How Arcadia can assist schools in taking up opportunities in Asia

 

The intellectual property (IP) of good western schools is currently in high demand overseas and Arcadia is practised in developing and managing projects that capitalise on this IP.  

Arcadia’s directors have a deep understanding of international education that is founded on over twenty years’ on-the-ground market experience in China and South East Asia, and an extensive network within the international educational industry. They have developed a mature understanding of the means by which western schools can generate solid returns while minimising the risks inherent in working so far from “home”.  

Arcadia’s undertaking to its client is twofold.

1. Arcadia will support its client in developing an effective international business strategy centred on the creation of a diversified portfolio of projects with a range of acceptable partners that will assure a long-term income flow.

2. Arcadia will work in-country to support each of the client’s projects while monitoring the development of the local market and the performance of the client’s local partners, paying special attention to the risks involved. 

Arcadia is supported by its international team office and by staff embedded in the projects it manages.

Arcadia recommends that, to fully capitalise on the value of its IP overseas, a school should operate a small portfolio of projects. In developing such a portfolio, the school will pass through four stages.

Stage 1, Strategic Planning

During this phase, a school will investigate the resources it can commit to an overseas venture and form a view on the level of risk it wishes to shoulder before arriving at a broad strategy to support its engagement abroad. Arcadia will support the planning process by providing detailed knowledge, drawn from experience, of the manner in which schools operate transnationally, the costs and benefits that typically flow from such activities, and the risks involved.  

As part of this process, Arcadia will work with its client to identify, document, protect and package its intellectual property for use overseas.  If required, Arcadia will further develop its client’s capacity to work effectively in the field of transnational education, specifically through the training and mentoring of key executives.

Stage 2, Business Development

Once a school has developed its international strategy and is comfortable with its product and readiness to work overseas Arcadia will use its network to identify opportunities and potential partners in the China and South-East Asia markets. Potential projects would be modelled and tested so that the costs and benefits are properly comprehended, and the risks correctly understood. 

When a client has decided to proceed with a particular project, Arcadia will support its negotiations with the potential partner, providing appropriate cultural advice, supporting the due diligence process, recommending and liaising with appropriate in-country legal advisors to establish a suitable legal structure that would protect the School while allowing the project to flourish.

Stage 3, Setting-up

Once a project is agreed and a local relationship established, Arcadia would advise the client and support it in structuring and carrying out the pre-operational tasks necessary to bring the project on line. These include the identification and acquisition of the human resources and matériel necessary for the project, pre-operational decision-making in the areas of leadership, operational planning, staffing and curriculum development, and the marketing of the product, including its launch.

Stage 4, Operations

This is the longest phase of the project (up to twenty years) and requires careful management. A “set and forget” approach is unsafe abroad as challenges regularly emerge. These might include:

    • the program/school being poorly marketed by the local team,
    • the client’s staff being unable to function effectively in-country,
    • the partner’s agenda diverging from the client’s agenda, such as where the partner is impairing quality through seeking a quicker or higher return on its investment,
    • regulatory changes introduced by the government, or
    • an underlying shift in the local market.

Arcadia will work to support the local program/school and protect its interests throughout the term of the project. In many cases, Arcadia will embed one of its own project officers in the local partner’s operation. Through the project officer, Arcadia’s local office, regional representatives and its directors’ ongoing work in Asia, Arcadia is able to monitor the health of the project while acting as a go-between with the local partner. Arcadia will monitor the partner’s performance and behaviour, provide local market intelligence and advice, and supervise project delivery.

Whilst very rewarding in all manner of ways, engaging in an international project is also complex, time-consuming and risky. Specialist support is invaluable in managing these difficulties. Arcadia seeks to provide such support to all aspects of a client’s work abroad.  It does this by using its experience and connections to inform a client’s strategic deliberations, assist its business development, provide local knowledge and connections, support its in-country operations and monitor them for the full term of its engagement overseas. Through Arcadia’s involvement, a client can be assured that it will be managing its international risk responsibly and maximising the benefits that its overseas engagement will bring.