Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The ‘brand name’ research university goes global

  • Published:
Higher Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper traces attempts by two ‘brand-name’ research universities to transnationalise: the US-based Johns Hopkins University, and the University of New South Wales from Australia. Both endeavours were located in, and supported by, Singapore, a city–state with knowledge economy aspirations. The paper explores the globalisation of the research university, and offers insights into the regimes of value that are being assembled in, and through knowledge economies. Both institutions examined in this study failed in their attempts ostensibly because of a lack of fit in goals and commitment. The paper also highlights the ethical issues that frame the globalizing rationalities of research-intensive universities and developmental states seeking competitive advantage in a neoliberalising environment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alexander, H. (2007a). Anger on the campus of despair. Sydney Morning Herald, 16–17 June, p. 6.

  • Alexander, H. (2007b). Singapore put $23 million into uni. Sydney Morning Herald, 18 June.

  • Altbach, P., & Balan, J. (2007). World-class worldwide: Transforming research universtieis in Asia and Latin America. Balitmore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Armitage, C. (2007). Hilmer looks beyond the pain. Higher Education Supplement, The Australian, 4 July, p. 22.

  • Arnold, W. (2006). Singapore acts as a haven for stem cell research. New York Times, 16 August.

  • Ashton, D. (2002). Explaining change in national HRD strategies: The case of three Asian Tigers. European Journal of Development Research, 14(1), 126–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brantley, D. (2002). Singapore’s biomedicine initiative: Prescription for growth? White Paper, Office of Technology Policy, Technology Administration, US Department of Commerce. http://www.technology.gov/reports/TechPolicy/p_Singapore_Biomedical_2002. Accessed 3 August.

  • Brody, W. (2005). Globalization and universities: Capacity building and resource development in Asia Pacific Region: The Johns Hopkins experience. Association of Asia Pacific Research Universities/Association of American Universities Meeting, Singapore, 2 July 2005.

  • Chua, M.-H. (2007). Lessons from the university fallout. Straits Times, 26 May, p. S11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coe, N., & Kelly, P. (2002). Languages of labour: Representational strategies Singapore’s labour control regime. Political Geography, 21, 341–371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davie, S. (2007a). Shock exit by UNSW. Straits Times, 24 May.

  • Davie, S. (2007b). The man who pulled the plug. Straits Times, 26 May, pp. S2–S3.

  • Davie, S. (2007c). Class act here and in France. Straits Times, 26 May, p. S7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davie, S. (2007d). Interview conducted 24 June 2007.

  • ERC (Economic Review Committee) (2003). New challenges, fresh goals—towards a dynamic global city, Singapore. http://www.mti.gov.sg/public/ERC/frm_ERC_default.asp?sid±99. Accessed 10 June 2007.

  • England, K., & Ward, K. (2007). Neoliberalization: States, networks, peoples. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Florida, R. (2005). Cities and the creative class. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibbons, M. (1998). A Commonwealth perspective on the globalization of higher education. In P. Scott (Ed.), The globalization of higher education. Ballmoor: Buckinghamshire SRHE & Open University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gopinathan, S. (1999). Preparing for the next rung: Economic restructuring and educational reform in Singapore. Journal of Education and Work, 12(3), 295–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansard Law Reports (2006). Lord Rees of Ludlow Column 950. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200506/ldhansrd/vo060330/text/60330-24.htm. Accessed 27 Aug 2007.

  • Harley, S. (2002). The impact of research selectivity on academic work and identity in UK Universities. Studies in Higher Education, 27(2), 187–205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heyneman, S. (2001). The growing international commercial market for educational goods and services. International Journal of Educational Development, 21(4), 345–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hilmer, F. (2006). The Fairfax experience: What the management texts did not teach me. Milton, Queensland: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hong, L. (2007). Singapore and its tensed pasts: History and nation-building. Working paper series no. 82, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore.

  • Horridge, A. K. (2006). Singapore: The knowledge hub in the Straits of Malacca. Working paper no. 14, Centre for Development Research, University of Bonn. ISSN 1864-6638.

  • Jessop, B. (2000). The state and the contradictions of the knowledge-driven economy. In J. Bryson, P. Daniels, N. Henry, & J. Pollard (Eds.), Knowledge, space, economy. London, New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • JTC (2006). One north. http://www.jtc.gov.sg/products/one+north/index.asp.

  • Johns Hopkins University (2003). Johns Hopkins Medicine establishes academic division in Singapore. http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2003/11_20_03.html. Accessed 18 Sept 2006.

  • Kingsbury, K. (2007). Singapore’s new look. Time Magazine, May 24. http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1624897,00.html. Accessed 16 June 2007.

  • Knee, P., & Meyer, M. (2007). Global innovation environments. Report for HEFCE, February 2007.

  • Knight, J. (2003). GATS, trade and higher education. Where are we? London Observatory on Borderless Higher Education.

  • Larner, W. (2007). Expatriate experts and globalising governmentalities: The New Zealand diaspora strategy. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 32(3), 331–345.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larner, W., & Walters, W. (2004). Globalization as governmentality. Alternatives, 29(5), 495–514.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, K.-Y. (2002). An entrepreneurial culture for Singapore. Ho Rih Hwa Leadership in Asia Public Lecture, Suntec, 5 February.

  • Li, Y. (2007). UNSW’s Prof Hilmer responds: I didn’t blame EDB. Weekend Today, 7–8 July, p. 3.

