Enhancing of internationalisation in Higher education institutions is investigated in the dissertation, with the priority given to human resource management. The intercultural competence is identified as an instrument for complex improvement of internationalisation: its perspectives quantitative and qualitative results. The theoretical and empirical research results are summarised in the concept of HEIs’ internationalisation proposed, which is based on the idea of human resource intercultural competence development. / Darbe nagrinėjamos aukštojo mokslo institucijų veiklos internacionalizavimo tobulinimo problemos, prioritetizuojant žmonių išteklių vadybą. Analizuojama aukštojo mokslo institucijų internacionalizavimo samprata, subjektai ir veiksniai sąlygojantys internacionalizavimo plėtrą, bei kokybinius ir kiekybinius parametrus. Atliktų teorinių ir empirinių tyrimų rezultatai yra apibendrinami pateikiamoje aukštojo mokslo institucijų internacionalizavimo koncepcijoje, grįstoje aukštojo mokslo institucijų žmonių išteklių tarpkultūrinės kompetencijos formavimu. Darbe patiekiami sprendimai siūlomai koncepcijai realizuoti.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in food retailing has generated a considerable amount of attention in both the media and the business world throughout the 199Os, with a strong focus on Asian and Central and Eastern European countries. Among these countries, China is a key player and a nation that no international retailers can afford to ignore due to its population size of 1.2 billion and its rapid economic development. Food retailers from different parts of the world have been keen to use their modern retail concepts and technology to seek expansion opportunities in China. Consequently, two important questions emerge: What does the process of FDI in food retailing entail? Is the retail and distribution market in China easily entered? Regarding the first question, substantial research effort has been vested in this topic. However, a conceptual framework that incorporates the whole scope and complexity of the process is still lacking. For the second question, a prudent scrutiny reveals that foreign food retailers are confronted with a lot of complications due to the legacy of the previous command economy and the unique Chinese social and business structure. The thesis develops an analytical model in which critical variables, and their logical relationships, are used to analyse and explain the process of FDI of food retailers in the contemporary era, using China as the domain for the empirical work. Methodologically, the study adopts a qualitative approach using case studies with thirteen foreign food retailers in China. The research focuses on three main areas: long-term strategic objectives behind retail international expansion, market entry issues, and retail operational issues. Firstly, the long-term strategic objectives that underlie retailers’ undertaking of foreign direct investment are investigated. Evidence shows that the prevailing concept of reactive retail internationalisation and the tenet of psychic distance do not fully reflect the reality of retail internationalisation. Secondly, three issues related to market entry are explored. The first issue is the legal and regulatory infrastructures that foreign retailers face when entering China. The second issue is the selection of Chinese partners, managing partner relationships and the share of managerial control. The third issue is the technical and political procedures of site selection and store development. The empirical work reveals that the lack of a systematic and well-developed legal system complicates the process of foreign direct investment and having a Chinese partner who possesses the appropriate guanxi network alleviates the problem. Furthermore, the exercise of dominant control over operational and managerial issues is practised by the foreign retailers in their joint ventures. Significant conflicts between partners appear not to exist under such an arrangement. On the other hand, political procedures of site selection and store development are found to be onerous. In terms of technical procedures, respondents reported that the methods that are being used in developed countries are not entirely applicable in China. The third area on which the research focuses is operational issues that foreign food retailers confront in the host countries. These include supply chain management; adjustment and adaptation; and development of human resources. Findings suggest that there are two types of retail know-how: core and peripheral. No changes to core elements should be made in the overseas operation so that the uniqueness of the individual retailer is preserved. Adjustments, however, have to be made to peripheral elements in order to match particularities of local consumer demand. A learningoriented culture within a retail organisation is found to be an important underlying element that contributes significantly towards successful retail internationalisation. Taking a holistic perspective, the foreign direct investment behaviour in the retailing sector and the manufacturing sector, from which the prevailing foreign direct investment theories were developed, appear to be very different. The foreign direct investment behaviour of retailers seems to be better explained and understood within a framework that emphasises market power seeking, stresses the dynamics of different elements that constitute retail know-how, and underscores the notion of knowledge accumulation and utilisation.

