Model of adaptive management for universities (in the context of internationalization and integration into global education)

Article History

Received 16 April 2023

Accepted 15 May 2023

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СЕРВИС

В РОССИИ

И ЗА РУБЕЖОМ

МОДЕЛЬ АДАПТИВНОГО УПРАВЛЕНИЯ ВУЗАМИ (В КОНТЕКСТЕ ИНТЕРНАЦИОНАЛИЗАЦИИ И ИНТЕГРАЦИИ В МИРОВОЕ ОБРАЗОВАНИЕ)

Задачи повышения международной конкурентоспособности и экспорта российского образования в рамках национальных приоритетов развития образования неразрывно связаны с необходимостью создания благоприятной среды для адаптации иностранных студентов на основе экосистемного и стейкхолдерного подходов. Формирование целостной и многоаспектной модели адаптивного управления образовательными организациями должно происходить при полном учёте ценностей не только внешней, но и внутренней интернационализации для чего необходимо формирование долгосрочных ключевых кросс культурных компетенций работников всех уровней. Важное отличие адаптивного управления в мультикультурной среде от управления изменениями в монокультурной организации заключается не в решении проблем линейным, механистическим путём, с использованием соответствующего набора инструментов, а в использовании более сложного системного подхода, включающего совместное принятие решений, организационное обучение и другие механизмы организационной трансформации, в результате чего создаётся корпоративная культура, которая может помочь университетам получить конкурентное преимущество в глобальном образовании. Авторы предлагают подробный анализ факторов и приоритетов необходимых организационных изменений для университетов в развитии навыков межкультурной грамотности для всех участников и стейкхолдеров с дальнейшей трансформацией в компетенции культурного интеллекта. Компетенции культурного интеллекта становятся особенно важными в условиях трансформации глобализированного мира в пост глобалистскую форму, где ключевой ценностью становится культурное разнообразие.

Дата поступления в редакцию: 16 апреля 2023 г.

Дата утверждения в печать: 15 мая 2023 г.

Internationalization of Universities with their joint network of educational programs, international projects and foreign visitors, professors, and students creates complexity of educational processes and certain level of uncertainty, which generates challenges for the management in development and regulation of norms and rules. Leaders need new management mechanisms to advance universities in the changing multicultural university environment.

Adaptive management could be such a mechanism, a tool that Holling, CS (1978) sees as a process of decision-making in the face of uncertainty, which, he suggests, should be used as a tool of changing the system [14].

Some of the steps that leaders have to take when developing adaptive management tools in a multicultural environment are determining the degree of cultural distance and the need to consider their belonging to various cultural clusters, cultural distance, "close" or "distant" individualist and collectivist groups.

Allan and Stankey (2009) suggest that adaptive management gives us the opportunity to find the correct balance between gaining knowledge to improve management in the future and achieving the best short-term outcome based on current knowledge [1]. Knowing the similarities and differences between the host culture and the culture of international students, visitors and expats, makes it easier to identify the gaps and barriers to intercultural interaction. All actors in the educational process must be made aware of the dominants in their own respective cultures. They must know the influence each dominant value has in practical situations of intercultural communication. The challenge for global universities is ability to use the cultural barriers and conflict as a spark discussion, which will transform into benefit and innovation for the education organization.

Based on the review of cross-cultural practices and concepts reflected in Russian and world literature, the authors in this article attempt to identify the problems in practical application of adaptive management in the educational field and identify the challenges faced by Russian universities who strive to improve the efficiency of managing internationalization.

For universities seeking to increase internationalization and willing to become competitive participants in global educational, it is important to create a favorable host environment [21] When creating such an environment it is imperative that they consider both the dominants of international visitors' cultures as well as the dominants of the monocultural component of the educational environment of the host university.

Universities that are aware of their cultural identity and are able to appreciate the cultural identity of their visitors, can successfully communicate on an intercultural level and therefore will undoubtedly be more attractive to foreign applicants and visitors and will have a competitive advantage both at the national level and on the global educational market1.

