Strategic Alignment and Tensions in Transnational Education Partnerships: A Multi-Country Study of Institutional Strategy-as Practice

Abstract

This thesis examines how transnational education partnerships (TNEPs) are initiated, developed, and sustained within higher education institutions (HEIs), conceptualised as a three-stage process: partner identification through internationalisation strategies, operationalisation of collaborative programmes, and longer-term evaluation of sustainability, expansion, or termination. Despite the growth of TNE, institutional approaches to partnership development often lack coherence, with many collaborations emerging through informal and opportunistic processes rather than formal strategic planning.

Adopting a qualitative, respondent-based design, the study draws on 26 semi-structured interviews with senior managers, academics, and professional services staff across institutions in Japan, Nepal, Mauritius and the United Kingdom. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, combining iterative manual coding with NVivo to support depth and consistency. A multi-actor perspective is employed to capture how diverse stakeholders interpret and enact strategy across institutional and national contexts.

Findings reveal that TNEPs are shaped by a dynamic interplay between formal strategy, informal practice, and competing institutional logics. While ‘home’ institutions often prioritise global positioning, brand expansion, and revenue generation, reflecting market-oriented logics, ‘host’ institutions emphasise capacity building, local relevance, and regulatory alignment, reflecting developmental and academic priorities. However, partnerships frequently originate through personal networks, chance encounters, and the influence of institutional “champions” who mobilise bridging social capital to drive collaborations forward. These actors play a critical boundary-spanning role, translating strategic intent into practice. Persistent power asymmetries favour ‘home’ institutions, raising questions around equity, mutuality, and the integration of indigenous knowledge systems within historically embedded global hierarchies.

My thesis contributes to institutional theory, institutional logics, social capital theory, and post- and neo-colonial perspectives by foregrounding how TNEPs are shaped by the interaction of institutional pressures, competing logics, relational networks, and historically embedded power relations. It advances a multi-actor conceptual framework that positions TNE as a co-constructed process, offering new insight into how strategy and practice are negotiated across diverse institutional and national contexts, and providing practical implications for more equitable and sustainable international collaborations.

Date of Award	22 Jul 2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bath
Supervisor	Dan Davies (Supervisor) & Fiona Hunter (Supervisor)