Cette thèse s'inscrit dans le domaine de l'internationalisation de la distribution. Son objectif est d'expliquer les facteurs de succès ou d'échec de la filiale étrangère du distributeur international. L'analyse de la littérature met en évidence l'existence d'une large palette de perspectives théoriques divergentes. Afin de construire un cadre conceptuel cohérent, notre travail se fonde sur un modèle intégré d'origine industrielle combinant les approches SCP (" Structure-Conduct-Performance "), RBV (" Resource-Based-View ") et la théorie des capacités dynamiques de la firme, que nous adaptons aux spécificités de la distribution. Le modèle est construit et présenté à partir du concept central de " compétences-clés ", appliqué au distributeur, il s'agit de comprendre de quelle manière les compétences clés de la filiale internationale de distribution influencent ses choix stratégiques et sa performance. Cette recherche nous conduit à clarifier une série de notions ayant un lien étroit avec les compétences-clés. Nous pouvons observer indirectement les " compétences-clés " du distributeur international au travers des activités et capacités distinctives de sa filiale dans un pays donné. Le terrain choisi est la Chine, qui, tant par sa taille que par sa vitesse de développement économique et commercial, représente un véritable laboratoire des transformations à l'oeuvre dans les pays émergents. En termes de méthodologie, nous avons retenu une approche qualitative basée sur la " Grounded Theory ". Les résultats, obtenus par l'analyse des entretiens de vingt un dirigeants de filiale étrangère font apparaître d'une part, que la typologie des compétences-clés de la filiale du distributeur international repose sur deux types de compétences: les compétences de base et les compétences architecturales, d'autre part, le modèle intégré emprunté au domaine industriel est validé dans le domaine de la distribution sachant que les facteurs environnementaux jouent dans ce dernier cas un rôle plus important.

SMEs are important for a country's economy, since they provide benefits such as entrepreneurship, employment, exports and productivity to an economy. An economy that shows substantial growth is usually characterised by a strong and growing SME sector. South African SMEs need to grow to create jobs and benefit the South African economy. One way that SMEs can become strong and grow is through internationalisation. Firms are internationalising faster than ever before (because of advances in telecommunications and transportation) and internationalisation theories that can provide practical guidance to firms are more important today than in the past. The motivation of the study was to identify the areas that the South African government can develop in order to transform the economy into an emerging economy that can be on par with the BRIC countries. SMEs make up a large part of the BRICS economies and they grow through exports. In order to be on par with the BRIC countries, it is necessary to compare South African exporting and non–exporting SMEs with those in the BRIC countries. This will help to identify areas where South African SMEs' competitiveness can improve, especially in South–South trade. The competitiveness of SMEs involved in exporting also tends to improve. Therefore, if SMEs' competitiveness improves, it may be less risky for them to internationalise, which can lead to them being able to export more successfully, grow as a result of exporting and so contribute to employment. The primary objective of the study was to make a comparison between the characteristics of internationalising SMEs in South Africa and the BRICS countries. Data was obtained from the World Bank Enterprise surveys to conduct an empirical analysis on firms in the BRICS countries. The empirical analysis provided descriptive statistics on internationalising firms and SMEs in the BRICS countries. The descriptive statistics was used to make a comparison between the characteristics of internationalising SMEs in the BRICS countries (primary objective). South Africa has the highest percentage of exporting SMEs, followed by India, Brazil, Russia and China. China had the most exporting SMEs with an internationally recognised certification. The top managers of Chinese exporting SMEs are higher educated than those in India and South Africa. SMEs in Russia internationalise at by far the youngest age and thus are likely to follow the rapid international theories. South African SMEs had the highest average age, meaning that SMEs first are established in the domestic market before they internationalise through exports. Internationalisation has become an important strategy for firms that want to achieve further growth, but it is also very tough to survive in the international market. An interesting finding of this study was that the two obstacles South Africa had in the top 5 namely, crime, theft and disorder, and electricity were not a top 5 obstacle for any of the other BRIC countries. Another objective of the study was to empirically determine the characteristics of internationalising SMEs in South Africa. SMEs in South Africa are more likely to internationalise through exports if they are, amongst others, older (longer established in the domestic market), have a larger market share in the South African domestic market, have a top manager with experience and a higher education level (some university training minimum) and have less competitors in the South African domestic market. The comparison between the characteristics of internationalising SMEs of the BRICS countries provided several lessons for the South African government and exporting SMEs. The areas or aspects that the South African government need to develop in order to transform the economy into an emerging economy that can compete with the BRIC countries, include assisting SMEs in exporting at an earlier age, improving the education levels of top managers in SMEs, increasing the national market share of SMEs and lessening, or even eliminating, obstacles like crime, theft and disorder as well as electricity. These aspects, together with the characteristics of internationalising SMEs in South Africa, are vital to improve SME competitiveness. Therefore, if SMEs' competitiveness improves, then it may be less risky for them to internationalise, which can lead to them being able to export more successfully, grow as a result of exporting and so contribute to employment. / Thesis (M.Com. (International Trade))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

