This study discusses the purpose, process and practice of quality assurance in transnational education (TNE) wherein institutions in one country award their degrees to students studying in another. This arrangement raises the issue of how the quality and standards of the degree programmes are assured so that they enable the programmes delivered in one country to be considered as being of a comparable quality and standard to those delivered in another. The study explores how the cross-national implementation of quality assurance is conducted and perceived by those engaged in it and the challenges such activity faces. Using data collected via structured interviews in Sri Lanka and the UK, the study examines the perceptions of participants in TNE collaboration. The analysis is undertaken within a conceptual framework developed from inter-firm relationship and supply chain management theories. The concept of “relational capital”, and its creation through socialisation activity, is proposed as a key factor in understanding TNE. A further body of literature is explored, that of inter-cultural communication and inter-cultural competence. The study contributes to the literature on TNE and internationalisation by identifying a tension between the financial drivers behind TNE and the resource intensive activities required to build relational capital. The findings are developed into a conceptual model for quality assurance in TNE, which can be used in the planning, management and evaluation of TNE and is designed to develop relational capital through the relational and inter-cultural competences of those engaged in such work. Through such a development, it is argued, quality assurance in TNE can move away from a process of enforced compliance with the prevailing quality assurance processes to one driven by a shared quality culture in which capacity building in the partner institutions of TNE can be achieved.

<p><strong>Syfte:</strong> Studien avser ta reda på:</p><ul><li>Om det finns ett internationellt gångbart ledarskap </li><li>Eller om det krävs nationella anpassningar </li><li>Vad eventuella anpassningar beror på</li><li>Vad som kännetecknar en respekterad internationell ledare</li></ul><p><strong>Metod: </strong>Studien är baserad på sju kvalitativa djupintervjuer, som analyserats med hjälp av kulturdimensions- och ledarskapsteorier. Intervjuerna har sammanställts i en matris, för att bli överskådligare. Nyckelord och samband har därefter markerats för att hitta gemensamma teman.</p><p><strong>Resultat & slutsats: </strong>Fyra huvudresultat har framkommit:</p><ul><li>Det internationella ledarskapet finns</li><li>Dock krävs vissa kulturella anpassningar</li><li>De mest utmärkande skillnaderna mellan Sverige och Singapore är, hur personer motiveras, hur man kommunicerar effektivast och hur problem löses och arbetet struktureras</li><li>Den effektiva ledaren är bl a målfokuserad, en bra kommunikatör och lyhörd</li></ul><p><strong>Förslag till fortsatt forskning:</strong></p><ul><li>Utöka studien med att innefatta enkäter, fler djupintervjuer eller observationer, för att få ett bättre statistiskt underlag </li><li>Studien kan göras på fler länder</li><li>Studera flera stora internationella ledares egenskaper </li><li>Intervjua ledarnas medarbetare för att få ett bredare material i ämnet</li></ul><p><strong>Uppsatsens bidrag: </strong>Uppsatsen visar på att nationella anpassningar behöver göras, för att bli en framgångsrik internationell ledare. Den visar på vilka anpassningar som behöver göras i Singapore, men för övriga länder krävs att kunskap inhämtas. Studien bör därmed kunna användas som diskussionsunderlag för svenska företag som ska skicka ledare utomlands.</p> / <p><strong>Aim: </strong>The aim of the study is to find out:</p><ul><li>If the international leadership exists</li><li>If the leadership has to be adjusted to cultural needs</li><li>What is the reason behind the adjustments of the leadership</li><li>What distinguish a respected international leader from a none respected </li></ul><p><strong>Method:</strong> I have interviewed seven Swedish leaders in Singapore to find the answers to the above questions. The material has then been concluded by using a matrix. Connections between the interviews have been found by studying the matrix. The analysis is based on these connections and the leadership and culture difference theories.</p><p><strong>Result & Conclusions: </strong>The result of the thesis are:</p><ul><li>The international leadership exists, but cultural adjustments have to be done of the leadership</li><li>The largest differences between Sweden and Singapore are, the way people are motivated, how they communicate and how the work is organised </li><li>The differences come of large differences in Hofstede's culture dimensions, Power distance index and Masculinity </li></ul><p><strong>Suggestions for future research:</strong></p><ul><li>The study could be based on more interviews, a survey or on observations, to get a better statistical material</li><li>It could be done on more countries</li><li>More great international leaders can be studied to find their qualifications </li><li>Interview the employees to get their opinion on the thesis’ subject</li></ul><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Contribution of the thesis: </strong>The study shows that adjustments have to be made. It can therefore be of interest to be used by Swedish companies that are sending leaders abroad.</p>

