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This study aims to investigate the potential for virtual study abroad (VSA) programs to exist in a post-pandemic world. VSAs quickly grew in popularity when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancelation of traditional study abroad programs. Now that a return to travel appears imminent, it is uncertain whether VSAs hold sufficient value to continue as legitimate study abroad programs or whether they will be shelved until the next pandemic.

This study compares VSAs to short-term study abroad (STSA) programs. Drawing on extant literature, an STSA profile, based on five best practices, sets the legitimacy standard to which VSAs must rise. Based on the authors’ experience, consultations with two additional study abroad leaders and one VSA firm, VSAs are defined, and a sample profile is developed. VSAs are compared and contrasted with STSAs. Program attributes in which VSAs fall short, meet and exceed those of STSAs are identified.

VSAs meet all five study abroad best practices. Although VSAs are incapable of providing benefits specifically related to travel, VSAs meet or exceed benefits provided by STSAs in all other areas. VSAs have advantages in cost, risk, flexibility and inclusion. VSAs are legitimate substitutions to STSAs for first-year students, students who cannot travel and student types currently under-represented in study abroad programs.

Practical advice on managing VSAs is offered through a sample VSA program profile. Target student types are identified, program positioning is discussed and implications to universities are offered.

Literature on VSA is essentially non-existent. This study introduces VSA programs as an option to gain not only academic knowledge but also many of the experiential benefits of typical study abroad programs.

This paper summarizes the findings of the empirical papers in this volume and outlines future research directions for global leadership in general. We summarize the state of global leadership development in universities and recommend design criteria for these efforts. Given the popularity of study abroad as an integral component in many global leadership programs, we highlight common challenges for study abroad programs and the importance of taking an organization development approach. We conclude with future directions for global leadership development research in university settings, most of which emerged from the featured papers on this topic in this volume of Advances in Global Leadership. It is our hope that this chapter serves as a primer for both university program directors and researchers.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

With the advent of the global economy and marketplace, cultural sensitivity and language proficiency have assumed new, higher levels of importance in business education. Consequently, business schools need to acclimate both faculty and students to the global environment. Study abroad is an effective way to accomplish internationalization of faculty and students; however, there are many challenges relating to study abroad that need to be resolved. The underlying rationale for study abroad is evolving, as are the anticipated outcomes for students studying abroad. Moreover, there is no single source of information about study abroad and best practices relating to study abroad. Formal assessment of study abroad programs is rarely undertaken in the belief that the value of study abroad is self-evident; therefore, assessment is not critical. Consequently, study abroad is a topic on which much more research is needed. There are great opportunities for scholars and practitioners in the field of study abroad to do research in the different aspects of study abroad and disseminate and publish the results. The educational opportunities are virtually unlimited, as the importance of study abroad as a response to training business and other students to be able to function effectively in the global economy increases.

A study of community college students enrolled in a for-credit study abroad program in Costa Rica sought to identify the experiences that influence intercultural competency growth during study abroad trips and to learn how the experiences influence the development of global leadership competencies. The results led to a modified global leadership development expertise model for understanding the process of global leadership development in student populations. The study revealed a key link between antecedent characteristics of participants and their transformational ability during the study. The study also revealed that there are types of transformational experiences that, when experienced sequentially, can maximize transformational potential and the development of intercultural competencies.

The increase in prevalence of behavioral health issues among college and university students is burdening the scholastic sector both domestically and internationally. More American students participate in study abroad programs than ever before. These provide educational institutions with additional duty of care challenges and responsibilities especially when it comes to their health status while studying or working abroad. The requests for assistance to an assistance service provider of students from US universities studying abroad were compared to international assignees from US employers in terms of closing diagnoses and case outcome types. The purpose of this paper is to indicate that there are differences in diagnoses and case outcomes between students studying abroad and employees working abroad. Students are more likely than international assignees to be diagnosed with behavioral health issues, to be referred to a health provider (rather than being treated through in-patient care) and to be evacuated or repatriated. It is recommended that US universities change their duty of care practice from the “inform and prepare” to a higher level benchmark, commonly practiced in the US corporate sector, of “assess, assist and protect.”

US employers and universities often contract with a service provider for international travel assistance for their traveling employees/students. The sample consisted of case records of a large assistance service provider based on request for assistance (RFAs) by international assignees and students from its different US client organizations (US employers and universities) over a 24-month period (January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2011), with all client travel originating in the USA and traveling abroad. A two-year framework was used to include a larger sample of short- and long-term international assignees. The individual requesting assistance (student or international assignee) was the primary unit of analysis. The multiple case records can be viewed as a “case study” of an assistance provider (Yin, 2014). According to Yin’s case study design typology, this research used a single case (embedded) design. It is a single case study of client records from a global assistance provider of medical and security services for international travelers. The case study was embedded because it involved more than one unit of analysis. The case study included 17,071 records from two different subunits: 831 students studying abroad from 82 US universities and 16,240 US international assignees working for 889 US employers requesting assistance for health-related issues from the global service provider. The US client organizations included universities with study abroad programs and employers of different sizes and industries who have global mobility programs.