SMEs are important for a country's economy, since they provide benefits such as entrepreneurship, employment, exports and productivity to an economy. An economy that shows substantial growth is usually characterised by a strong and growing SME sector. South African SMEs need to grow to create jobs and benefit the South African economy. One way that SMEs can become strong and grow is through internationalisation. Firms are internationalising faster than ever before (because of advances in telecommunications and transportation) and internationalisation theories that can provide practical guidance to firms are more important today than in the past. The motivation of the study was to identify the areas that the South African government can develop in order to transform the economy into an emerging economy that can be on par with the BRIC countries. SMEs make up a large part of the BRICS economies and they grow through exports. In order to be on par with the BRIC countries, it is necessary to compare South African exporting and non–exporting SMEs with those in the BRIC countries. This will help to identify areas where South African SMEs' competitiveness can improve, especially in South–South trade. The competitiveness of SMEs involved in exporting also tends to improve. Therefore, if SMEs' competitiveness improves, it may be less risky for them to internationalise, which can lead to them being able to export more successfully, grow as a result of exporting and so contribute to employment. The primary objective of the study was to make a comparison between the characteristics of internationalising SMEs in South Africa and the BRICS countries. Data was obtained from the World Bank Enterprise surveys to conduct an empirical analysis on firms in the BRICS countries. The empirical analysis provided descriptive statistics on internationalising firms and SMEs in the BRICS countries. The descriptive statistics was used to make a comparison between the characteristics of internationalising SMEs in the BRICS countries (primary objective). South Africa has the highest percentage of exporting SMEs, followed by India, Brazil, Russia and China. China had the most exporting SMEs with an internationally recognised certification. The top managers of Chinese exporting SMEs are higher educated than those in India and South Africa. SMEs in Russia internationalise at by far the youngest age and thus are likely to follow the rapid international theories. South African SMEs had the highest average age, meaning that SMEs first are established in the domestic market before they internationalise through exports. Internationalisation has become an important strategy for firms that want to achieve further growth, but it is also very tough to survive in the international market. An interesting finding of this study was that the two obstacles South Africa had in the top 5 namely, crime, theft and disorder, and electricity were not a top 5 obstacle for any of the other BRIC countries. Another objective of the study was to empirically determine the characteristics of internationalising SMEs in South Africa. SMEs in South Africa are more likely to internationalise through exports if they are, amongst others, older (longer established in the domestic market), have a larger market share in the South African domestic market, have a top manager with experience and a higher education level (some university training minimum) and have less competitors in the South African domestic market. The comparison between the characteristics of internationalising SMEs of the BRICS countries provided several lessons for the South African government and exporting SMEs. The areas or aspects that the South African government need to develop in order to transform the economy into an emerging economy that can compete with the BRIC countries, include assisting SMEs in exporting at an earlier age, improving the education levels of top managers in SMEs, increasing the national market share of SMEs and lessening, or even eliminating, obstacles like crime, theft and disorder as well as electricity. These aspects, together with the characteristics of internationalising SMEs in South Africa, are vital to improve SME competitiveness. Therefore, if SMEs' competitiveness improves, then it may be less risky for them to internationalise, which can lead to them being able to export more successfully, grow as a result of exporting and so contribute to employment. / Thesis (M.Com. (International Trade))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

