The internationalisation of emerging market higher education providers: exploring transnational provision

Abstract

The delivery of transnational higher education by emerging market providers is a relatively new phenomenon -- While much has been written about mainly British, U.S. and Australian providers delivering higher education programs offshore, this paper explores the transnational delivery of education by two universities from emerging markets: Mexico's Sistema Tecnológico de Monterrey (Tec de Monterrey) and Malaysia's Limkokwing University of Creative Technology -- By developing a comprehensive listing of the universities' transnational engagement and motivations, and comparing them to traditional and contemporary firm internationalisation theories, the paper is able to highlight some of the key similarities and differences between the theory and practise in the context of emerging market transnational education providers -- The paper finds that, despite the unique character of the sector, the patterns of internationalisation of Sistema Tecnológico de Monterrey and Limkokwing University of Creative Technology are similar to those of firms in other industries -- Furthermore, recent theories explaining the internationalisation of developing country multinationals help to understand the speed at which both universities have internationalised and some of the business and non-business advantages gained from delivering programs abroad