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The export of accountancy education to South East Asia has grown rapidly for a number of Australian universities. This study describes the experience of one university in establishing both a twinning degree programme and a completely off‐shore degree programme in accountancy. Using a case study methodology, the perceptions, experiences and actions of those managing such off‐shore programmes are related. The philosophy underlying off‐shore programmes, together with the pedagogical approaches used, are discussed. Initial concerns about dealing with the anecdotal stereotype Asian student have been addressed, and the Asian students have, in general, achieved comparable results to the Australian students. Some modifications to the degree programmes have been made to allow for local differences but the fundamental principle of offering the same degree as that offered in Australia has been strictly adhered to.

This paper aims to examine how a combination of legitimacy needs and actions (LNAs) can shed light on the legitimacy behaviour of private higher education institutions (PHEIs) operating in an institutional business environment that is witnessing significant public–private sector role reversal. The legitimacy process is promoted as an exemplar to inform the increasing number of public–private sector role reversals in the utility, transportation, health and telecommunication sectors.

Based on empirical evidence, this paper triangulates data from archival policy announcements, retrospective case studies and face-to-face interviews. A replication logic methodology was used to establish LNAs and categorized themes.

The findings show that market, relational, investment, alliance and social legitimacy needs are crucial drivers for PHEIs when hybridizing their legitimacy practices, especially during critical phases of institutional reform. The proposed conceptual framework demonstrates how the legitimacy construction process is the result of internal development and external validation.

In providing some empirical descriptions and generalizations, the model makes limited attempt to determine with any specificity how PHEIs interact with their institutional environment, beyond a process of data triangulation.

The proposed LNA framework is especially relevant in industries where the government has historically been a major institutional stakeholder, but where market liberalization is leading to increasingly active participation by the private sector. Findings can help PHEIs deal with reform policies by establishing deep and varied expertise inside their organizations and through links with international universities, industries and government agencies enable knowledge exchange, transfer, partnerships and the development of alliance capitalism.

This study provides a more comprehensive approach for theorizing the interrelatedness and embeddedness of organizations with common business and institutional demand factors and linkages and their changing roles, particularly the multi-scale impacts of LNAs on legitimacy sustainability.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the major transition issues experienced by first-year students in Malaysia. In so doing, the authors compare the findings to those drawn from western contexts.

This study applied a focus group method, conducting seven focus groups with a total of 35 business students.

This study identified five skills that are central to quick adaptation to university learning: independent learning, research, time management, English and critical thinking. Unlike findings in the western literature, the findings of this study do not indicate social aspect as a major adjustment issue.

The generalisability of the findings is limited due to the study’s small sample size. To overcome this, future researchers should consider a national study using a survey-based research method. To test whether students in a relationship-based culture are less prone to challenges related to social aspects in their transitions into university, cross-national or cross-cultural studies are needed.

The study’s findings point to the need for Malaysia’s universities to strengthen their transition programmes, and proactively form closer relationships with high schools to help their students identify suitable courses and develop their curricula.

This study highlights the inadequacy of private education in bridging the gap between high schools and private university education in Malaysia. As most first-year-experience studies have used western samples, this study provides much needed data addressing the development of higher education and its relationship with the school systems of developing countries.

The purpose of this paper is to increase knowledge of the key drivers, and challenges, of the internationalization of Higher Education (HE), especially in the transitioning economy of Vietnam.

An exploratory qualitative research design used semi-structured interviews. Nine senior institutional leaders from five Vietnamese universities were interviewed. Thematic analysis, informed by the literature, was undertaken on English-translated transcripts.

The findings shared senior HE leader perspectives on how internationalization of HE in Vietnam was being conceptualized and operationalized, as well as insights as to how these processes might be improved. Further research to monitor the success of internationalization processes in Vietnam, and beyond, is recommended.

This was an exploratory qualitative study including nine interviews with senior HE leaders from Vietnamese Universities. Exploratory findings only are shared.

