The strategic stages of China-UK educational alliances: An empirical study

Driven by globalization, strategic alliances have emerged in a wide range of industries; higher education is not excluded, although we still lack sufficient understanding of this emerging field. By empirically investigating 10 China-UK educational alliances, this paper reveals the specific characteristics and different conditions that prevail in strategies in educational alliances. In particular it identifies the choice of forms of educational alliances in the formation stage, localization of the alliances in the operation stage, and the direction of development in the evolution stage. Hence, it hopes to enrich existing theories and provide some clear insights of the attitudes and actions that need to be taken by practitioners for them to succeed. © 2011 Taylor & Francis.