Managing Internationalisation

Combining a Centralised and a Decentralised Approach

This article examines centralised and decentralised approaches towards managing internationalisation by means of a case study. Reutlingen University (Hochschule Reutlingen), a university of applied sciences in Southern Germany, has three decades of experience in managing internationalisation. Its strongly integrated and hybrid approach combines centralised and decentralised strategies with the aim of achieving responsiveness, innovation, transparency, quality, and goal alignment. Centralisation and decentralisation are manifested on two levels: university versus schools, and school versus individual programmes. Since internationalisation is embedded in virtually all areas of the university’s operations, examples will be provided ranging from administration and marketing to research, international programme management and curricula.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36197/INT.4-2020.03