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Background Note | HBS Case Collection | October 2015

Higher Education in China: Internationalization in Turbulent Times

by William C. Kirby and Joycelyn W. Eby

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Abstract

The rapid growth in quantity and quality of universities in China since 1978 is the most recent evolution in a long history of higher education. From as early as the Tang Dynasty, academies existed to prepare scholars for the civil service examination, but by the Republican period, higher learning was dominated by a host of well-regarded, cosmopolitan, comprehensive universities. In 1952, these institutions were reorganized according to the Soviet model and remained highly specialized until the resurgence of comprehensive institutions after 1978. This background note describes this history and then elaborates on the system of higher education since 2000, focusing on university governance, funding, faculty policy, admissions systems, and internationalization. It concludes by looking at the tightening of ideological control in universities in 2013 and 2014 and reflects on the potential for China to establish "world-class" universities.

Keywords: higher education; China; history; non-profit management; university administration; university faculty; university curriculum; education reform; Nonprofit Organizations; Higher Education; Education Industry; China;

Language: English Format: Print 33 pages EducatorsPurchase

Citation:

Kirby, William C., and Joycelyn W. Eby. "Higher Education in China: Internationalization in Turbulent Times." Harvard Business School Background Note 316-066, October 2015.

About the Author

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William C. Kirby
T. M. Chang Professor of China Studies, Spangler Family Professor of Business Administration
General Management

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More from the Author

  • Supplement | HBS Case Collection | January 2018 (Revised May 2018)

    Wanxiang Group: A Chinese Company's Global Strategy (C)

    William C. Kirby and Yuanzhuo Wang

    This case updates Wanxiang Group's activities since 2012, focusing on its electric vehicle strategy and a transition of the group's leadership.

    Keywords: electric vehicles; leadership succession; Strategy; Management Succession; Global Range; Auto Industry; United States; China;

    Citation:

    Kirby, William C., and Yuanzhuo Wang. "Wanxiang Group: A Chinese Company's Global Strategy (C)." Harvard Business School Supplement 318-091, January 2018. (Revised May 2018.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsPurchase Related
  • Case | HBS Case Collection | February 2018 (Revised April 2018)

    Yunnan Baiyao: Transforming a Chinese State-Owned Enterprise

    Michael Chu, William C. Kirby, Nancy Hua Dai and Yuanzhuo Wang

    This case tells the story of how Wang Minghui, Chairman of Yunnan Baiyao Group since 1999, transformed a single-product traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) state-owned enterprise (SOE) into a major diversified consumer health player in China's highly competitive fast-moving consumer goods market. The case also traces the development of the company from a private business to a SOE and then to a SOE under mixed state-private ownership.

    Keywords: state-owned enterprise (SOE); competition; traditional chinese medicine; Yunnan; Yunnan Baiyao; consumer health; enterprise transformation; Transformation; Health; Business History; State Ownership; Private Ownership; Business Strategy; Commercialization; Competition; Consumer Products Industry; Health Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry; China;

    Citation:

    Chu, Michael, William C. Kirby, Nancy Hua Dai, and Yuanzhuo Wang. "Yunnan Baiyao: Transforming a Chinese State-Owned Enterprise." Harvard Business School Case 318-078, February 2018. (Revised April 2018.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsEducators Related
  • Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2018 (Revised March 2018)

    Wenzhou Kangning Hospital: Changing Mental Healthcare in China

    William C. Kirby, Wei Zhang, Yuanzhuo Wang and Nancy Hua Dai

    The city of Wenzhou in the Province of Zhejiang, long known in China for entrepreneurship, now hosts the country’s largest privately owned mental health hospital group. This case traces the development of Wenzhou Kangning Hospital Co, Ltd. from founding to just before its initial public offering to illustrate the extraordinary entrepreneurship happening in China’s healthcare space. It highlights the challenges of China’s mental health sector and the means company founder Guan Weili employed to address some of them. How will the hospital grow in the future?

    Keywords: mental health; hospital; IPO; China; Zhejiang; Wenzhou; private healthcare; private hospital; Health Care and Treatment; Private Ownership; Corporate Governance; Growth and Development; Entrepreneurship; Health Industry; China;

    Citation:

    Kirby, William C., Wei Zhang, Yuanzhuo Wang, and Nancy Hua Dai. "Wenzhou Kangning Hospital: Changing Mental Healthcare in China." Harvard Business School Case 318-054, January 2018. (Revised March 2018.)  View Details
    CiteView DetailsEducatorsPurchase Related
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