Syfte: Studien avser ta reda på: Om det finns ett internationellt gångbart ledarskap Eller om det krävs nationella anpassningar Vad eventuella anpassningar beror på Vad som kännetecknar en respekterad internationell ledare Metod: Studien är baserad på sju kvalitativa djupintervjuer, som analyserats med hjälp av kulturdimensions- och ledarskapsteorier. Intervjuerna har sammanställts i en matris, för att bli överskådligare. Nyckelord och samband har därefter markerats för att hitta gemensamma teman. Resultat &amp; slutsats: Fyra huvudresultat har framkommit: Det internationella ledarskapet finns Dock krävs vissa kulturella anpassningar De mest utmärkande skillnaderna mellan Sverige och Singapore är, hur personer motiveras, hur man kommunicerar effektivast och hur problem löses och arbetet struktureras Den effektiva ledaren är bl a målfokuserad, en bra kommunikatör och lyhörd Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Utöka studien med att innefatta enkäter, fler djupintervjuer eller observationer, för att få ett bättre statistiskt underlag Studien kan göras på fler länder Studera flera stora internationella ledares egenskaper Intervjua ledarnas medarbetare för att få ett bredare material i ämnet Uppsatsens bidrag: Uppsatsen visar på att nationella anpassningar behöver göras, för att bli en framgångsrik internationell ledare. Den visar på vilka anpassningar som behöver göras i Singapore, men för övriga länder krävs att kunskap inhämtas. Studien bör därmed kunna användas som diskussionsunderlag för svenska företag som ska skicka ledare utomlands. / Aim: The aim of the study is to find out: If the international leadership exists If the leadership has to be adjusted to cultural needs What is the reason behind the adjustments of the leadership What distinguish a respected international leader from a none respected Method: I have interviewed seven Swedish leaders in Singapore to find the answers to the above questions. The material has then been concluded by using a matrix. Connections between the interviews have been found by studying the matrix. The analysis is based on these connections and the leadership and culture difference theories. Result &amp; Conclusions: The result of the thesis are: The international leadership exists, but cultural adjustments have to be done of the leadership The largest differences between Sweden and Singapore are, the way people are motivated, how they communicate and how the work is organised The differences come of large differences in Hofstede's culture dimensions, Power distance index and Masculinity Suggestions for future research: The study could be based on more interviews, a survey or on observations, to get a better statistical material It could be done on more countries More great international leaders can be studied to find their qualifications Interview the employees to get their opinion on the thesis’ subject   Contribution of the thesis: The study shows that adjustments have to be made. It can therefore be of interest to be used by Swedish companies that are sending leaders abroad.

This study investigates the values that the print media place on human lives in an international context. This was conducted by examining the coverage of death in international news. Although the research literature shows a number of studies that examined the coverage of death, this particular study differs from previous studies because all such previous research has had either a narrow focus or shortcomings in their research methods. In this context, this study is a comprehensive evaluation of how newspapers cover death in foreign news. By focussing on quality newspapers in Germany and Australia, namely the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the Süddeutsche, The Australian and the Sydney Morning Herald, the study identified the differences in the coverage of death in these newspapers. In particular the study examined whether these newspapers gave preference in any form to reports of death from countries that were culturally similar as opposed to countries that were culturally dissimilar countries. The study further examined and highlighted the basis on which journalists in Germany and Australia made news decisions about whether or not to cover foreign events that included death and what criteria informed their news decisions. By applying a cultural framework developed especially for the purpose of examining international news, the study found clear evidence that journalists primarily look for a cultural connection to their own country in making news judgments in regard to foreign news coverage. The framework used in this study was based on the following four cultural dimensions: world views, value systems, systems of social organisation and systems of symbolic representation. In this regard, an event in which a large number of people have died, but which is located in a country that does not have many links along these dimensions with the newspaper’s home country will not necessarily rate very highly. In contrast, an event involving a few dead people would rate highly if the event occurred in a country with which the newspaper’s home country has many links along the four dimensions. In this regard, issues such as news fatigue, also called compassion fatigue, can be overcome by a cultural connection to another country. Differences in how German and Australian quality newspapers treated stories about foreign death, both in the use of language and the use of photographs, were also examined in detail. In this regard, Australian newspapers were found to display relatively more tabloid characteristics than German newspapers, with clear differences in the language used when describing death. Differences in the use of graphic photographs were not as clear, though distinctions could still be made to a certain degree across national lines. In general, journalists’ approaches to how they treated death could also be traced back to some distinct cultural differences between Germany and Australia.