In the process of developing internationalization, the environment of universities is subject to change. It changes on several levels: social, informational, and academic, unavoidably affecting the university's organizational culture. That makes the management look for mechanisms to efficiently adapt to the new reality in the everincreasing interconnectedness of the world. In this context, development of elements of adaptive management seems to be most relevant.

In his 2016 report on adaptive management O'Donnell2 supports the idea that adaptive management is largely management of uncertainty and requires “exploratory” and “flexible approach”. He even goes further to suggest that treating uncertainty and change as the norm will bring profound implications.

Quoted below are three major features of adaptive management characterized by O'Donnell:

• 1.    “It [adaptive management – remark by authors] accepts and treats many (but not all) of

• 2.    “It focuses on “course-correction” of activities”;

• 3.    “Proponents often recognize the need for system change within the aid world to enable adaptive management”.

the problems in international development as “complex” in nature”;

Thus, universities facing the challenges of integration into global education, need to create an adaptive management model and nurture such an organizational culture that will facilitate adaptation, as it will not only promote acceptance of otherness, but will create conditions for a synergy effect brought by diverse workforce.

In this article, we will consider three approaches to implementation of adaptive management, which may be most useful for the host educational organization:

• 1.    Defining cultural factors influencing the cross-cultural adaptation of foreign visitors, expats, foreign students and students with an immigrant background;

• 2.    Identifying the reasons for conflicts and barriers arising in the process of cross-cultural adaptation as a result of natural differences. Trends in the transformation of values in the process of integrating cultures in the face of uncertainty and complexity of globalization;

• 3.    Adaptive management approaches in Russian universities. Defining the possible adaptive management decisions for universities and “course-correction” of their organizational activities as well as the need for system change and transformation of corporate culture.

Defining cultural factors influencing the cross-cultural adaptation

However, there have been studies, which do not support the above-mentioned claim that cultural distance is a major contributor to cross-cultural adaptation. It has been revealed that expats from "close" cultures might also experience significant difficulties in adaptation [18]. There is an assumption that foreign citizens planning to work or study in a country that is very different from their native cultural environment (“distant culture”) are aware of the cultural differences and therefore expect upcoming difficulties, which in turn influences the choice of constructive coping strategies. International students in Russian universities, expats and visitors who are citizens of a "close culture", mainly those of the former Soviet Union or CIS states, are less sensitive to cultural differences, but can attribute the problems they face to deficiencies in the organization, the difference in educational requirements, some formalities of the host organization [7].

Features of Russian culture as a host country and identification of adaptive management decision making

Continuing to take Russian universities as an example we can look at features of the receiving Russian culture to determine adaptive management decision-making process:

In relation to the organization of human activity in time, business cultures are divided into monoactive, polyactive and reactive as per R. Lewis [16]. According to his model, Russia is closer to countries with a polyactive culture, where meeting time is often appointed spontaneously, and not according to the plan, where several things are done simultaneously, and personal and business lives are mixed.

Barriers to intercultural adaptation in the Russian organization can also be identified according to Hofstede's principle of the existence of four dimensions of cultural differences:

• •    power distance;

• •    collectivism against individualism;

• •    femininity versus masculinity;

• •    avoidance of uncertainty.

According to Hofstede's data, the value of the power distance index in Russia is 93 on a scale from 0 to 135, which means the degree of acceptance of the hierarchy (the distance in the distribution of rights and responsibilities between superiors and subordinates) by members of Russian society is significantly greater than in most other countries. This indicates that the carriers of different cultures, even being within the framework of the same types of social hierarchies (for example, boss - subordinate, teacher - student, elderly person - young person, etc.), demonstrate different behavior and different patterns of interaction. The difference in power distance indices in cross-cultural interaction can have serious consequences in different areas of life. A high index of power distance is manifested, for example, in a large number of personnel whose functions are those of supervision, with a vertical management structure, and a paternalistic management style. Often it looks like the management system is focused on the controlling bodies, not the consumer of services or products, and not on the employees who create these services and products. So, we can conclude that in order to reduce the indexation of power, it is necessary to transform the organizational culture to the priority of pro-fessor-student-centeredness.

