are closely interrelated. The ‘programme duration’ is the third variable.
Premiums. Incentives or additional special values that come with a particular offering are
considered under the premiums element. The included variables under this element are –
availability of on-campus accommodation, total number of credits for the degree,
international student exchange opportunities, computer facilities, residential requirements of
the degree and the class size.
Prominence. This element is closely related to the university’s image. The variables are-
academic staffs’ reputation, league table ranking and on-line information. The university’s
website plays the main role to communicate its staffs’ profile and status related news quickly.
Price. The price element of the business school marketing mix includes the variables like
tuition fees, flexibility of tuition fees payment, flexibility of tuition approaches and
programme duration.
People. The people element is unlikely to the traditional service marketing mix. This
element includes the variables like- providing face-to-face tuition, personal contact with
prospective students and open days and information evenings.
Promotion. The business school marketing mix includes traditional press media
promotion, publicity and electronic marketing variables under the promotion element.
Prospectus. The hardcopy promotional material like university prospectus or leaflet and
direct mail posted to the prospective students included under the ‘prospectus’ element in
business school marketing mix.
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3.4 Key Issues
After analysing related journal articles, following factors are found important for a
university to attract international students at its campus-
Developing market oriented study programmes. This would increase university’s
competitiveness
Developing a positive institutional image in market. It can be gained through the
following process-
identifying university’s main strength
segmenting the markets and choosing the appropriate one(s)
developing an effective positioning strategy
University needs to develop a Business School Marketing Mix
The marketing communication should be done through the line (TTL)- both in
commission paid medias such as electronic and print media and non-commissioned
based medias such as institution’s own web site, attending educational fairs,
maintaining alumni network, participating in various social events
Developing a dynamic university website. It plays a vital role while marketing the
products
Increasing strategic alliance with foreign institutions. It increase the university’s
market share
In recently published ‘Strategy of the Poznan University of Economics for the years 2013-
2020’ showed that the PUE’s strategic house consists of four strategic pillars, namely-
Education, Research, Functioning and Environment (PUE 2013). It also contains numerous
issues like university’s main challenges, vision, mission, objectives, tasks sheet and few
more. Issues those are related to this project work are–
University’s Main Challenges
Counteract to the drop in income from teaching
Fight off strong competition from outside institutions
Internationalize studies
Ensure the university’s financial safety
Foster a ‘team spirit’ in the context of promotional activity at the university faculties
and departments
Plan and budget promotional activities taking into account the expected benefits,
effect-evaluation mechanisms and pre-testing opportunities
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University’s Vision
Prioritizing the opportunity to access sources of finance
Counteracting to the declining number of university applicants
University’s Main Objectives
Maintain financial stability
Improve the competitiveness of the university’s price offer
Develop a portfolio of studies in foreign languages
Make marketing communication more attractive and better tailored to target groups
In the university’s strategy for the year 2013-2020, financial issue is a prominent factor.
As the fee-paid international students is a potential source for universities to maintain its
financial stability, thus, it again answers to question- why the PUE needs to attract more
foreign students at its campus. And in response to accept the challenges and to meet its
objectives, the university must change its operational activities.
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Chapter Four: Go! Pasia
4.1 Go! Pasia Overview
After analysing the university’s operational activities and its ongoing strategy, it is
observed that the PUE has yet to acknowledge the importance of international students at its
campus, more specifically – the Asian students. In addition to that the University has yet to
focus on partnering with business schools from Asia. OECD (2013b) report showed that
more than 52% of total international students come from Asia. The scenario is not different at
PUE either. In 2013/2014 academic year, PUE has 60 international students at its English
programme and 55% of them are from Asia (see table 8). But in University’s strategy for the
year 2013-2020, there are no specific policies to conduct any kind of marketing activities in
Asian countries. These have motivated the author to develop a market entry and development
strategy for PUE in those countries under the ‘Go! Pasia’ title.
Table 8: Foreign students at English Programme in 2013/2014 Academic Year
Asia Africa Europe America Country Student Country Student Country Student Country Student Azerbaijan 1 Egypt 1 France 1 USA 2 Bangladesh 4 Nigeria 9 Germany 5 Uruguay 1 China 3
Moldova 2
Ethiopia 1 Ukraine 6 Georgia 1
India 7 Iran 1 Kazakhstan 1 Lebanon 1 Pakistan 5 Russia 1 Turkey 7 Total 33 10 14 3
Source: Center for Studies in English, PUE
Go! Pasia is the author’s self proposed term for this project work. It can be interpreted as
‘Go! Poznan to Asia’. Under this marketing strategy, initially, the whole Asian market has
been segmented under five different markets; provided a detail overview of each market; and
identified potential competitors in those markets. Then university’s uniqueness has been
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identified for marketing its offerings in target markets. And finally, a tentative market entry
and development strategies have been proposed.
