Page 47 - AEI Insights 2020 - Vol. 6, Issue 1

Munusamy and Hashim, 2020

cross border higher education (Knight, 2008c). For the Malaysian case, networking in
internationalisation creates an important alliance for cooperation and collaboration in the field
of higher education between nations and between higher education institutions. It also attracts
international students to Malaysia (Arokiasamy, 2011). Additionally, it also plays a major role
in assisting the Malaysian higher education system to be recognised and become more visible
and provides opportunities for twinning and franchised programmes (James, 2009). The Lim
Kok Wing University of Creative Technology, for example, has signed an agreement with
Curtin University of Australia and offers Australian degrees to their students. This agreement
has attracted many international students to study in Malaysia at the Lim Kok Wing University
of Creative Technology (Russell, 2015). The Monash University from Australia established a
branch campus in Malaysia in 1990 which has helped to generate revenue from tuition fees and
research commercialisation (Girdzijauskaite & Radzeviciene, 2014). The development of
higher education in Malaysia through networking in internationalisation shows that it supports
the strategy, approach and rationale for internationalisation of higher education.
The connection between the approach, strategy and rationale of higher education development
and the components of networking can be a valuable pathway for comprehensive
internationalisation of higher education in nations around the world. The conceptual framework
is significant for higher education internationalisation as firstly, it can be used at national and
higher education institutions level. Secondly, it is applicable for public and private higher
education providers and can facilitate policy and action plans development. Finally, it can assist
nations to increase international students and enhance the cross border higher education.

Conclusion

The main aim of the article is to explore the network theory and Uppsala theory of
internationalisation as well as their feasibility for networking in the internationalisation of
higher education. The literature findings illustrate that both theories, the Uppsala and the
network theory of internationalisation have employed networking elements for
internationalisation (Johanson & Mattsson, 1988; Johanson & Vahlne, 1990). Therefore, there
is a strong connection between internationalisation theories and conceptualisation of
internationalisation of higher education in terms of definition, approaches, rationale and
strategies. The definition of internationalisation of higher education as proposed by Knight
(2015) that covers the functions of the national government, higher education institutions and
foreign higher education is widely accepted and useful for networking in internationalisation.
The approaches, rationale and strategies for internationalisation are supported by the
networking perspective in the internationalisation process, which has advanced and been
innovated as a management tool for higher education internationalisation (Girdzijauskaitė et
al., 2018). Thus, the seven elements of networking as suggested in the conceptual framework
support networking in internationalisation as well as the approach, rationale and strategy for
internationalisation of higher education in the case of Malaysia. The major contribution of the
network theory of internationalisation is the establishment of branch campuses and recruitment
of international students. Therefore, the network theory of internationalisation can be seen to
be feasible and appropriate for the internationalisation of higher education. The proposed
conceptual framework will be useful for national governments and higher education institutions
to achieve the goal of internationalisation and to enhance the quality of higher education.

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