In addition, according to the conclusions of G. Triandis, cultures influence self-perceptions along an independent (individualistic) and interdependent (collectivist) continuum [24]. In independent cultures, individuals can reinforce their self-image due to self-sufficiency being emphasized as an individual agent [12]. People in Western cultures tend to see themselves on a fundamental level as separate and distinct from others, in the same way they perceive representatives of other cultures and expect similar identification and similar behavior from them.

Representatives of collectivist cultures (the Japanese, Koreans and other Asian cultural clusters) demand from their members such a fusion with the group, in which they could become a single whole and effectively protect its members; they are more concerned with how they can benefit their social group and expect the same values from representatives of other cultures.

Subsequently, in the sphere of organizational management, host Russian universities should be aware of their own cultural paradigm and the paradigm of their way of thinking to provide relevant social support for students and visitors from opposite cultures. Organizations living “within the paradigm of their own corporate culture” find it very difficult to comprehend and structure its content. In order "to understand what the sea is, the fish must see the land."

Awareness and understanding of one's own cultural paradigm can become the basis for further regulation of the issues of overcoming intercul-tural barriers and methods of managing diversity.

Value Orientations of Russia as a Donor Country

Let us consider the value orientations of Russia as a donor country, which as a subject of communication, accepts foreign students.

Sweden

Protestant

South

Tanzania

Netherlands

Switzerland

• Canada

Australia

N. Ireland

USA

Ireland

Argentina

• Mexico

Venezuela

English speaking

Dominican

Republic

Latin America

Self Expression Values

Factor Score

Fig. 1 – Inglehart cultural map3

Denmark

Belarus

Montenegro

Latvia •

Luxembourg

Macedonia

ф Georgia • Azerbaijan

New Zealand

Armenia

Indonesia

Portugal

Pakistan ^tr e Africa

Algeria

According to the World Values Survey data (Figure 1. Inglehart cultural map) Russia occupies the middle position vertically (+0.5) and the left position (-0.75) horizontally between two axes, where the indicators of traditional values are indicated along the vertical (from 0 to - 2.5), and secularly rational values are indicated at the top (from 0 to 2.5). Horizontally, the values of survival are on the left and the values of self-expression and progress are on the right. Traditional values here are understood as community values, where the collective is more important than the

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individual; this is respect for tradition and the high role of religion. Secular-rational are the values of individualism, consumerism, respect for science, in general, broadly understood rationalism. Survival values are the values of safety and self-preservation. Self-expression values are the values of progress, change, and transformation. The countries on the map are united by cultural and religious affiliation. At the top of the secular rational sector are the Confucian countries (Japan, China), which turned out to be more individualistic in economic behavior even compared to Sweden. Also in the top right margin is Protestant Europe, and slightly below are Catholic Europe and English-speaking countries. In the sector of traditional values are the countries of Latin America, Africa, Turkey, Vietnam and India. At the same time, the traditionalist countries listed above are quite noticeably shifted to the right relative to Russia, towards the vector of self-expression. However, over the years from 2017 to 2020, Russia had shifted to the right on the horizontal axis from -1.5 to -0.75. Thus, we can conclude that in Russian society there is a tendency towards individualism and self-expression, but the values of security and survival still prevail, which are expressed in society by the fear of losing the past against the values of development.

At the same time, we can note a positive trend in the convergence of values in the world as a whole, if we consider the change in the Inglehart diagram in the long-term retrospective from 1981 to 2020. The main reason for the convergence of values at first glance is the impact of globalization. Capital markets are integrated all over the world, urbanization processes are taking place, and art products, music, films, news fly around the planet in a second. Nevertheless, the authors of the study believe that the values of different national societies do not converge, but move in parallel. The study shows a decline in religiosity in the world as a whole (for example, about 3% of believers remain in China) and a trend towards secularity, rationalization, self-expression and democratization.

Trends in the transformation of values in the process of integrating cultures in the face of uncertainty and complexity of globalization

M. Vargas Llosa4 believes that globalization radically expands the opportunity to construct individual cultural identities through voluntary action in accordance with their own preferences and the innermost motivations of the citizens themselves, contrary to the “collective identity” that is the basis of national cultures.

