Internationalization of Business Schools in the Coronavirus Epoque: Challenges and Opportunities

19:11, November 18, 2020

On November 13, within the framework of the XV International Conference «Russian Regions in the Focus of Change», an online workshop was held with the participation of EFMD GLOBAL and the Russian International Affairs Counci

The heads and staff members of the international departments of GSEM partner universities discussed topical issues on the international activities of business schools in the new reality: what the future of international academic mobility is, how to effectively implement the international promotion of business schools, what new tools have to be used to develop international cooperation and how in general, transform internationalization models in the new norm.

The participants were especially interested in the review of the current situation and prospects for the internationalization of universities by the key speaker Robert Galier, Senior Advisor to EQUIS & EPAS, EFMD Global 

As part of the event, the RIAC presented a new rating: Web internationalization: English-language Internet resources of Russian universities, in which the Ural Federal University takes the 2nd place.

The event was attended by MIP Politecnico di Milano Graduate School of Business (Italy), KEDGE Business School (France); HEC Management School - Liège Université (Belgium); SolBridge International Business School (South Korea), Zuyd University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands); Chongqing University School of Economics and Business Administration (China). The case of GSEM UrFU was also presented to the participants.

During the discussion, the speakers focused on the main barriers that each university is facing in the context of the global lockdown and effective ways to solve them. Based on the best practices of leading business schools in Europe and Asia, we can highlight the main opportunities for the development of the internationalization of business schools that can withstand sudden and unpredictable situations:

• a qualitative transition to a hybrid learning model, keeping the optimal balance between online and offline classes;
• improving the user experience on the English-language official websites of universities, since the efficiency of using the website is an important factor in promoting educational services to the international market of educational services;
• development of virtual academic mobility;
• making changes to the current strategy of internationalization of the university, adapted to online technologies.

The participants not only exchanged ideas, but also planned joint international activities, for example, within the framework of the GSEM Autumn School «Sustainable business development: smart future for all».