Meeting Point of the East and the West

Abstract

In recent decades, the growing influences of globalization have significantly transformed the university sector across different parts of the globe. Universities, nowadays, are driven to become more entrepreneurial and enterprising not only for income generation but also for enhancing the national competitiveness in innovation, research development, and technological advancement in order to benchmark favorably in international ranking exercises like the global university leagues. Hence, we have witnessed significant transformations and governance changes that have taken place in many university systems across the globe with restructuring along the lines of “marketization,” “corporatization,” “privatization,” and “commercialization” (Mok 2006) to make universities more responsive and proactive in response to rapid social and economic changes. In addition, the rise of the knowledge economy has generated new global infrastructures with information technology playing an increasingly important role in the global economy. The popularity and prominence of information technology not only changes the nature of knowledge but also restructures higher education (HE), research, and learning.