No previous studies exploring internationalization of HE in Vietnam have been located. Vietnam is a nation in economic transition from a state-based to market-driven economy, and is different culturally, economically and socially, to its Asian neighbors. Internationalizing HE is considered essential to the global integration and development of Vietnam.

Existing business marketing theory often overstates the importance of competitive positioning when undertaking market entry strategy, although most theory acknowledge the need to develop strategies based on an analysis of the market structure. Indeed, as business marketers offering distance learning, universities are quick to embrace competitive positioning based on an analysis of the market structure. The same level of enthusiasm, however, has not been shown on network positioning based on an analysis of the network structure. Understanding and applying network positioning could confer a different but equally important perspective impacting on the market entry strategies of a university. This article attempts to fill these gaps and demonstrate its application in the context of Australian universities planning to enter the Malaysian distance learning education market, with local colleges acting as intermediaries.

Sustainable water management has been a trending goal in the past decade. Non-revenue water (NRW) is one form of water loss that should be addressed to reach water sustainability. While rehabilitating water distribution networks (WDNs) is one way to decrease NRW, the process is often delayed owing to cost. Therefore, it is essential to provide decision-makers with cost-effective approaches to optimize WDN rehabilitation. This study aims to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of approaches for rehabilitating WDN from developing countries’ perspectives.

A systematic literature review was first conducted to identify different WDN rehabilitation methods and techniques to develop the questionnaire survey. This is followed by collecting questionnaire survey data in Malaysia and Egypt on the cost and effectiveness of the WDN rehabilitation methods and techniques. A total of 176 respondents were collected, 109 from Malaysia and 67 from Egypt. Then, the data were analyzed using mean score ranking with normalization technique and agreement analysis.

The results from the data analysis show that the cost-effective approaches are “programming,” “simulation,” “digital twin” and “supervisory control and data acquisition.” Additionally, the data from Malaysia suggest two additional cost-effective approaches: “zoning network” and “genetic algorithm.”

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper presents one of the first studies that laterally compares the cost-effectiveness of existing and potential WDN rehabilitation approaches between different countries. There is yet a study that compared these WDN rehabilitation approaches. This comparison which is developed depending on the systematic review could be a reference for future studies or surveys which could be done on different countries in the future. The main findings of this paper can be a useful reference for decision-makers, especially those from middle-income countries, when looking into approaches for WDN rehabilitation. A better WDN rehabilitation supports NRW reduction, moving towards sustainable water management.

The research aims to provide the basis for a better understanding of the internationalization of higher education in Vietnam. First, it examines Vietnam's higher education reforms and policy/ legal frameworks for the promotion of internationalization since the implementation of Doi Moi in 1986. Secondly, it analyzes the internationalization activities at the national and institutional levels. At both levels, the internationalization activities are categorized into internationalization at home and cross borders (Knight, 2012). Finally, the paper discusses the challenges Vietnamese HE is facing and presents policy directions.

This study employs a case study research strategy to examine and gain understanding of internationalization of higher education in Vietnam as a phenomenon. The study collected detailed information using a variety of data collection procedures over a period of time. First, it analyzes Vietnam's higher education reforms as well as policy and legal framework for the promotion of internationalization. Then, using Knight's framework, the study analyzed the internationalization at home and crossborder educational activities at the national and institutional levels. At the national level, strategic policy goals and programs were explored. Then, it chose Vietnam National University- Hanoi as a institutional case to learn its institutional strategies on cross border programs and mobility, reputation building, research cooperation.

Vietnam has continuously reformed its legal and policy framework of higher education to better integrate into the global higher education market and also to meet the national demand for economic development. Predominant rationale for Vietnam to engage in crossborder programs is for brain development, specifically in the academics and public sector. Meanwhile internationalization at home is driven by (1) international programs and universities and (2) initiative to enhance competitiveness of its higher education institutes. Vietnam hosts different models of international universities, including classical, satellite and co-founded. However, issues and challenges remain, such as poor lack of systematic cooperation and coordination at the governmental level, retaining talents, and finally finances.