  • Liaw, W.-C. (2007). Was it bad marketing? Straits Times, 26 May, p. S6.

  • Liaw, W.-C., Teh, J.-L., & Loo, D. (2006). Johns Hopkins failed to meet goals, says A*star. Straits Times, 25 July, p. 3.

  • Lieven, M., & Martin, G. (2006). Higher education in a global market: The case of British overseas provision in Israel. Higher Education, 52, 41–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luman, S. (2004). Singapore wants you. Wired Magazine, 8(12), August.

  • Marginson, S. (2006). Dynamics of national and global competition in higher education. Higher Education, 52(1), 1–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, E. (2004). Why Singapore. Hopkins Medicine, Spring/Summer 2004.

  • Miller, E. (2006). Partnership unravelled. Hopkins Medicine, Fall 2006. http://www.esgweb1.nts.jhu.edu/hmn/F06/opinions2.cfm.

  • MTI (Ministry of Trade & Industry) (2006). Developing Singapore’s Education Industry. http://www.app.mti.gov.sg/data/pages/507/doc/DSE_recommend.pdf. Accessed 10 October.

  • Neo, B.-S., & Chen, G. (2007). Dynamic governance. New Jersey, London, Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co. Pvt Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Keefe, B. (2007). UNSW Asia staff seek better payouts. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,22205406-12332,00.html. Accessed 3 Sept 2007.

  • Olds, K. (2007). Global assemblage: Singapore, Foreign universities and the construction of a global education hub. World Development, 35(6), 959–975.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olds, K., & Thrift, N. (2005). Cultures on the brink: Re-engineering the soul of capitalism on a global scale. In A. Ong & S. Collier (Eds.), Global assemblages: Technology, politics, and ethics as anthropological problems (pp. 270–290). New York: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ong, A. (2005). Ecologies of expertise: Asian governmentality in the knowledge society. In A. Ong & S. Collier (Eds.), Technology, politics & ethics. Malden, Mass: Blackwell.

  • Overland, M. (2006). Singapore cuts off biomed centre. Chronicle of Higher Education, 30 Aug 2006.

  • Pereira, A. (2006). Running just to stay still: Singapore’s FDI attraction strategies (1965–2005). Working paper series, no. 60. Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore.

  • Peters, M., & Besley, T. (2006). Building knowledge cultures: education and development in the age of knowledge capitalism. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Potera, C. (2005). Singapore attracts life science companies. Genetic Engineering News, 25(18).

  • Schapper, J., & Mayson, S. (2004). Internationalisation of the curricula: An alternative to the Taylorisation of academic work. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 26(2), 189–205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schein, E. (1996). Strategic pragmatism: The culture of Singapore’s economic development board. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sidhu, R. (2005). Building a global schoolhouse: International education in Singapore. Australian Journal of Education, 49(1), 46–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sidhu, R. (2007). GATS and the new developmentalism. Comparative Education Review, 51(2), 472–498.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singapore Economic Development Board (SEDB) (2004). The launch of UNSW. Speech By Mr. Ko Kheng Hwa, Managing Director, EDB at The Launch Of UNSW Asia in Singapore, Thursday, 28 October 2004. http://www.sedb.com/edb/sg/en_uk/index/news_room/news/2004/the_launch_of_unsw.html.

  • Singapore Economic Development Board (SEDB) (2006). Singapore: The global schoolhouse. http://www.sedb.com/edb/sg/en_uk/index/news_room/publications/singapore_investment2/singapore_investment0/singapore_the_global.html. Accessed 27 Aug 2007.

  • Slaughter, S., & Rhoades, G. (2005) Academic capitalism and the new economy: Markets, state, and higher education. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spring, J. (2002). Political agendas for education: From the religious right to the green. Party Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Starratt, R. J. (1996). Transforming educational administration: Meaning, community and excellence. New York: McGraw Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Straits Times (2007). EDB may have to write off $17.5 million given to UNSW. http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/STIStory_145217.html. Accessed 10 Aug 2007.

  • Vince, G. (2005). Asia star shoots for the moon. New Scientist Jobs, 22 October. http://www.newscientistjobs.com/insider/article.action?article.id=insider153&focusId=singapore. Accessed 18 Sept 2006.

  • Warwick Institute of Education (2006). Partnership News, Autumn 2006. www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/wie/wie.partnews.winter.06.pdf. Accessed 28 Feb 2008.

  • Warwick University Council (2005). Minutes of Meeting, 18 October 2005.

  • Wong, K. W., & Bunnell, T. (2006). ‘New economy’ discourse and spaces in Singapore: A case study of one north. Environment and Planning A, 38, 69–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wong, P.-K., Ho, Y.-P., & Singh, A. (2003). Singapore as an innovative city in East Asia: An explorative study of the perspectives of innovative industries. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3568.

  • Wong, P.-K., Ho, Y.-P., & Singh, A. (2007). Towards an “Entrepreneurial University” model to support knowledge-based economic development: The case of the National University of Singapore. World Development, 35(6), 941–958.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Young, E. (2004). The game is on. New Scientist, 18 Sept. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18324657.000-the-game-is-on.html. Accessed 19 Sept 2006.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, Social Sciences Building, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Ravinder Sidhu

Authors
  1. Ravinder Sidhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ravinder Sidhu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Sidhu, R. The ‘brand name’ research university goes global. High Educ 57, 125–140 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-008-9136-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-008-9136-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation