GlobalNxt University

An online university built upon the heritage of U21Global

Case study
Reference no 315-043-1

This case was written by Dr. Ken Kwong-Kay Wong, Ted Rogers School of Retail Management, Ryerson University. It is
intended to be used as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a
management situation.
2015 Ken Kwong-Kay Wong. All rights reserved.
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315-043-1
GlobalNxt University: An online university built upon the heritage of U21Global

Dr. Ken Kwong-Kay Wong



The real value of U21Global is in the quality of the e-learning that takes place, and the gains that
have been made in the development of a highly interactive, professor-facilitated learning
environment
Nick Hutton, CEO of U21Global, 20091

Kuala Lumpur-based GlobalNxt was an online university launched by Manipal Global Education
Services in 2013. GlobalNxts origin could be traced back to Singapore-headquartered
U21Global, an online graduate school founded by a consortium of research-oriented universities
and Thomson Learning in 2001. The school was well known for its online MBA and corporate
training programs, and had seen its fair share of ups and downs during its 12 years of operation.
Despite successfully enrolled over 9000 students from 72 countries, its business model was
consistently criticized by academics. The global financial crisis of 2007-2008 affected the
corporate training business of the school, and an unexpected change of Singapore education
policy put a brake on the schools flagship Masters programmes. The founding universities
gradually lost their interest in U21Global and eventually wrote off their investments. The
private joint venture partner sold their 50% U21Global stakes to Manipal, an Indian
conglomerate to give birth to GlobalNxt University in Malaysia. Will global students attract by
this online university that is no longer associated with the worlds research-oriented
universities? Does Manipal have what it takes to grow GlobalNxt successfully? Changes to the
GlobalNxt are inevitable it is not a matter of if, but of when.

Brainchild Behind U21Global

The U21global venture will address the $111 billion global demand for higher education by
offering business and technology degrees via the Internet, starting January 2003.
South China Morning Post2

Universitas 21 Global was the brainchild of Professor Alan Gilbert. Serving as the Vice
Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, Professor Gilbert was always interested in
collaborating with other research-led universities around the world. In 1997, his University of
Melbourne joined 10 other prestigious public universities3 to form a consortium called
Universitas 214 to improve student and faculty exchanges. This global network of universities
continued to grow with new members and increased number of academic collaboration
initiatives.

Professor Gilbert not only had a great vision about online education, but also understood the
importance of driving such initiative from his country. When it became clear to me that the
world of higher education was going to globalize and go online, it was also clear that unless

1 Melanie Newman, Finances of e-school are not making the grade, Times Higher Education, October 1,
2009, http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/408445.article. Accessed July 2014.

2 Final approval for global e-university, http://www.scmp.com/article/357099/final-approval-global-e-

university, September 8, 2001, accessed July 2014.

3 The other 10 universities were University of Auckland, Birmingham, British Columbia, Edinburgh,
Glasgow, McGill, New South Wales, Nottingham, Queensland, and Singapore. Source: Universitas 21,
Celebrating 15 Years of International Collaboration, 1997-2012. Accessed on July 2014,
http://www.universitas21.com/content/images/elements/feats/about_15years_small.jpg
4 Universitas is the Latin word for university, and 21 refers to the 21st century we are currently in.

315-043-1
Australia led, we may not even get an invitation to initiatives launched elsewhere, he
proclaimed5. 20 presidents from the Universitas 21 member universities were invited by
Professor Gilbert to discuss the idea of establishing an online university. This initiative was
interesting because not too many of the invited universities run online programs at that time.
By pulling resources together, such online university would allow member universities to reap
the benefits of the fast growing global online education market; they were promised great
financial benefits, such as royalty streams, patents possibility, and profit from student tuition
fees. Furthermore, the participating universities could engage creatively in the e-learning
debate with other universities.