Written for the special edition on Internationalization of Higher Education in the Era of SDGs: Asia–Pacific Perspective, the study aims to provide a basis for understanding the current situation of internationalization higher education in Vietnam and how it compares to its partners in the region. This study is unique as it provides a two-layer analysis, at the national and institutional levels capturing macro and micro perspectives in one scene. In addition, this study includes rich empirical data, which was rare in previous literature due to limited access.

There is a considerable competition within the global education marketplace, as can be seen by the growing number of higher education providers. Significant changes to information and communication technologies (ICTs) have also supported dramatic opportunities for distance and online education. This transformation, in combination with a growing demand for continuing professional education and strengthened demands by employers for tailored education and training, has caused significant shifts in higher education. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of three relevant trends within higher education. The paper explores: the significant changes in ICTs and their support for enhanced distance and online learning opportunities; the growing demand for continuing professional management education; and the strengthened demand by employers for tailored education and training.

The paper reviews current literature on higher education trends in the areas of globalisation, virtualisation and borderlessness. The impact of these trends is specifically examined relative to management education.

The paper discusses the implications of higher education trends on curriculum, teaching and administration in management education.

This paper brings together a significant amount of information from various sources to provide a coherent resource about management education trends and the implication of these trends on the future provision of management education.

To provide evidence on the establishment of the internal audit function in the higher education institutions in Malaysia and also to obtain the perceptions of the management of the higher education institutions towards the role and scope of the internal audit.

Sample consisted of 17 public universities and 49 private universities in Malaysia and variables used by Gordon and Fischer were adopted for this study.

The findings revealed that a substantial number of private institutions of higher education do not have an internal audit function. The study also indicates that the management of both types of institutions have similar perceptions on the role of internal auditors and the important audit areas as there are no significant differences between public and private institutions of higher education.

The main limitation of this study is that it only examines whether the scope of internal audit covers the areas mentioned by treasury circular or the IIA Guideline. It ignored the extent to which the higher education institutions comply with both guidelines. It is, therefore, suggested that future research could consider the degree of compliance to the above guidelines. The difference in the role of internal auditing between the education sector and other industries represents an interesting area for further research. Also, since this study only focuses on the perceptions of the management and the internal auditor themselves, the perception of other parties such as regulators and the audit committee on the role of internal audit in institutions of higher education will be an interesting area to explore for future research.

The failure to establish an internal audit function in the private universities calls for government intervention to ensure the existence of an internal audit function in the private sector higher education institutions.

The findings of this paper will be important in further refining the scope of the internal audit function in the higher educations institutions in Malaysia, especially to policymakers concerned with regulations governing the internal audit function.

This study aims to construct a system of indicators for measuring the internationalization of universities allowing comparative self-assessment by universities in Asia.

To achieve the aforementioned research purpose, the authors conducted three surveys and held an expert roundtable discussion. Two surveys were conducted, one in Japan and the other in Asia, to identify important indicators for measuring the internationalization of universities. Additionally, a survey of experts was conducted to identify effective indicators for benchmarking internationalization among universities in Asia. An analysis of each survey was examined during the roundtable discussion, and a system of internationalization indicators was constructed.

The three survey results showed similarities and differences between the relative importance accorded to 53 internationalization indicators by universities in Japan and in other Asian countries, as well as in the experts' perspectives on the effectiveness of each indicator for benchmarking. An analysis of those surveys resulted in 24 core internationalization indicators categorized into six key dimensions of university internationalization.

This study proposed a system of internationalization indicators based on an analysis of empirical research targeting universities in Asia. The resulting system reflects not only the opinions of academic experts but also the perspectives of its potential users, administrators in Asian universities. It consists of six internationalization dimensions with a manageable number of indicators, 24. These include both quantitative indicators and checklists of internationalization activities which can be used as quantitative or qualitative indicators.