The hypotheses related to different diagnoses and outcomes based on RFAs while working or studying internationally were confirmed in spite of the fact the age and gender (important antecedents of morbidity) were controlled. Compared to international assignees, students are more likely to be diagnosed with behavioral health issues, more likely to be referred to a health provider (rather than being treated) and more likely to be evacuated/repatriated. This not only shows the importance of behavioral issues among students while studying abroad but also indicates that the corporate organizational support structures for international assignees are different than those universities provide to students.

This study assessed how RFAs by students studying abroad differed from international assignees working in corporate organizations. With this type of case study, the mode of generalization is “analytic” rather than “statistical.” In analytic generalization, the empirical results of the case study are compared to a previously developed theory (Yin, 2004, p. 38). As a result, the authors are striving to generalize the particular empirical results of students and international assignees to the broader institutional theory.

The research has implications for further research. First, these results can be replicated with other samples of students studying abroad. If replications result in similar findings, indicating that students have increased risk of being diagnosed with behavioral health conditions, this finding can be probed for a better understanding of both process and outcome. For instance, future research can delineate the specific behavioral health diagnoses the students are receiving, which can have important implications for behavioral health care providers, educational duty of care considerations, as well as direct future research in this area. An additional area of critical importance for future research will be elucidating the students’ systemic experience of increased stress associated by studying abroad, the subsequent psychological and physiological responses, as well as how students are impacted by this stress. There are also some systemic stresses that are unique to the study/work abroad context. Many of the administrative requirements (such as required paperwork for travel, visas, travel scholarships, funding, vaccinations, health care, etc.) are taken care of for international assignees by their employers through the global mobility division. They are not necessarily done by universities for their students. Students are largely responsible for these themselves although with some guidance through the study abroad program staff. Researchers can also examine how cultural adjustment models apply to students studying abroad. For instance, how might changes in anticipatory adjustment impact student development of behavioral health conditions, including both individual factors such as pre-travel training, as well as organizational factors such as selection systems designed to identify those that could need additional behavioral health support while they are abroad. Likewise, in-country adjustment can also be evaluated in future research to identify individual, organizational and cultural aspects that could be associated with increased behavioral health diagnoses in students. Such research can shed more light on this understudied population, illuminating the steps that university can take, with regard to duty of care concerns, to ensure students have safe and beneficial experiences abroad.

The population of corporate international assignees is emotionally more mature and more experienced in world travel and therefore more likely to be adaptable to the challenges of traveling and living abroad than the study abroad population of students. As more students enroll in study abroad programs, the absence of an infrastructure to support behavioral health issues at the time of enrollment, while on-site and upon return will only result in more exposure for both students and educational institutions. E-learning tools, and even anonymous student self-exams can assist in determining fitness for study abroad. Simultaneously, colleges and universities must educate their local and distant faculty/team leaders, host institutions as well as other students to recognize and react appropriately to a behavioral health crisis. Adherence to such a strategy will certainly help to mitigate the risk of a failed study abroad experience. Although this study is limited to US students traveling overseas, behavioral health is an issue with students globally. American institutions hosting foreign students should, therefore, re-evaluate their existing domestic resources to accommodate the psychological needs of their visiting international students. It is the authors recommendation that, prior to travel, students should develop greater self-awareness, with or without the assistance of a professional. Implementing these recommendations will move university duty of care practice from the “inform and prepare” to a higher level benchmark, commonly practiced in the corporate sector, of “assess, assist and protect.”

With regard to case outcomes, students had lower odds of experiencing severe outcomes, such as in- and out-patient care, than international assignees. Similarly, students had lower odds of being evacuated or repatriated than international assignees.

Provides an in‐depth description of the expatriate management practices of four Canadian multinationals in order to determine how closely Canadian practices correspond to the “best practices” described in the international HRM (IHRM) literature. Toward that end, reviews the IHRM literature. A qualitative study design was employed, in the form of a holistic multiple case study with four Canadian MNCs. Results indicated that, contrary to trends noted in the literature, the Canadian firms studied do not neglect expatriate management practices, although they do not fully implement such practices either – at least not to the extent advocated in the literature. The key explanation put forth is the lack of any systematic evaluation of these practices, which might have enabled shortcomings to be more readily recognized. The other key finding was that the participating firms relied extensively on expatriates to be proactive in managing various aspects of their own careers. Discusses implications.

As markets, economies and institutions are increasingly globalized, there is a growing understanding of the need to introduce intercultural learning alongside business learning. Participating in a study abroad program is potentially one of the most important experiences for any college student. Such programs provide students the opportunity to immerse themselves in different cultures and gain new perspectives. The purpose of this paper is threefold: to identify the main factors that students consider when selecting a program; to integrate quality function deployment (QFD), benchmarking and Hoshin Kanri in the analysis of student expectations and to examine the implications for research and practice.