Securing the Joint Venture Partner

We at UBC should reap significant benefit from the collective experiences of U21 universities and
Thomson Learning in distance learning and e-learning.
Senate Minutes, University of British Columbia, April 18, 20016

Building a brand new online university from scratch was not a simple task. Realizing the need to
secure external funding and technical expertise for such academic initiative, the consortium
eventually landed support from Thomson Learning, after Microsoft and News Corporation
declined the investment opportunity. The online university idea gained full support from
Thomson Learning as the company was always willing fund promising ideas, recognizing that
not all succeed, said Bob Cullen, president and CEO of Thomson Learnings International
Group.7 As a publisher of traditional textbook, Thomson Learning was eager to join the e-
learning ride during the dot-com era. The potential of online education was well noted by Dave
Shaffer, CEO of Thomson Learning, Just as Latin America skipped to cell phones rather than
laying down miles of new wire, Asia is ready to leapfrog to the next generation approach to
education.8 Thomson Learning estimated that revenues of $500 million could be expected by
the 10th year of operation at U21Global.9

On June 2001, with the support of 16 Universitas 21 member universities (see Exhibit 1), an
online university called Universitas 21 Global was officially established in Singapore. It was a
joint venture between Universitas 21 Equity10 and Thomson Learning. Each participating
university invested $500K to a million dollars11 and Thomson Learning funded rest of this $90
million venture12 which was positioned to set the world-class standard for university-level

5 Professor Chris Trimble, Universitas 21 Global, Case Study, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth,

2003, p3.
6 Senate Minutes. (2001, April 18) Senate of the University of British Columbia. as cited in Judith Walker,
U21Global: The In/Corporation Of Higher Education, Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor, 2005,
Vol. 7: 1 (November): p30.
7 Professor Chris Trimble, Universitas 21 Global, Case Study, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth,
2003, p5.
8 Professor Chris Trimble, Universitas 21 Global, Case Study, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth,
2003, p6.
9 Senate Minutes. (2001, April 18) Senate of the University of British Columbia. as cited in Judith Walker,
U21Global: The In/Corporation Of Higher Education, Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor, 2005,
Vol. 7: 1 (November): p30.
10 Universitas 21 Equity was the investment arm of the Universitas 21 consortium.
11 Young, J. R. Universitas 21 moves forward with plans for online university, The Chronicle of Higher
Education. September 21, 2001.
12 Brian Hansen, Do online courses provide a good education. Distance Learning Current Situation,
December 7, 2001. http://photo.pds.org:5012/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2001120705.
Accessed July 14, 2014.

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academic programs online.13 The U21Global branding was later adopted in Spring 2005 to
replace Universitas 21 Global in all marketing communication (see Exhibit 2).

Criticism From the Academic Community

If there are profits in the U21 Global business, UBC will only get 1/50th of the NET REVENUES from
a royalty charge based on a schedule that rises to 14% in five steps.
Faculty Association Newsletter, University of British Columbia, 200114


From the beginning, the U21Global project had drawn criticism and skepticism from its
stakeholders. Courtney Morris, a Parthenon Group consultant who was commissioned by
Thomson Learning highlighted the credibility risk of this online university when working on its
original business plan, The biggest uncertainty is whether online learning will truly be
accepted as credible. Can you convince the business community that a student who graduates
from Universitas 21 Global is as skilled and as valuable as somebody who graduates from the
National University of Singapore? This kind of skepticism was not atypical. The U21Global
project did not give comfort to some Universitas 21 members, even at the planning stage. "If you
are part of a consortium, how do you protect quality and your name? questioned Professor
Sheldon Levy, VP of Government and Institutional Relations at the University of Toronto15. And
to what extent will partnerships preclude or constrain independent action, and what is the
potential for ending up in competition with yourself?" Another Universitas 21 member, the
University of Michigan, shared similar views on this joint venture. Gary D. Krenz was a special
counsel to the president of Michigan; he believed that their faculty would not be sufficiently
involved in the development or quality control of the venture's academic programs. With so
many questions remained unanswered, venturing into this online university looked risky to
some consortium members. The University of Toronto and the University of Michigan refused to
lend their name and logo to U21Global, and these two universities subsequently left the
Universitas 21 consortium all together later in 200116.

