Multilevel research on factors impacting international branch campuses’ global integration and local responsiveness: an empirical investigation of two Canadian cases

Abstract

ABSTRACT The considerable institutional distance between home and host countries of most international branch campuses (IBCs) necessitates that they address the managerial challenge of balancing global integration and local responsiveness. Previous studies have investigated IBCs’ strategies for addressing this challenge as well as the macro- or micro-level factors impacting their strategies. This study extends previous research by constructing a multilevel framework for understanding both macro- and micro-level factors and adopting it to guide the empirical investigation of two Canadian cases. The results demonstrate that the two Canadian IBCs have maintained a high level of localisation in staffing but different levels of globalisation in curriculum. Like many other IBCs, these two IBCs, as institutions, are inactive in research, although they do provide occasional support for research activities. Such strategies are increasingly influenced by the institutional forces in their host countries than those in their home country at the macro level. At the micro level, the strategies are primarily impacted by their students’ educational demands. These findings exemplify strategies for other IBCs and for Canadian postsecondary institutions that consider opening overseas campuses.