Internationalization of the university: factors impacting cultural readiness for organizational change

In response to an increasingly globalized world, universities are engaged in an ambiguous and unclear journey of internationalization for economic and political reasons, and guided by different ideologies. Universities’ distinctive nature and unique characteristics give culture a prominent role in mediating the university environment. This study examines cultural readiness for internationalization at two US universities at the micro (individual), meso (organizational) and macro (external stakeholders) levels. The Cultural Readiness for Internationalization model, introduced here, identified multiple factors impacting cultural readiness for organizational change. First, it is important to ensure congruency between espoused and enacted values among the institution’s membership and second, it is critical to align this value congruency with the institution’s mission. Third, the extent to which senior leadership perceived the institution’s community as local and/or global influenced the level of support for internationalization. Finally, economic and political influences can leverage the extent to which internationalization is articulated as an institutional priority.

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