In turn, anti-globalists fear that globalization is fraught with the unification of cultures, which is a process of creating a new global cultural identity without the ethnographic diversity of its bearers. It is obvious that the identity of peoples is vulnerable in the context of intercul-tural interaction [23].

Another point of view is that cultural globalization includes not only the unification of cultures, but in the opposite way leads to an increase in cultural diversity, the emergence of mixed, hybrid forms of culture, cultural alloys. It fabricates not only global, but also new local cultural symbols [23].

Consider the current trends in the transformation of values in the realms of modern globalized world into a post-globalist world with a developed digital information exchange network:

• 1.    Despite globalization and unification of processes, the value of individual cultural identity remains significant. If we look at the common features of the world's cultures, of which there are about 6,000, we can find an unusually rich set of behaviors, emotions, and ways of interpreting the world [22]. The value of cultural identity and uniqueness is cultivated and manifested both in national and individual self-expression, both at the level of lifestyle, and through art forms, gastronomy, and also through the form of association in various ethnic and subcultural communities.

• 2.    The skills of civil horizontal self-organization are converted into the skills of forming network structures, unifying access to similar

• 3.    There is a tendency to humanize and increase the price of human life in all countries, regardless of nationality, form of government and religion. For example, as the restrictions taken by governments during the pandemic show, people and human lives have become dear in almost all states. The manifestation of empathy not only for loved ones who are similar to oneself, but also for the troubles of others, strangers, living in other countries and belonging to other cultures.

• 4.    Expanding the concept of human rights to all levels of society regardless of nationality, religion, disabilities, or age.

• 5.    The transition of many service industries from trade to education to online. More and more professions are moving towards online operations and freelancing.

• 6.    There is a formation of a united mental field, which can be interpreted from the point of view of equal opportunities for obtaining information through the network of communication channels of the Internet.

• 7.    Through the dissemination of knowledge and open information, people become more understandable to each other due to the similarity of troubles, the similarity of challenges and interests (the choice of music, films, fashion, etc.). The exchange of ideas, experiences, opportunities to express one's opinion, the unprecedented closeness of people, contrasting with the distances between the countries in which they live [19].

• 8.    In the field of education, thanks to social networks, overall literacy is increasing, contrary to all opinions about its decline, as more writing and reading develops communication skills and skills for searching and analyzing information.

benefits on all continents. Changing behavioral practices based on association among themselves for joint action, such as neighborhood communities or communities of interest, charitable assistance, volunteering, etc.

The increasing interconnectedness of the world has created incentives for new generations to explore and assimilate other cultures not only as a travel hobby, but also as a necessity. The ability to speak multiple languages and feel comfortable in a different cultural environment has become critical to professional success.

In an attempt to attract foreign students and develop physical mobility, universities are faced with the task of improving the quality of education, the attractiveness of the academic environment and creating mixed formats (blended learning and education) learning. Network cooperation of universities in the implementation of joint programs, including mandatory semester mobility in partner universities, extends to a wide scope both within the Russian educational system and with foreign partner universities that create consortiums of network programs with universities in various countries.

The meaning of academic mobility in educational space becomes not only the acquisition of new knowledge, but the exchange of ideas, creation of conditions for growth points for innovations and start-ups and the value of intercul-tural communication, and also affects the development of the global labor market.

Prototype of a model of adaptive management in Russian universities Comparison of various factors of cultural dimensions, carried out in this work, served as the basis for the development of possible management decisions for the transformation of organizational culture and the construction of a prototype model of adaptive management in universities (Fig. 2). The components of the Prototype Model make certain adaptive approaches to change management and activities evident, considering the changing values in the external environment to form key cross-cultural competencies of teaching staff and all level of university’ employees. We suggest next Adaptive management approaches: communication and informational openness, from barriers and conflicts to innovation and change, critical thinking and awareness of one's own cultural paradigm, soft skills to shorten cultural distance (changes in organizational culture).