In order to provide the market overview and present a list of competitors, data are mostly
collected from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), Oslo based Masterstudies Marketing
Group’s web portal masterstudies.com and Paris based Eduniversal’s web portal eduniversal-
ranking.com, Poland based educational web portal studyinpoland.pl, Warsaw School of
Economics’ (SGH) web portal sgh.waw.pl, Kozminski University’s web portal
kozminski.edu.pl and Poznan university of Economics’ web portal ue.poznan.pl. Here, the
data may show some dissimilarity with the facts and figures presented in this report earlier,
because UIS does not include the data of international students whose study period is less
than a full academic year.
4.2 Market Segmentation and Naming
The whole Asian continent is segmented under five different markets. While segmenting
the markets, counties’ geographical proximity and economical and socio-cultural conditions
have taken into consideration. The markets are- TechnoPole, ASEANPole, DesiPole,
SovietPole and MidPole.
Figure 5: Number of students went overseas from target markets in 2012 Source: Author’s own work based on UIS (2014b) data (extracted on 18.07.2014)
The author has used self-proposed name for each market. Each name has two parts. The
first parts are based on the countries’ economical advancement; countries’ membership in an
association; collective name of the region; former economic and political system of countries;
and countries’ geographical location in world map. And to keep a connection with the PUE,
second part of each market’s name contains the demonym for the people of Poland – Pole.
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Due to the comforting reason, Pole is chosen over Poznanian, although, using Poznanian
would be more relevant to the project work.
Figure 6: Number of students came in Poland from target markets in 2012
Source: Author’s own work based on UIS (2014b) data (extracted on 18.07.2014)
TechnoPole countries are from the East part of Asian continent. The countries are China,
Japan and South Korea. In addition to that, Taiwan is also considered as an individual
country and incorporated under this market segmentation. These countries are
technologically advanced and have cultural similarities.
ASEANPole countries are Malaysia and Vietnam from the Southeast part of Asia. Both
countries are the member of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and have
many common interests in economic activities.
DesiPole countries are India, Nepal and Pakistan. These South Asian countries share
similar culture. The term ‘Desi’ is a Sanskrit word which means country and widely use for
the people, culture and products of South Asia. Thus, naming this market as DesiPole seems
relevant.
SovietPole has two former Soviet countries from Central and Northern Asia- those are
Kazakhstan and Russia. Both the countries use Russian as their official language.
MidPole market consists of four countries from Western Asia. Those are Iran, Iraq, Saudi
Arabia and Turkey. Arabic is the commonly spoken language among these countries except
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Turkey. Due to the countries’ geographical location, they are also known as Middle East
countries.
Figure 7: Student from Target Markets at PUE’s English Programme in 2013/2014 academic year
Source: Author’s own work based on data collected from Center for Studies in English, PUE
Including Russia under SovietPole market and Turkey under MidPole market may raise
some arguments in term of those countries’ geographical location. Thus, it is better to
mention that both countries are located over two different continents. In Turkey, about 67
million (out of 76.67 million) people and 38 million (out of 143.5 million) people in Russia
(source: Wikipedia4) live in Asian parts; thus, the author seemed it reasonable to include both
countries under this project.
4.3.1 Market Overview – TechnoPole
TechnoPole countries are one of the highest contributors of international students in global
market. In 2012, China, Japan and South Korea sent 851,790 students abroad for higher
education. The average annual growth rate (AAGR) of these countries, in term of sending
students overseas, is more than 13% for the period of 2001-2012 and more than 10% for the
AAGR (2008-2012) 26.4% 12.0% 10.5% Source: Author’s own work based on UIS (2014b) data (extracted on 18.07.2014)
Gradually, Poland is also becoming a popular study destination among the Chinese
students. In 2012, 549 students came to study in Poland (see figure 6). The tendency of
Chinese students’ inflow shows that Poland’s EU membership has a positive impact on their
growth rate. A year after EU integration, the inflow went up by more than threefold. In
compare to the growth rate of Chinese students’ overseas movement in world, Poland’s
figure is highly impressive. For the period of 2008-2012, their overall AAGR was 10.3%,
whereas, it was two and half times higher for Poland– 25% (see table 9 and 10). Although,
there is a negative growth rate of Japanese students’ outbound movement overall, the case of
Poland is different. The country is experiencing a constant growth of Japanese students’
inflow each year.