The criticism and skepticism also came from the ventures funding universities. Some wondered
the true value of participating in the U21Global project. The agreement wont improve the
universitys ability to play a vital role in the online market for higher education, argued Dr.
Judith Walker of the University of British Columbia. Second, and more importantly, such
commercial partnership invariably leads to a further erosion of institutional autonomy and
public accountability in the process. Dr. Walkers concerns were share by others in the
academic community. Faculty unions in North America, Australasia, and Europe wrote letters to
Professor Alan Gilbert, former CEO of Universitas 21, to protest the commercial nature of the
U21Global project.17 Meanwhile, 45,000 faculty union members in the United Kingdom were
asked to boycott participation in U21Global. In Australia, students of Queensland University

13 The Age. Tell em theyre dreaming. Education News,

http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/blogs/third-degree/tell-em-theyre-dreaming-
20110307-1bl1l.html. Accessed July 2014
14 UBC Faculty Association Newsletter, Twenty Important Questions...About U21 Global, Special Report,
Vol. 34, No. 8, December, 2001, http://www.facultyassociation.ubc.ca/docs/publications/ff-2001-
12.htm. Accessed July 2014
15 Idealism trodden in rush to market? News section, Time Higher Education. June 8, 2001.
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/idealism-trodden-in-rush-to-market/160950.article.
Accessed July 2014.
16 Geoffrey Maslen Leery about use of their names, Michigan and Toronto opt out of Universitas 21. The
Chronicle of Higher Education, May 25, 2001. http://chronicle.com/article/Leery-About-Use-of-
Their/18780. Accessed July 2014.
17 Judith Walker, U21Global: The In/Corporation Of Higher Education, Workplace: A Journal for
Academic Labor, 2005, Vol. 7: 1 (November): p34.

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held a demonstration on campus to protest their university's participation in U21Global.18
Faced with growing criticism and lack of internal support, a total of 5 initial signatories19
eventually opted out of the U21Global joint venture.

Concerns About Quality Assurance

The U21pedagogica comprises an academic from each participating university, but they function
as individuals not representatives of their scholarly community.
Professor Jane Kelsey, University of Auckland20

One of the key concerns as expressed by the academic community was related to quality
assurance of the U21Global programmes. To address this issue, Universitas 21 established a
subsidiary called U21pedagogica21 to review and accredit all of the degree programmes offered
by U21Global. This entity was also responsible for approving the hiring of all full-time and
adjunct professors. At U21Global, professors at all ranks held terminal degree (e.g., PhD, DBA) in
their field. New hires had to pass a 3-week Faculty Training Program (FTP) in which they
learned the use of U21Globals Learning Management System and its innovative pedagogy.
U21pedagogica was made up of senior university officials from the Universitas 21 members,
and its objective was to help U21Global reflect the same rigorous academic standards as in
other Universitas 21 member universities22. Unfortunately, this initiative was not fully
appreciated by the stakeholders. Some argued that this kind of self-accreditation by
U21pedagogica might be biased and added little value in enhancing the online universitys
creditability. It had also been reported that U21Global degree was not recognized by some of
the Universitas 21 member institutions.23 The fact that U21pedagogica functionally replaced the
administrative responsibility of a University Senate also caused unease among member
universities.24

Understanding the need to further strength its credibility in the public eyes, the management of
U21Global turned to the globally accepted business school accreditations25 such as those from
The European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) and The Association to
Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). The Belguim-based EFMD accredited
U21Global with the teChnology-Enhanced Learning (EFMD-CEL) accreditation26, whereas the