Fig. 2 – Adaptive management model

In this regard, it is proposed to consider the internal environment of universities not as a mono-environment, but as a multidimensional environment, including various sub-environments of a functional nature, which can be classified as academic, information, social and ethnocultural environments [20].

A distinctive approach to overcoming communication barriers is an innovative paradigm of adaptation of foreign students, which focuses on considering their belonging to different cultural and worldview clusters [20].

This is also important because communication problems of foreign students in universities are manifested not only at the language level, but also in differences in the requirements for training and academic standards, social aspects, living conditions (climatic, cultural, social), information accessibility and cultural and ethnic characteristics. Such a multi-criteria analytical approach allows us to most accurately determine the gaps in intercultural barriers, identify and recommend the most effective tools for organizing intercul-tural interaction and offer soft adaptation technologies in educational organizations. One such approach offered appeals to the knowledge of the participants about the presence of cultural differences and the possibility of their manifestation in the process of communication. In this regard, in such situations, it is required that the communication participants first of all positively perceive the very existence of cultural differences and barriers as such, that their overcoming is the norm of intercultural communication, and not a denial of the otherness of the interlocutor.

The challenge for global universities is to use the cultural barriers and conflict as a spark discussion, which transfers to benefit and innovation for the education organization. Gehani R define conflict as simply the result of natural differences that occur between people from different backgrounds [9]. Different ideas and views lead to innovation and new education technology, new approach to the learning outcomes and services. “Conflict between diverse groups of people can be used to drive the growth of their organizations” [9]. Therefore, we propose a purposeful use of cultural diversity in the educational process to ensure a greater degree of inclusiveness, using it as a learning resource [21], allowing integrating the experience and knowledge of both foreign students and students from different -------------------------------------1 161 п regions of the country, students from different subcultural groups and social strata of society to improve intercultural skills.

Critical thinking and awareness of one's own cultural paradigm

Conducting cross-cultural trainings for the formation of the necessary knowledge and skills in all actors of the educational process is necessary in order for all actors to recognize their own mental models that contribute to their adequate orientation in belonging to their own culture and raise awareness of the impact of their values and corporate culture dominants in practical situations of intercultural communication. The existing knowledge in this case acquires a personal meaning, since their bearer develops a personal existential position.

Soft skills to flatten cultural distance and make changes in organizational culture

Development of cultural literacy, emotional intelligence, empathy and intercultural competencies presents itself as an important step. This implies targeted training in soft skills of all subjects of communication at all levels of the organization, both in educational and service terms [21]. Particularly important is the systematic and regular work on the soft adaptation of foreign visitors, students and expats to the Russian cultural environment, considering their belonging to various cultural clusters, the difference in cultural distance ("close" or "distant"), individualist and collectivist groups. It is important to create conditions for the manifestation of cultural identity and uniqueness of foreign students both in national and individual self-expression in the university environment through the forms of art exhibitions, festivals of cultures and gastronomy, as well as through the form of association in various ethnic and subcultural communities.

Communication and informational openness

Consider the forms of adaptation through the prism of the characteristics of employees and the characteristics of the organization in different periods (the period prior to departure and the period after arrival in another culture). One of the factors of successful adaptation before coming to the organization should be the informational openness and friendliness [3]. In today’s world a logical first step to informational openness is creation of a user-friendly host organization's website, which comprises of multilingualism, simplicity, consistency of use, its informational content, including the values orientations of the educational organization, the rules of admission and training, training programs, and the necessary formal procedures.

Organizational characteristics during the period of arrival in another culture should contain training for cultural diversity (intercultural sensitivity). Therefore, we need to train transnational managers so as to provide orientation programs, navigation and facilitation in various practical and educational situations, in formal procedures and time-consuming paperwork and decision- making throughout the entire period of stay: work, exchange or training of a foreign citizen in the host organization.

Thus, we can conclude that adaptive management in international development can be used in solving complex atypical problems of cross-cultural adaptation by measuring culture, monitoring and receiving feedback from representatives of foreign visitors and the host country, which will make it possible to adjust the management course, organizational changes and innovation as needed.