4.3.2 Market Overview – ASEANPole Malaysia and Vietnam both are emerging economies in world. Because of having a
constant economic growth rate each year, these countries are struggling to meet the demand of skilled workers in country. Back in 1980s, the Malaysian government realized that the country would need to develop its higher education sector immediately. At that time, it could educate only six percent of its total population at tertiary level because of its inadequate facilities. Then the government took a strategic move and let foreign universities entering into the country by partnering with local institutions (Padlee et al. 2010). Once the country reached to a satisfactory level, the government took another important decision- making Malaysia as an educational hub in the region. The country had set a target that it would host 100,000 international students each year by 2010. Within a short period of time, Malaysia gained huge popularity among Asian international students, mostly because of the USA’s
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negative movement towards Asian countries, especially Muslim nations, after September 11 (Sirat 2008). It let the Malaysia to realize 60% of its target. Now, the country is hosting more international students than sending out each year.
Because of the country’s geographical proximity, Australia and New Zealand and other Asian countries like Indonesia, Japan, India and Korea are among the most popular study destinations for Malaysian students. The quality education of America, United Kingdom, Canada, France and Germany also attract a significant number of Malaysian students each year. In recent years, nevertheless, Czech Republic (368 students in 2012) is also becoming a popular study destination because of its low tuition fees.
Table 11: Outflow of students from ASEANPole Countries (2001-2012)
AAGR (2008-2012) -9.6% -10.7% -8.3% Source: Author’s own work based on UIS (2014b) data (extracted on 18.07.2014)
Polish universities have yet to get the popularity among DesiPole students. The country was almost unknown to South Asian students until Poland’s EU integration. Its example is highly visible among the Indian students. In 2003, only 28 students came to study in Poland but the number raised to 104 in 2004. Since then the growth rate has remained constant.
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Similar phenomenon is noticeable among Nepalese students too. Until 2004, just one student (in 2003) studied at a Polish university. But the number went up to 32 in 2005 and 82 in 2012 (see table 14). The scenario is not different for Pakistani students either.
For PUE, it is highly recommended to focus on Indian market immediately. Because of the country’s insufficient infrastructure and resources, it cannot produce required skilled labour forces locally. Thus, India will be depending on foreign degrees for a long period of time and PUE needs to exploit this opportunity. Besides that, if Poland’s country image is compared with Ukraine, it will have all the competitive advantages in terms of social, political and economical conditions; and yet the Ukraine has ten times more Indian students than Poland in 2012 (see figure 11).
Figure 11: Outflow of students from India to Ukraine
Source: Author’s own work based on UIS (2014b) data (extracted on 18.07.2014)
4.3.4 Market Overview – MidPole
The long reputation of Persian education system goes back to third century. But in
contemporary, the country’s higher education sector is in turmoil. Under the previous
government, country’s higher education system went through extensive transformation
(Kadivar 2014; Farhady et al. 2010). It had experienced political influence to recruit faculty
members, suspending highly skilled teaching staffs, discrimination in students’ recruitment
and last but not least, Islamisation of whole education system. Nonetheless, the current
government has taken number of initiatives to revive its quality and earlier glory.
Iranian students’ movement is mainly directed towards the developed countries like USA,
UK, Italy, Canada, Germany, Australia and Sweden. Yet, countries like Hungary, Ukraine
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and Azerbaijan are attracting a huge numbers of Iranian students lately (947, 905 and 783
students respectively in 2012).
Table 15: Outflow of students from MidPole Countries (2001-2012)
Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. Other two European countries are Belarus and
Ukraine. Those countries’ competitiveness is examined on the basis of hosting total number
of students from PUE’s target markets.
