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Full text release has been delayed at the author's request until December 18, 2026

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Two Tales of One Office: A Case Study of a Shanghai Gateway Office

Lu, Zhaojia
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1661205662715208

Abstract Details

2022, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Educational Studies.
The internationalization efforts of the United States (U.S.) institutions have resulted in large-scale international branch campuses and overseas representative offices. In this case study, the university’s global physical presence will be referred to from hereon as a Gateway Office. This qualitative study investigates a Shanghai Gateway Office (SGO) affiliated with a large U.S. university. The office has fostered a robust global community by cultivating relationships between the home institution and the network abroad. This study employs a conceptual framework comprised of three perspectives to investigate an economically, politically, and culturally significant bi-national organization known as the SGO in the higher education landscape. This study was guided by three sets of research questions in an exploration of how the SGO operates as a bi-national organization affiliated with a U.S. university: (a) how does it negotiate resources within and between the two nations? (b) how does it establish legitimacy within and between the two nations? (c) how does it navigate cultures within and between the two nations? Case study, based on constructivist paradigm, served as the primary methodology. Artifact analysis of office displays, document analysis of the annual report, audit reports, newsletters, and articles about SGO history and leadership; and eight semi-structured interviews with key participants who participated and engaged with the SGO over the past five years, comprise the methods of data collection and analysis. In conjunction with study of artifacts and documents, the data were processed using a narrative inquiry-led restorying approach. To this methodological blueprint, I have added a culturally significant insider perspective by utilizing Chinese concepts such as Guanxi and Mianzi. The case reports and extended discussions provided a rich and nuanced description of the SGO from the bi-national perspective and revealed that, (a) the SGO survives by relying on external resources and exchanging resources within the organizational field, (b) the SGO maintains its legitimacy by appearing similar to the other organizations in China and the United States and garnering support and resources, and (c) the SGO is not restricted to one culture, but multiple cultures in varying levels.
Tatiana Suspitsyna (Committee Chair)
Mark Bender (Committee Member)
Penny Pasque (Committee Member)
259 p.
Asian Studies; Comparative; Higher Education; International Relations; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior
organizational studies; international studies; Gateway Office; international higher education; qualitative case study; comparative international studies; intercultural competency; East Asian studies; sociology; AQAL model; holistic research design; U.S.-China relations; internationalization; globalization; Chinese folklore; Chinese literature

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Lu, Z. (2022). Two Tales of One Office: A Case Study of a Shanghai Gateway Office [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1661205662715208

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Lu, Zhaojia. Two Tales of One Office: A Case Study of a Shanghai Gateway Office. 2022. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1661205662715208.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Lu, Zhaojia. "Two Tales of One Office: A Case Study of a Shanghai Gateway Office." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2022. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1661205662715208

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.