Internationalisation of business education: meaning and implementation

The internationalisation of business has been one of the most prominent features of the second half of the twentieth century, with its pace and breadth touching all elements of the value-adding network. In this environment, the higher education sector has been revising its aims and objectives to incorporate an international dimension to the skills and knowledge development of students. However, interpretation of the educational challenges posed by internationalisation in the form of guidelines that specify how the curriculum might be internationalised, is in its infancy. Despite early efforts, little work has been done to translate this trend into a developmental overview of curriculum delivery. This paper begins by synthesising the literature regarding globalisation, curriculum internationalisation and student learning in higher education. It seeks to bridge the gap between the aims of curriculum internationalisation and the subject curriculum. It applies well-accepted educational principles to the task by presenting a three-stage typology of business curriculum internationalisation. These stages are international awareness, international competence and international expertise. Directions for further research are also provided.