The leisure industry has been one of the fastest growing industries in Britain (Grade, 1998), and in the year 2000 accounted for approximately 10% of Britain's gross domestic product (LeisureWeek, 2000a). Health clubs have been one of the fastest developing business sectors within the leisure industry (Mintel, 1999), and there is predicted to be plenty of scope for future growth (Mintel, 2001). The health club sector has evolved greatly since its inception, with developments including consolidation, diversification, bi-polarisation and market segmentation. One of the most recent trends in the sector has been intenationalisation, with fifteen British companies now having a presence overseas. This research seeks to analyse the process by which the British health club sector has developed from being purely domestic based to having significant overseas investment. A number of stages within that process are identified including the motives to internationalise, the choice of country, the mode of entry utilised and the management and co-ordination of overseas activities. One of the key objectives of this research is to determine if a holistic view of internationalisation is appropriate, or even plausible for the health club sector. The research suggests that the influence of environmental and company-factors results in a company's initial decision to internationalise, with certain 'determinants' regulating which companies actually invest overseas. A number of ownershipspecific factors are identified that establish which companies might be able to compete effectively overseas. The process of internationalisation. is then analysed and a number of factors established which influence the companies' choice of country to invest in, the mode of entry and the manner in which the overseas investments are managed.

When considering the effects of cultural policy on international trade in television programming there is an area that is frequently overlooked, that of classification and censorship. The role that classification and censorship play as tools of cultural policy is poorly understood, as is their impact on the ease with which television programs can be traded. A broad definition of cultural policy has been used here, in order to encompass both its theoretical and practical elements. Cultural policy as expressed through television classification and censorship is seen here as having three layers. These layers are legislative policy such as local content quotas, the content gate keeping carried out by television producers prior to production, and program classification, that is the implementation of local programming codes by broadcasters. It is important to understand the effects of television regulatory regimes, including those that govern content classification, on the international trade in programs for two reasons. One is the precedence international economic agreements generally take over cultural policy, because classification and censorship can quietly undermine this precedence in a way which currently receives little attention. The second is the importance of the export market to the Australian television production industry, which is unable to fully fund its program output from local markets. Australian children's drama and its export to the UK are the focus of this research as this provides an excellent example of the current tensions between cultural policy and economic imperatives. Australian children's drama is tightly regulated through government policy, particularly the demands of the 'C' (children's) classification. It is argued here that the demands of current Australian cultural policy are making it extremely difficult for Australian producers to internationalise their product and thus cultivate a competitive advantage in international markets. With the advent of digital technology and the end of spectrum scarcity, the television landscape is changing rapidly. Australian producers of children's programming are facing commercial challenges that have been created by the proliferation of children's channels in the UK and particularly the popularity on those channels of American animation. While the need to cultivate a competitive advantage is pressing, Australian producers of children's programming are also having to accommodate the three layers of cultural policy described earlier, that is the demands of government policy regarding the 'C' classification, the local programming codes of their export market, in this case the United Kingdom, and their own internalised cultural values as expressed through their gate keeping roles. My Industry experience in a senior compliance role in the pay television industry led to an awareness of the impact of local classification procedures on international trade in programming and provided the initial starting point for this research. Through scholarly investigation and interviews with three key producers of Australian children's programs and a senior UK programmer, certain findings regarding the impact of regulatory regimes on the export of Australian children's programs have been reached. The key findings of this research are firstly, that the rationales and operations of national classification schemes seem to be fundamentally untouched by supranational trade agreements and arguably are able to act as restraints on international trade. Additionally, programs that do not conform to the societal values of the countries to which they are being exported, will not sell. Secondly, multi-channelling is having the unexpected effect of driving down prices achieved for children's programs which is a cause for concern, given the importance of international sales to Australian producers. Part of this decline in pricing may be attributed to the rise in popularity of inexpensive animation, which now dominates children's channels in the UK. Thirdly, this research finds that Australian cultural policy is preventing Australian producers cultivating a competitive advantage in international markets, by making demands regarding content and quality that render their programs less attractive to overseas channels. If the Australian government believes that certain culturally desirable forms of television such as high quality, children's programming should continue to exist, it may in future have to modify its cultural policy in order to attain this objective.

