THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS MANAGER AS CHANGE AGENT

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THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS MANAGER AS CHANGE
AGENT

• Duleep Deosthale, PhD
• 2009 Annual BUSINET Conference
• Palma de Mallorca, SPAIN

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• Change can be exhilarating, frightening,
  disturbing and time consuming or all of the
  above. Perhaps most to the point, it is also
  necessary, even inevitable.

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LEARNING OUTCOMES

• To make areas of strategic importance explicit
  for International Relations Managers
• To identify key issues for building strategy
• To understand leadership roles in the strategic
  planning process

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Change Agent

• Organizations
• Leadership roles within an organizational setup
• Organizational change process

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• The Office within the Institution
• Setting the Agenda
• Developing Alliances The Importance of
  Communication
• The Challenges from Within

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THE OFFICE WITHIN THE INSTITUTION

• Identify clearly what kind of institution you
  are?
• Centralised or decentralised?
• Management office or service office?
• Decision making unit or implementer?
• Degree of autonomy or independence
• Reputation and image within the institution
• Play to your strengths not your weaknesses
• Office large or small?

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• Exercise 1
• Groups of four
• Come up with a maximum of two sentences which
  describe what your institution is and what is the
  international strategy, making every word count.
• When youre finished, read it to the others and
  see if they have any questions or if they have a
  clear picture of who you are. Choose which
  description works best.

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SETTING THE AGENDA

• The mission statement
• Type of internationalization
• Amount of internationalization
• Calendar for internationalization
• Resources for internationalization

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• 1030

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Mission Statement (samples)

• to help people gain understanding, acquire
  knowledge, and develop skills for living in a
  globally interdependent and culturally diverse
  world.
• CIEE
• Marist International Programs is dedicated to
  identifying, developing and implementing
  educational opportunities for Marist students
  overseas and enhancing the global perspective of
  academic programs at Marist College.
• Our Mission is to promote the value of learning,
  self-worth among students and staff, quality
  performance among students and staff, and
  transition for students to productive and
  responsible participation in society.
• Vision
• Palma High School is dedicated to providing the
  highest quality educational program with the
  cornerstones of value learning, self-worth among
  students and staff, quality performance among
  students and staff, and transition for students
  to a productive and responsible participation in
  society at large."

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• Exercise 2
• Groups of four
• Identify what some of the most important elements
  are in a mission statement in order of importance.

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3. DEVELOPING ALLIANCES THE IMPORTANCE OF
COMMUNICATION

• Within the international office
• Keeping colleagues on board when they are abroad
• Problem of handover and contacts
• Within the faculty/institution
• Developing alliances
• Who supports you and who doesnt
• Colleagues W.I.F.Ms
• Golden Rule Always sell the idea inside before
  you sell it outside
• And a WORD ABOUT EXTERNAL (off campus) SUPPORT .

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• Exercise 3A
• Divide into pairs
• Make a list of all internal partners, who support
  you, who are good allies, and those who support
  from the outside.

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• Exercise 3B
• Divide into pairs
• Make a list of all internal partners you need to
  work with and convince within your institution
  and identify possible difficulties.

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4. THE CHALLENGES FROM WITHIN

• Everything was fine until you decided to change
  it
• Let the international look after international
  affairs they are not my concern

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• Academic issues
• Difficulties around language issues
• Lack of commitment from the top
• Support services for international students or
  outbound students

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• Exercise 4
• Divide into pairs
• Identify your biggest challenge from within based
  on the list you have developed and brainstorm a
  possible solution together.

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STRATEGIC PLANNING PLANNING ASSUMPTIONS

• Values
• Mission
• Vision
• SWOT Analysis
• Goals/Strategies
• Objectives or Action items
• Evaluation and Assessment
• Changing, revising and updating the plan
• Externalities
• CIEA as an agent for organizational change by
  Manfred Thullen, John Heyl and Blaine Brownell

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• Exercise 5
• Groups of 4
• Look at the strategic planning checklist and
  discuss with your colleague, what stages have
  been completed or you are in the process of
  completing. Discuss who is leading the effort,
  what is his/her profile within the institution
  and the challenges ahead. If not done, why?

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• Make your agenda . S.M.A.R.T
• - Specific
• - Measurable
• - Attainable
• - Realistic
• - Timely

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• How is strategic planning viewed on campus?
• Suspicion?
• Blue Ribbon committee appointed
• to make
• to gather
• to review
• to discuss
• to recommend

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LEADERSHIP ROLES IN THE STRATEGIC PLANNING
PROCESSJ. Bryson (Strategic Planning for Public
and Non-profit organizations) in CIEA as an
agent for organizational change by Manfred
Thullen, John Heyl and Blaine Brownell

• Understanding the context
• Understanding the people involved, including
  oneself
• Sponsoring the process
• Championing the cause
• Facilitating the process
• Fostering collective leadership
• Using dialogue and discussion to create a
  meaningful process
• Making and implementing decisions in arenas
• Enforcing norms, settling disputes and managing
  residual conflicts

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Blake, Terence and Walker, Danielle. Doing
  Business Internationally Training Management
  Corporation, Princeton Training Press.
• Lewis, Richard D. Cross Cultural Communication
  Transcreen Publications.
• Thullen, Manfred, Heyl, John and Brownell, Blaine
  The CIEA as an Agent for Organizational Change
  NIU Publication.
• Torenbeek, J (ed). Managing an International
  Office EAIE.
• The IRM Workshop and Training course on How to
  run an International Office Chantal Barry, Hans
  Georg van Liempd and Duleep Deosthale