TechnoPole Countries: The main competitors are –
For Chinese students: Ukraine, Spain, Belarus, Hungry and Czech Republic (see
figure 15)
For Japanese students: Hungry, Spain and Czech Republic (see figure 16)
For South Korean students: Hungry, Spain and Czech Republic (see figure 17) 5 Eduniversal rating Palmes of Excellence: 5 Palmes - Universal Business Schools with strong global
influence; 4 Palmes: Top Business Schools with significant international influence; 3 Palmes: Excellent
Business Schools with reinforcing international influence; 2 Palmes: Good Business Schools with strong
regional influence; 1 Palmes: Business Schools with considerable local influence
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Figure15: Outflow of students from China to 15 European countries in 2012 Source: Author’s own work based on UIS (2014b) data (extracted on 22.07.2014)
Figure 16: Outflow of students from Japan to 15 European countries in 2012 Source: Author’s own work based on UIS (2014b) data (extracted on 22.07.2014)
Figure 17: Outflow of students from South Korea to 15 European countries in 2012
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Source: Author’s own work based on UIS (2014b) data (extracted on 22.07.2014) ASEANPole Countries: The main competitors are –
For Malaysian students: Czech Republic (see figure 18)
For Vietnamese students: Czech Republic, Ukraine and Hungry (see figure 19)
Figure 18: Outflow of students from Malaysia to 15 European countries in 2012 Source: Author’s own work based on UIS (2014b) data (extracted on 22.07.2014)
Figure19: Outflow of students from Vietnam to 15 European countries in 2012 Source: Author’s own work based on UIS (2014b) data (extracted on 22.07.2014)
DesiPole Countries: The main competitors are –
For Indian students: Ukraine, Spain and Czech Republic (see figure 20)
For Nepalese students: Czech Republic (see figure 21)
For Pakistani students: Ukraine and Spain (see figure 22)
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Figure 20: Outflow of students from India to 15 European countries in 2012 Source: Author’s own work based on UIS (2014b) data (extracted on 22.07.2014)
Figure 21: Outflow of students from Nepal to 15 European countries in 2012 Source: Author’s own work based on UIS (2014b) data (extracted on 22.07.2014)
Figure 22: Outflow of students from Pakistan to 15 European countries in 2012 Source: Author’s own work based on UIS (2014b) data (extracted on 22.07.2014)
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MidPole Countries: The main competitors are – For Iranian students: Hungry, Ukraine and Belarus (see figure 23) For Iraqi students: Belarus and Czech Republic (see figure 24) For Saudi Arabian students: Hungry (see figure 25) For Turkish students: Bulgaria, Ukraine, Hungry (see figure 26)
Figure 23: Outflow of students from Iran to 15 European countries in 2012 Source: Author’s own work based on UIS (2014b) data (extracted on 22.07.2014)
Figure 24: Outflow of students from Iraq to 15 European countries in 2012 Source: Author’s own work based on UIS (2014b) data (extracted on 22.07.2014)
Figure 25: Outflow of students from Saudi Arabia to 15 European countries in 2012 Source: Author’s own work based on UIS (2014b) data (extracted on 22.07.2014)
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Figure 26: Outflow of students from Turkey to 15 European countries in 2012 Source: Author’s own work based on UIS (2014b) data (extracted on 22.07.2014)
SovietPole Countries: The main competitors are – For Kazakhstani students: Czech Republic and Belarus (see figure 27) For Russian students: Ukraine, Czech Republic, Belarus and Spain (see figure 28)
Figure 27: Outflow of students from Kazakhstan to 15 European countries in 2012 Source: Author’s own work based on UIS (2014b) data (extracted on 22.07.2014)
Figure 28: Outflow of students from Russia to 15 European countries in 2012 Source: Author’s own work based on UIS (2014b) data (extracted on 22.07.2014)
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Table 19: Key competitors in target markets and their influence
Ukraine 4 3 .. .. .. Source: Author’s own work based on UIS (2014b) data (extracted on 22.07.2014)
Figure 29: Inflow of Turkish students in Bulgaria Source: Author’s own work based on UIS (2014b) data (extracted on 22.07.2014)
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Figure 30: Inflow of Kazakhstani, Malaysian and Vietnamese students in Czech Republic Source: Author’s own work based on UIS (2014b) data (extracted on 22.07.2014)
Table 21: Inflow of Iranian, Japanese, Saudi Arabian and South Korean students in Hungary Country /
Issuing an e-mail ID would leverage the University to maintain its alumni database
more efficiently. Even after leaving the country, the students will retain this ID and
receive any particular information or birth day or naming day wishes from
university. And it is mentioned in many research paper that the alumni
recommendation is an effective tool to attract new students at a university
See figures 37-40 under annex for the revised design of English web portal
When this element is all about increasing the university’s image, the PUE should partner
with more universities from target markets. The prime motive could be conducting joint
research but at the same time, the PUE can also use the partner universities’ local influence in
those markets. After signing the contract, those universities are more likely to have media
coverage. It would develop the PUE’s image among local communities. From time to time,
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the PUE can use those universities’ infrastructures as an information centre while promoting
its offerings in local markets. In addition to that, for having a chance to go on exchange
programme, students from partner universities would source more information about the
PUE. In marketing, association increases the awareness and brings a product on customers’
top of mind while taking a purchase decision.
Price: PUE use a discriminated pricing strategy like many other universities from within
and outside of Poland. Domestic students pay lower tuition fees than foreigners. Universities
usually adopt this policy to pull local demand but it also gives a negative impression to
students from other countries. Thus, Kozminski University’ pricing policy seems way better
than PUE and any other business schools in Poland. It charges same tuition and admission
fees for both domestic and foreign students. Additionally, Kozminski facilitates its students
to pay the tuition fees in five installments in one semester. This enables Kozminski to enjoy a
significant competitive advantage over the competitors. Although, PUE’s recent strategy is
considering giving discount for a onetime payment (PUE 2013), it is also recommended to
develop a flexible payment policy for the foreign students.
People: Internationalization means definitely not centralization of activities (Wang 2007).
But the PUE has merely understood such concept so far. Zukowski (2012) reported that the
university has only two foreign teachers; and staffs at the Center for Studies in English
department are all Polish.
Due to different educational backgrounds and teaching environments out of many other
reasons, foreign academic staffs bring diversified teaching methods at a university. But the
PUE’s teaching staffs have similar educational background, thus, one’s teaching style is
almost similar to others. Many of them also have limited capacity to use modern technology
efficiently. According to the author’s own experience, few teachers are also highly reluctant
to take off their faces from computer screen. And for being at a same place for years, many
staffs have developed behavioral autonomy. Few of them do not welcome any question from
students. Few of them have minimum intention to understand foreign students’ cultural
backgrounds, thinking patterns and communication styles. And the most important issue is
favoring local students over foreigners while grading. The university immediately needs
to motivate its teaching staffs for being more welcoming to foreigners. The PUE must
understand that every foreign student is a potential source of bringing more foreign students
at its campus.
Although the ‘people’ element under the Business School Marketing Mix is different from
traditional Service Marketing Mix, it requires interaction of university staffs while making
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personal contact with prospective students in various education fairs, open days and
information evenings or email quarries. Thus, the author has used many variables of
traditional marketing mix along with the new ones.
According to author, the PUE needs to adopt following strategies-
Employing staffs with diversified cultural experiences or backgrounds
Appointing student ambassadors
Appointing recruitment agencies
Liaising with high school teachers and university lecturers
Staffs with diversified cultural Backgrounds: In any fair or seminar or even in mailing
communications, international students feel more comfortable with a representative who has
similar or close cultural background like them than others. In similarities, students feel
motivated to ask even minor information which sometimes sounds idiotic to any European
people. Students’ lack of global awareness and future uncertainty require them to source as
much information as possible. The more they are satisfied, the more will be the University’s
turnover. Thus, the PUE should immediately recruit few administrative staffs with Russian,
Chinese, Indian and Arabian or Turkish backgrounds at it Center for Studies in English and
marketing departments. Staffs must make a plan while responding to quarries by students –
who will interact with whom. It is always better to match the cultural similarity.
Student Ambassadors: At least one current student from each country should be recruited
as the university’s student ambassador. The university should train them with all necessary
information and branding them by providing PUE’s promotional materials like – t-shirts,
bags etc. While attending the fairs, they may accompany the university’s representatives. The
rationale is that these students have already been through all the possible obstacles that a
prospective foreign student may have to go through while going overseas. They know much
more and would provide better information than the PUE’s own staffs. Moreover, almost
every student has an account in different Social Network websites; and by being the
university’s ambassador, they would update their status and share photos with promotional
stuffs. These will create PUE’s awareness among their friend circles and it is highly possible
that many of them will turn into the PUE’s potential students.
The second group is university’s exchange students. Upon returning to their home
universities, they would share overseas study experience among their circles. PUE should
capitalize this potential by making them contract based ambassador – giving remuneration for
each student they would refer to University. While studying, earning some money for doing
almost nothing would motivate them to talk more about PUE wherever they go. More
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communication means more chance to attract foreign students. Furthermore, many of the
undergraduate exchange students would return to PUE for their master level studies if the
university keeps a good contact with them.
Recruitment Agency: Other group who can assist PUE is the recruitment agencies from
both Poland and target markets. The University must create commission based partnership
with them. These agencies promote universities from different countries at their own cost.
Frequently, they advertise in local media. They also assist university representatives to
conduct seminars and participate in local education fairs. It is recommended to enlist them on
University’s website as the authorized agents.
Although, there is not enough research on recruitment agencies’ presence, activities and
effectiveness, universities from many countries use this service to increase the international
students’ pool at their campuses. Hagedorn & Zhang (2011) reported that 32 institutions from
Australia recruited 48,388 students in 2008 by using the recruitment agencies only; it
represents 55% of all international students at those universities. He also mentioned that for
the first time, a large number of Chinese students become aware of overseas universities with
the help of a recruitment agent and subsequently picks one for their further studies. The
scenario is almost same among the students from Indian subcontinent. The author had similar
experience while choosing an institution in United Kingdom. He also heard of similar
decision making process from numbers of students in London.
High School Teachers and University Lecturers: Contacting high school teachers in Asian
countries is a highly challenging task, although, university lecturers are approachable easily.
But if it is possible, this tool will benefit the University highly. In most cases, the prospective
undergraduate students have lack of international experience. They and their parents largely
depend on class teachers, relatives or recruiting agencies’ recommendation to choose a
potential study destination. On the other hand, prospective graduate level students are more
mature and highly informed and many of their friends are pursuing studies abroad. However,
still many students relay on university lecturers’ recommendation or at least consider their
advices while looking for an institution.
Promotion: Lowry & Owens (2001) argued that an extensive communication programme
is the key element while implementing a positioning strategy successfully. PUE’s any form
of communication should deliver a single positioning statement – ‘Country’s second best
Economics University’. The communication strategy must be integrated and consistent;
otherwise it will confuse the prospective students. Public relation, advertising, any kind of
promotional materials, brochures including the admission form should pass the same single
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message. As well, all other variables under each element must be directed towards the same
objective.
The most dominant activities in positioning communication strategy are advertising at
Above the Line (ATL) level (advertising in television, press media, radio, outdoor activities
like posters and billboards; and the most recent one is advertising on internet). Advertising on
television, radio and billboards involves with high cost, thus, the author recommends PUE to
use the internet communication profoundly. It costs way lower than any other communication
tools. However, at the beginning, the university should not go for any sort of paid advertising
strategy. Once the initial activities are conducted and established successfully, PUE needs to
analyze the online visitors’ behavior. Then only it would be appropriate to make a decision
whether to go for paying advert or not.
The probable platforms are-
Sharing videos on: Youtube, Youku, Tudou, 56.com, Aparat, Dailymotion
Using Social networking sites: Facebook, VK, Qzone, Pengyou, Renren, Kaixin001
Search Engine Optimization for Google, Yahoo, Baidu, Naver, Daum, Yandex
Developing Wikipedia pages
Virtual university tour
Conducting Webinar
At Bellow the Line (BTL) level, the university needs to go for public relations, partnering,
and conducting cross-cultural competition. Partnering with students, foreign institutions and
recruitment agencies, teachers and lecturers have already been mentioned under different
elements. Here, the other group is government agencies. The university should establish an
understanding with Polish Consulates abroad and agreement with target markets’ Education
Ministries.
Rather than describing each level individually, the author has combined the whole
promotional activities (ATL and BTL level activities) and then divided the tasks for different
departments and people.
Center for Studies in English (CSE): CSE staffs are the coordinator of entire activities.
They will have to play Account Manager’s role. In addition to their coordinating activities
with other departments and people, they also need to perform the following activities-
Must respond to any quarries from prospective students immediately
Staffs have to write email, from time to time, to those students who have initiated
contact earlier and forward them electronic brochure
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Being in touch with the student ambassadors on a regular basis and providing them any
sort of updates they need to be aware of
Organizing meeting with all international students from time to time- at least two times
in a semester. The objective is to know their comforts or discomforts or any other
issues. This meeting will let them feel more than just being a cash cow at the
University
Students:
The CSE should motivate student ambassadors and as well other international students
to write blog posts about the university and share on their social networking media
The department should also motivate them to maintain a University page in their
languages on those networking media and share University’s information and images
regularly
Although, it involves with some cost, the university should conduct webinars by using
the ambassadors in their native languages
Academic Staffs:
The university must inspire its teachers to write mini articles or blog posts on topics
related to their specialized areas and use the university’s name to sign off besides
their names
Motivating academic staffs to write some articles and papers on target markets’ trade
and business potentials with Poland. To avoid any risk, they can partner with
researchers from universities of those countries. The articles would bring a huge
media coverage for the university
For various purposes, for example – attending seminars or conference, academic staffs
visit foreign countries. The PUE should capitalize their tours and inspire them to
promote the University in those countries
Marketing Department: This department would be the key player under this strategy. They
will play the following roles –
Attending educational fairs and seminars in target markets
Developing contents for student ambassadors and University brochures
Developing mini videos on topics related to business and economics by using the
highly skilled academic staffs of University
Developing promotional videos by using the current international students and alumni.
In those videos, students must speak about PUE both in English and their native
languages. Inspire them to share it on their social networking media
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Developing videos on ‘how to learn (business) English’ by using staffs from Language
department. Every day, thousands of people search for this kind of videos on Google,
YouTube or other media. All the videos must start and sign off with PUE’s name and
its positioning statement
Maintaining a database of the registered students for scholarship and sending them
electronic brochures or any study related information from time to time
Coordinating with IT people to develop the university’s Wikipedia pages in different
languages. The author has initiated some editing tasks in English version of PUE’s
Wikipedia page and as well developed an English page for the University Rector; but
those pages still require professional touch. In addition to that the University should
develop Wikipedia pages for its renowned teachers in different languages too
Maintaining contacts with all the partners like recruiting agencies, teachers and
lecturers
Conducting workshops or seminars with the local immigrants from ‘Go! Pasia’
countries. Their contact details could be attained from regional immigration offices.
This strategy will create University’s awareness among their relatives in back home
Contacting with consular and staffs at Poland’s foreign mission in target markets and
leaving some university brochures at embassy’s front desks
Many Ministry of Education in target markets provide scholarship to students for
overseas higher education, for example- Saudi Arabia. In some cases, particular
universities require ministry’s affiliation in order to host the students under such
schemes. Thus, PUE marketing staffs need to look for related information and tie with
the authorized bodies
IT (information technology) Department:
Optimizing popular search engines in order to boost up the University website’s
ranking
Uploading University’s promotional videos on different platforms. Depending only on
YouTube would not benefit the University because Chinese government and some
other countries, from time to time, impose censorship on many popular websites in
their countries
Updating University’s web portal regularly and remove unnecessary contents which
are out of date
Analysing the visitors’ demographics and suggesting necessary actions to marketing
and CSE departments
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Conducting surveys among PUE’s international students as well the local students to
understand the website’s appearance, accessibility and other related issues
Designing thematic images and various campaigning applications
Coordinating with other departments upon necessity
Ad Hoc: Another effective tool to promote a university is conducting cross-cultural
project. Under the name of ‘Go! Pasia’, the University can host a cross cultural project
among the students from PUE and different business schools from target markets. The
objective would be to develop a foreign market entry and development strategy of an existing
or artificial company or product. The winning team would get a scholarship to study at PUE
for free or some sort of gifts. Dr. Anna Matysek, the faculty member of International
Economics and Business, has initiated ‘X-Culture’ project among the PUE students. She can
assist the University to develop this kind of project. Though, it requires an in-depth planning
and implementation strategy, the PUE would be able to create its awareness among
prospective international students significantly.
Prospectus: The variables under ‘prospectus’ element is already been mentioned in other
elements. The university has to post the printed brochures, leaflets or any other promotional
material to the prospective students and partners. Although, it involves cost, in China and
many other countries people still value printed documents higher than its soft version. Thus,
the PUE has to provide printed material to its recruiting and other partners from time to time
in order to distribute among the prospective students and their family members.
4.7 Summary
For maintaining the PUE’s financial viability, the University must attract more foreign
students and need to focus on Asian markets immediately. Though the University offers
business education, it has ignored international business activities of its own for last 5 years.
Recently, PUE is not able to perform at its full potential because of the country demographic
changes and people’s migration tendencies to other European countries, thus, it must need to
look for alternative sources in order to admit more students at its campus. ‘Go! Pasia’
countries are such potential sources.
By offering more market oriented study programmes and adopting the ‘Go! Pasia’
strategy, the PUE would definitely get benefit in term of admitting more foreign students.
However, while implementing the ‘Go! Pasia’ strategy, the University should form an
advisory committee who will constantly observe the strategic approaches, analyze the
performances and advice the essential changes.
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An effective positioning strategy requires an in-depth market research. Although the
author has initiated possible research works within his limitations, ‘Go! Pasia’ still requires a
profound market research; especially the competitors at European Level are almost
overlooked because of the limited time period. A complete marketing strategy must have an
in-depth competitor analysis.
A strategy may not be successful within a short period of time. Thus, the University must
not be discouraged if the ‘Go! Pasia’ does not have an instant market response or have a
lower return than expected. The University should have a long term commitment to ‘Go!
Pasia’ and communicate the identical message with targeted communities repeatedly. It is
essential to remember that a university cannot change its image over the night because of its
sophisticated offerings.
