A Bridge to Business Research and Education in a Northwestern University Alliance (BRUA) For more than 15 years Bodø University College (BUC) has developed bilateral cooperation with the universities of Northwest Russia in the field of business education and research as part of its internationalisation strategy.
ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE:
Business Administration COOPERATING INSTI TU TIONS: Bodø University College, Arkhangelsk State Technical University, Baltic State Technical University, St. Petersburg, and Murmansk State Technical University. PROJECT COORDINATORS:
Associate Professor Anatoli Bourmistrov Professor Georgina Nevzorova TOTAL PROGRAMME FUNDING: NOK 5 681 000
The idea of the BRUA project (literally meaning “the bridge” in Norwegian) was to build a northwestern university alliance in business-related research and education between BUC and its Russian partner universities: Arkhangelsk State Technical University (ASTU), Baltic State Technical University (BSTU) in St. Petersburg and Murmansk State Technical University (MSTU).
tee. Ten Russian PhD students were admitted to the International PhD programme. Their studies cover a wide range of subjects, e.g. management related to the university and state sector, energy enterprises, environmental management issues and entrepreneurship and venture capital in Russian and international settings. Two students are expected to defend their PhD theses in 2007.
Transition challenges
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The transition of Russian society made Russian universities more dependent on the market for educational services. On the one hand, closer cooperation with enterprises and public sector organisations was needed to secure fi nancial inputs to the universities. There was also a growing demand for commercial retraining and competence improvement programmes in the field of business administration. On the other hand, Russia needed young teachers and researchers capable of carrying out internationally oriented research and teaching at business administration programmes. To address these challenges, the NorthWestern University Alliance was formed.
The PhD programme In 2002 an International PhD Programme in Business Studies was developed in cooperation with Russian universities, offering a doctoral education based on the principles of the Bologna Declaration. The PhD students are formally tied to a Russian home university while they follow the PhD programme in Bodø, meet supervisors and write their thesis. The research work is also supervised by an international commit-
20 • EXPLORING NATURE AND SOCIETY
In all the education programmes in which the BRUA universities are cooperating, more than 2000 students have graduated in the field of business administration.
The MBA programme: combining Russian and international contexts A two-year Master of Business Administration programme was also developed in the Alliance to meet the need for increasing business administration competence from managers in Russian enterprises. Each year MBA students from Russian universities gather in Bodø to follow the course “Business Practice in Norway”. They learn about the Scandinavian perspective on management as well as cross-cultural communication. The fi rst MBA students were enrolled in 2001. Since spring 2003 around 80 students have defended Master theses in English and received both Russian and international MBA diplomas. Following the records from the alumni club, the employment status of the graduates has improved after receiving