The rapid growth in internationalisation of education has led to the point where Australia has become a world leader in transnational education. Simultaneously, the provision of hospitality and tourism management education has developed rapidly from its inception in 1974 with numbers of international students rising steadily. Although robust research into the international student experience has been conducted, the impact of these changes upon tertiary academics has received little attention from researchers. Within this context, this research project aims to develop a better understanding of academics’ experiences of teaching tourism and hospitality in transcultural settings. More specifically, the study seeks to discover the impacts of working in a multicultural, multinational and multilingual environment on the tourism and hospitality academic (Objective One), and to explore the concept of competence in multicultural and transnational teaching (Objective Two). This thesis is presented in five stages. The first stage considers the formative background to the research, and explores literature and concepts surrounding transcultural contexts of higher education. The current state of internationalisation of tourism and hospitality higher education in Australia is outlined, and gaps in the research field are highlighted. This section observes a need for transcultural competence in teaching. Stage Two addresses methodological considerations and explores the use of interpretive phenomenological methodology for gaining a greater understanding of the lived experiences of academics teaching in transcultural contexts. The practice and philosophies surrounding phenomenology, interviewing, and transcribing talk are critically examined. This stage also proposes the use of mind mapping as a tool for qualitative research analysis. Employing the interpretive methodologies outlined in the previous stage, Stage Three considers Objective One by addressing the research question ‘What are the concerns and constraints experienced by academics teaching in transnational and multicultural contexts?’ In keeping with a phenomenological approach which encourages testing initial intuitions by subjecting them to critical evaluation, this section incorporates a peer-reviewed paper written by the researcher. Findings showed that academics experienced concerns and constraints relating to their sense of self, the intercultural other (the students) and the temporal and education environment in which they are situated. Stage Three also addresses the second research question, ‘What influences the positive experiences of academics teaching in transnational and multicultural contexts?’ Findings showed that travel and journeying (both physical and metaphorical) were highly significant, beneficial, and contributed greatly to emotional well-being as they allowed the academics to experience joy in transcultural teaching. Stage Four addresses the second research objective and incorporates two research questions. The question ‘How are academics’ intercultural competences in multicultural education formed?’ involved the theoretical delineation of the specific research area through an in-depth systematic literature review in order to develop a holistic explanatory model. The model considers epistemology and ontology of teaching practice, and contains four quadrants: self-knowledge, values, knowledge and skills. The final research question, ‘How do successful international tourism and hospitality educators embody and integrate competence in their teaching within multicultural and transnational classrooms?’ entailed close phenomenological analysis of the narrated experiences of four academics who had not only derived much enjoyment from their transcultural teaching, but had been publicly recognised by peers and by their universities as being successful teachers. The narrated experiences, approaches and opinions of these academics are analysed and organised according to the model and are explored under the headings Epistemology – which includes ‘cultural knowledge’ and ‘skills’; and Ontology, which covers ‘values’ and ‘self’. Stage Five considers the implications and significance of this research for higher education. The thesis contributes not only to research into teaching and internationalisation of education, but also makes original contributions to qualitative research methodology.