The study was based on primary data collected from 180 students at four universities. To design an approach that helps students in the selection of a program that best satisfies their expectations, a self-designed questionnaire was used for data collection. The data were analyzed using the techniques of QFD/benchmarking. Finally, a long-term strategy is proposed based on the Hoshin Kanri theory.

The great variability in student expectations presents a challenge in designing a methodology of selection; however, it does help in identifying the most important student expectations. A key, balanced relationship among academic quality, having fun and cost cannot be ignored in this study because they represent the factors that are altogether influential in the decision to study abroad. In the current literature, the key variables of study abroad programs are discussed; however, most studies fail to incorporate student expectations. This paper will fill this gap by incorporating both key academic variables and the voice of the customer (student).

Given the diversity of the population, the authors developed several methodologies to standardize the array of student responses to the questionnaire. Using this standardization along with several total quality management (TQM) tools allows us to simplify and categorize the different student expectations. The gathering of students’ expectations directly provided by students (voice of the customer) allows international programs to focus on the real problems and expectations that have been acknowledged, thus yielding student satisfaction with their experience, most importantly, in their field of study.

For universities, the current study identifies new means by which to improve the quality of international programs with the use of TQM tools including QFD, benchmarking and the Hoshin Kanri Planning Process with an evidence-based real case.

This paper presents a conclusive application of QFD, benchmarking and Hoshin Kanri and an analysis of how these tools can help international programs with future improvements incorporating the needs of students in their programs. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first application of these techniques to improve the international experience for business undergraduate students.

The purpose of this study is to extend the Blevins et al. (2020) study by empirically examining the benefits of using a customized study abroad host-country provider (hereafter referred to as “SAA”) of logistical and other services that support non-native host country (hereafter referred to as non-indigenous) college of business study abroad educators. This study also makes a significant contribution by extending Strange and Gibson’s (2017) call by examining transformative learning experiences (TLEs), a high-impact practice, from educators’ and students’ perspectives of two types of study abroad experiences (i.e. one with and one without an SAA).

A mixed methods and multiple perspectives triangulation of the three studies (i.e. student survey, student-produced artifacts data and faculty interviews conducted in Canada, Spain and the UK) was used for this study to increase confidence in the findings by providing a comprehensive picture of the results. A mixed methodology provides rich, in-depth data for analysis as to how study abroad experience [hereafter referred to as experience(s) abroad] benefits from contracting with an SAA to work with a non-indigenous business course educator.

This study's findings demonstrate the positive impact of transformative learning from a short-term study abroad experience from contracting with an SAA.

Benefits of contracting with a host-country SAA are increased time and a reduction in the emotional toll on educators. Educators are free to provide memorable international business educational experiences abroad, resulting in student satisfaction and transformative learning.

The originality of this study is the mixed methods and multiple perspectives approach to the topic.

At Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, an annual short-term, research abroad non-credit program was created in 2012 as a core component of the undergraduate research initiative that achieves learning outcomes in a meaningful way. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

In order to describe, and analyze the short-term research abroad activity, an instrumental case study design was created. The instrumental case study was chosen as a means of allowing the facilitators/authors to communicate how they attempted to assure that the program was educative. In order to determine if the program was in fact educative and that it met its goal of being an effective research experience the authors utilized two additional research methods. The first was a document analysis of the participant’s research artifacts. Each participant was required to communicate their findings by writing a paper that was submitted for publication to an applicable research journal.

The study found that an experiential education as a pedagogical framework coupled with a short-term research abroad activity can lead to a substantive educative experience, where the authors described and analyzed attempts to ensure that the short-term research abroad program was educative, it also describes the educational assessment findings which describe what was found when the authors tested whether they, in fact, met this goal.

During the design phase of the short-term research abroad program, the authors turned to experiential education as a principle for how they would ensure that the program was grounded in an acceptable educational theory. Experiential education is a widely accepted educational practice used in experiences such as co-ops and internships, study abroad, undergraduate research and service learning.

To frame the short-term cultural research abroad program as something from which student could learn the authors utilized the National Society of Experiential Education’s (2013) list of eight principles of good practice. In order to safeguard that an activity is educative, an assessment or an evaluation of a demonstrative artifact is essential. In assessing the final artifact against a rubric or some other non-biased or less biased criteria, an educator can ensure that the student has gained new knowledge in the form of student learning outcomes (SLOs). In addition, the educator can use the results of this assessment to modify many different aspects of the experience ranging from the timing, the modality, the pre-work, even the learning outcomes themselves.

Given financial and curriculum inflexibility of some students, Universities and faculty could achieve attainment of research-based, program agnostic, SLOs by offering short-term study abroad alternatives to the traditional semester or year-long experiences. With graduates looking to enter the job market where businesses are more globalized and executive’s recognition of a need for more international experience, carefully constructed short-term study abroad programs are meaningful avenues to build those credentials.

Such offerings can be constructed as customized experiences to achieve highly integrated skills across all degree programs.