Effective management of an internationalization strategy: A case study on Egyptian–British universities’ partnerships

Despite the abundance of researches that have explored the importance of internationalization in higher education, there is a paucity of research that has analysed the effective management of the internationalization process – in terms of strategy formulation, implementation and evaluation – in an emerging Egyptian–British universities’ partnership. This article adds to the contemporary management research by integrating the literature of the internationalization of higher education, education management and strategic management in an interdisciplinary practice-based manner. Specifically, this study analyses the main elements of the internationalization strategy in addition to the different phases of the effective management of its process in a higher educational institution and its international partners. The current article uses a strategic management perspective to analyse the internationalization processes carried out by an emerging university in Egypt and its international partners in the United Kingdom. A qualitative practice-based case study approach was chosen through conducting in-depth interviews and focus groups with the subject matter experts (i.e., academics and leaders) working in the internationalization processes of this Egyptian–British universities’ partnership in Egypt and United Kingdom. The findings of the current study have various implications in the area of higher education management for the academics/managers/leaders who are coordinating activities related to the management of the internationalization processes at their universities. Furthermore, the study recommends different developmental practices to be adopted for the purpose of quality enhancement at the academic and managerial levels, thus sustaining a process of continuous improvement.