The rapid growth in internationalisation of education has led to the point where Australia has become a world leader in transnational education. Simultaneously, the provision of hospitality and tourism management education has developed rapidly from its inception in 1974 with numbers of international students rising steadily. Although robust research into the international student experience has been conducted, the impact of these changes upon tertiary academics has received little attention from researchers. Within this context, this research project aims to develop a better understanding of academics’ experiences of teaching tourism and hospitality in transcultural settings. More specifically, the study seeks to discover the impacts of working in a multicultural, multinational and multilingual environment on the tourism and hospitality academic (Objective One), and to explore the concept of competence in multicultural and transnational teaching (Objective Two). This thesis is presented in five stages. The first stage considers the formative background to the research, and explores literature and concepts surrounding transcultural contexts of higher education. The current state of internationalisation of tourism and hospitality higher education in Australia is outlined, and gaps in the research field are highlighted. This section observes a need for transcultural competence in teaching. Stage Two addresses methodological considerations and explores the use of interpretive phenomenological methodology for gaining a greater understanding of the lived experiences of academics teaching in transcultural contexts. The practice and philosophies surrounding phenomenology, interviewing, and transcribing talk are critically examined. This stage also proposes the use of mind mapping as a tool for qualitative research analysis. Employing the interpretive methodologies outlined in the previous stage, Stage Three considers Objective One by addressing the research question ‘What are the concerns and constraints experienced by academics teaching in transnational and multicultural contexts?’ In keeping with a phenomenological approach which encourages testing initial intuitions by subjecting them to critical evaluation, this section incorporates a peer-reviewed paper written by the researcher. Findings showed that academics experienced concerns and constraints relating to their sense of self, the intercultural other (the students) and the temporal and education environment in which they are situated. Stage Three also addresses the second research question, ‘What influences the positive experiences of academics teaching in transnational and multicultural contexts?’ Findings showed that travel and journeying (both physical and metaphorical) were highly significant, beneficial, and contributed greatly to emotional well-being as they allowed the academics to experience joy in transcultural teaching. Stage Four addresses the second research objective and incorporates two research questions. The question ‘How are academics’ intercultural competences in multicultural education formed?’ involved the theoretical delineation of the specific research area through an in-depth systematic literature review in order to develop a holistic explanatory model. The model considers epistemology and ontology of teaching practice, and contains four quadrants: self-knowledge, values, knowledge and skills. The final research question, ‘How do successful international tourism and hospitality educators embody and integrate competence in their teaching within multicultural and transnational classrooms?’ entailed close phenomenological analysis of the narrated experiences of four academics who had not only derived much enjoyment from their transcultural teaching, but had been publicly recognised by peers and by their universities as being successful teachers. The narrated experiences, approaches and opinions of these academics are analysed and organised according to the model and are explored under the headings Epistemology – which includes ‘cultural knowledge’ and ‘skills’; and Ontology, which covers ‘values’ and ‘self’. Stage Five considers the implications and significance of this research for higher education. The thesis contributes not only to research into teaching and internationalisation of education, but also makes original contributions to qualitative research methodology.

Internationalisation is one of the important dynamic tendencies which influences the functioning and course of development of contemporary languages. It is the result of increase and intensification of language contacts on a global scale. Internationalisation influences language on all language levels. Substantial is manifest of borrowing lexical elements, their integration, adaptation and function in communication. Furthermore, activation of the use of international word forming morphemes and word forming processes belong among manifestation of internationalisation. The thesis presents manifestations of internationalisation in the lexis of Western Slavic languages in contrastive perspective. The introductory part outlines the current research status of presented phenomenon and defines fundamental terms. Third and fourth chapters, the central part of the thesis, deal with comparison of international lexis on individual language level. Besides the description of the orthographical and orthoepical, grammatical, lexical-semantic correspondences and differences, attention is also focused on positon and function of internationalisms in lexicon of Western Slavic languages and their relations to the other units of lexicon. The analysis is primarily base on material of frequency word lists of the Aranea...