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Thesis Conclusion
In 2011, nearly 4.3 million students enrolled outside of their home country for tertiary
education (OECD 2013b). Over a period of two decades, the number has increased by more
than threefold. The average growth rate of international students’ movement is almost 6%
annually and the total movement of tertiary students is expected to be double by 2020
(OECD 2013b; PAP 2013; PAP 2014). Since the highest number of international students
chooses social science, business and law, it is expected that the Polish business schools are
also going to experience a huge inflow of foreign students shortly, specially, the Asian
international students because of the Poland’s competitive advantages in terms of low cost of
living and tuition fees. The proximity to other EU member countries has also increased the
country’s attractiveness.
The globalization is inevitable but internationalization of a university leaves many choices
(Altbach & Knight 2007). However, the PUE has a hybrid business and financial model -
combining elements of a state-run institution and a corporation (Zukowski 2012). And due to
the demographic down turn in Poland, most universities, including the PUE, are facing a
great challenge to maintain its financial stability (PUE 2013; PAP 2014). It identifies the
importance of attracting or hosting more international students at PUE.
Although the whole country is over-flooded by the Ukrainian students, PUE has seen mere
advantage of such flow. African country Nigeria contributes one and half times more students
than Ukraine to PUE and Asian countries contribute almost two and half times more students
than entire Europe. These signify the rationale of adopting ‘Go! Pasia’ strategy in order to
attract more international students at PUE. The University must understand that the
Europeanized internationalization activities can give the PUE academic and research benefits
but for financial benefit, it must focus on Asian countries parallelly. Africa is also an
emerging continent because Nigeria solely contributes the highest number of international
students, by far, to PUE. Beside Asia, thus, this continent could also be another source of
financing for the University. ‘Go! Pasia’ strategies can equally work for Africa too.
Throughout the study period, international students possess the sensitivity of being just a
visitor in foreign countries, thus, it requires them to seek for constant support from host
universities (Murphy et al. 2002). The foremost people with whom they aspire to have
friendly communication are class teachers and administrative staffs. Any sort of cultural
intolerance and discrimination, thus, cause dissatisfaction. PUE needs to focus on this issue
immediately. In addition to that, when students cannot have their pre-offered optional
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modules, they feel deceived. The University should run as many optional modules as
possible. Furthermore, it must come up with more market oriented study programmes. PUE’s
main strength is in research, thus, the university should offer at least one research based study
programme. Although the Warsaw School of Economics offers ‘Quantitative Methods in
Economics and Information Systems’ at bachelor level, so far, no university offers Master of
Research (MRes) or Master of Science by Research (MScRes) in Poland and the PUE
must seize the opportunity.
As universities, as well as the societies, become greatly benefited from hosting
international students, many universities have changed their internationalization strategies;
and as well numerous academics and researchers have focused on understanding international
students’ social adjustment criterions (Chapdelaine & Alexitch 2004; Furnham 2004). They
suggested university employees to acquire prior knowledge of students’ cultural differences,
to understand their psychological and behavioural differences and to have the counselling
training in order to work with the foreign students efficiently (Jacob & Greggo 2001; Murphy
et al. 2002; Guidry Lacina 2002; Mahon & Cushner 2002; Guidry Lacina 2002). However,
till this date, most published works on international students and their facing difficulties in
host countries are conducted in America, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand
and few other European countries like Spain, Italy, and Netherlands. Thus, the circumstances
of international students may not be similar in Polish context. This urges for the similar
research works in Poland and at PUE.
Asian students have different ethnic backgrounds. They are well aware of American
culture because of vast media exposure or the British culture because of their long colonial
histories, whereas, knowing the Polish culture is an emerging issue to them. This brings (or
will bring) enormous difficulties during their adaptation period in Poland. Thus, it is highly
recommended to conduct the cultural studies on emerging communities in Poland and most
necessarily at PUE because of its offered business education. The University employees must
learn the cultural differences in order to interact with foreign students efficiently.
The PUE should establish a ‘PRESTIZ Club’ for international students. It may have
similar operations like the International Students Organisation of a university. The University
can use this club as its cultural research centre where the president would be in charge to
conduct research activities on different cultures; and from time to time, conduct seminars and
workshops for University staffs and students in order to create an international atmosphere at
campus. The PRESTIZ Club can also be responsible for conducting events relating to
international students at the University.
Page | 90
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List of Tables
Table 1: Impact of globalization on Higher Education internationalization ……..……..…. 11
Table 2: Commonly used terminology in International Higher Education ………………... 12
Table 3: Different types of actors and their roles in internationalization of Higher Education