Internationalisation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Action-based case study of a Japanese private university

Abstract

This study explores the functioning of a participatory management system (PMS) in a large language centre at a private international university in Japan. The overall aim of this study was to construct knowledge that is both meaningful and important to the betterment of all university stakeholders. The focus of my research was to build knowledge about quality management practices intended for university stakeholders - in particular, midlevel managers - while strongly advocating for internationalising universities to retreat from their embrace of managerialism, and to refocus on the humanistic principles associated with participatory management (PM). The qualitative research approaches used in this study include action-based learning that is exploratory in focus, revealing the potential for application in other prospective reforming contexts. Action-based learning was the most suitable approach to inquiry in this study because it helped reveal patterns, identify conflicts, and explore themes about internationalisation and organisational leadership, structures and processes of a PMS, an unfamiliar concept at universities in Japan. The significance of this study is the following: 1) the alignment of internationalisation with quality assurance (QA) through the practice of PM; 2) the visualisation of the data through concept maps, historiography, and the interpretation of events; and 3) the development of a model, informed by data collected and frameworks identified in the literature. This model is intended to address ailments that work against reforms at Japanese universities. It treats internationalisation and QA as a duality, with a functional approach that incorporates PM. The study will show how the potential application of this model may serve as an action plan for internationalisation and QA initiatives at other universities in Japan.