Research On The Operation Mechanism Of Alliances Between Higher Education Instituions In China

With the internationalization and marketization of higher education in China in 21st century, colleges and universities are adjusting strategically the traditional relationships between them. Their relationship is developing from competition to cooperation and from bilateral cooperation to multilateral cooperation. Under this background, alliances between them are becoming a powerful means to cope with the outside pressures. Alliances between colleges and universities are multilateral cooperation organizations comprised of three or more than three higher education institutions with common pursuit and interests. Their formation is driven by power outside higher institutions and they are constrained by some shared regulations.With the operation mechanism of alliances between higher education institutions in China as research object and through analysis of multiple cases, this thesis does a systematical research on the alliances between higher education institutions in China and aims to answer the following questions:1. Why have alliances between higher education institutions come into being in China? 2. What are the main models of alliance in China? 3. How do the different models of alliances operate?As scientific classification is beneficial to study in depth, the thesis, with rational choice institutionalism as its theoretical foundation and actor and action scene as dimension of classification, puts alliances between higher education institutions in China into four models, that is, regional and homogeneous institutions alliances, national and homogeneous institutions alliances, national and heterogeneous institutions alliances, and regional and homogeneous institutions alliances. It also does a theory analysis according to the coordination functions imposed by government, market and professional powers. Three out of the four models are chosen to do profound investigations on each one and are given descriptions in depth about the formation background, motivation, history, organization, activities, achievements and problems of each one. On the basis of the investigations and descriptions, the thesis discusses and analyses the dynamic mechanism, internal operation mechanism and the interaction between alliances and outside environment of the models. Regional and homogeneous institutions alliances result from the localization of higher education and the need of local government to manage higher institutions according to classification. In this model, local governments play a crucial role and to a great degree, the operation of this model is to embody local government's will. National and homogeneous institutions alliances are the freewill choice of higher institutions motivated by market. The purpose of them was originally to strive for discipline construction, and now they exert emphasis on fostering talents as well. Moreover, they also interact with government as groups with the same interests. Regional and homogeneous institutions alliances came into being and developed with the push of changing dynamic system. As a result of the changing nature of nuclear driving forces, the alliances of this model is characteristic of instability and the internal organizations of them share resources with each other. They have weaker intervention from government.Through the analysis of multiple cases of each model, the thesis concludes the common characteristics of the alliances between higher institutions in China. 1. The components of the alliance are independent. At the same time, they exchange resources with each other and rely on each other. 2. The alliances serve as switches of shared resources, buffers to adjust relationship and servers to provide information. 3. The alliances takes in four models, namely, regional and homogeneous institutions alliances, national and homogeneous institutions alliances, national and heterogeneous institutions alliances, and regional and homogeneous institutions alliances. 4. The mechanism of the alliances is as follows. Interests is the original driven force. The organizational structure of the alliances are simple mode. The internal operation is characteristic of exchange resources. The alliances interact with government.The alliances between higher education institutions in China is newborn and their operation is modified by many elements. Firstly, simply organized structure is to the disadvantage for the component universities to give full play of their initiative, resulting in inadequate communication between them and bad cooperation awareness. although all the alliances have established some communication mechanism, there still exist many barriers in interactivity, communication channels and information exchange. Secondly, the member universities lack confidence in their partners, which leads to uncertainty of their cooperation. The uncertainty puts bad influence on the development of the alliances. Thirdly, reasonable distribution of interests is a premise of normal operation of the alliances and a reliable guarantee to the common interests of the alliances. However, the present distribution system of the alliances is far from sound and it can not bring out fully the united power of the alliances. Nor can it inspire the member or maintain the stability of the alliances. Lastly, governmental intervention can be either positive or negative. When it comes to China, government always exert inadequate interventions, either too much or not enough. The government have not given full play to its function of microscopic guide. In conclusion, simply organized structure, imperfect internal coordination mechanism, lack of distribution system and improper intervention from government affect the operation of the alliances between higher education institutions. The thesis proposes solutions to the existing problems in the operation mechanism of the alliances, that is, adopt organization of matrix pattern, consummate the communication and trust mechanism, establish distribution system based on the contribution of the members and involve government in the construction of the alliances between higher education institutions.