18 Australian students object to online-university consortium, March 9, 2001. The Chronicle of Higher

Education, p.39 as cited in Judith Walker, U21Global: The In/Corporation Of Higher Education,
Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor, 2005, Vol. 7: 1 (November): p34.
19 They were New York University, University of Peking, and Albert-Ludwig University in Freiburg
(Germany),
20 Rocky roads and broken dreams? Global online schools of non-profit universities continue to face
difficulties in realising their ambitions, The Observatory on borderless higher education, November
2009, http://www.obhe.ac.uk/documents/download?id=791. Accessed July 2014.
21 U21pedagogica was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Universitas 21, registered in Guernsey, the Channel
Islands. It also maintained an office in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.
22 U21Global, Quality Assurance About Us.
https://web.archive.org/web/20070206073647/http://www.u21global.edu.sg/web/guest/About/Abou
t_U21G/QualityAssurance. Accessed July, 2014.
23 Tony Bates, Why e-learning has failed - and why it will succeed, EDEN Conference
Helsinki, 2005, http://www.eden-
online.org/contents/conferences/annual/Helsinki/Keynotes/Bates.ppt. Accessed July 2014.
24 UBC Faculty Association Newsletter, Twenty Important Questions...About U21 Global, Special Report,
Vol. 34, No. 8, December, 2001, http://www.facultyassociation.ubc.ca/docs/publications/ff-2001-
12.htm. Accessed July 2014
25 Accreditation from AMBA was not sought because at that time, AMBA did not accredit any online
universities.
26 EFMD, CEL Accredited Programmes. Accreditation. http://www.efmd.org/index.php/accreditation-
main/cel/cel-accredited-programmes. Accessed July 2014.

315-043-1
US-based AACSB allowed U21Global to start the accreditation process27 by letting it to join as a
member.28 Unfortunately, the road to achieve the prestigious AACSB accreditation was much
longer and challenging than originally thought, and U21Global progressed very slowly on the
accreditation journey. Achieving these external accreditations was important to an online
university like U21Global. This was because some companies had policies that tuition fees
would be reimbursed if and only if the programmes that their employees studied were coming
from an accredited university.

The Growing U21Global Programme Offerings

We are continuing to launch new products together with our partners.
Danesh Daryanani, VP Marketing, U21Global29

After 2 years of preparation, U21Globals first online programme, an English-taught 18-subject
MBA programme, was launched in 2003. The main target market were middle and senior
managers who work for multinationals. The programme was able to attract students from over
72 countries, although most were coming from the South Asian region such as India, Singapore
and the Philippines. In 2005, the 12-subject Master of Science in Information Systems
Management (MISM) programme30,31 was launched to target working professionals in the high
technology industry. After realizing that many applicants did not have the full-time work
experience required for a successful enrolment into its flagship MBA programme, the university
launched a separate 12-subject stepping-stone programme, Master of Management in
International Business (MMIB), in 2006 for those young students who had just completed their
undergraduate studies32. MMIB graduates could eventually obtain the MBA degree by taking
extra courses through articulation. To build a strong funnel to its Masters programmes, the
university gave students the opportunity to experience U21Global by launching the shorter 8-
subject postgraduate diploma and the 4-course postgraduate certificate programmes.

The partnership with the University of Nottingham on its Master of Science in Tourism and
Travel Management (MScTTM) degree programme began U21Globals journey to collaborate
with others. Since 2005, the university had been enjoying good publicity by also partnering with
MasterCard Worldwide to launch scholarship programs for women who work in the travel and
tourist industry33. U21Global subsequently launched a wide variety of joint programmes,
articulation, and collaboration opportunities with other institutions, including Indian Institute

27 A typical timeframe to be accredited by AACSB is 5 to 7 years. Any university that intends to be

accredited by AACSB must first become a member with good standing.

28 AACSB, All Educational Members, Membership Listings.

http://www.aacsb.edu/membership/listings/all-educational-members/ Accessed July 2014.

29 CIOL U21Global plans online course in govt , business, News, Sep 28, 2006,

http://www.ciol.com/ciol/news/96010/u21global-plans-online-course-govt-business. Accessed July

2014.
30 The MISM program was later renamed as Master of Management in Information Technology (MMIT).
31 U21Global, Universitas 21 Global Launches Master of Science in Information Systems Management,
Press release, 24 October 2005.
https://web.archive.org/web/20060220041749/http://www.u21global.edu.sg/portal/corporate/html/
press-2005-10-24.htm. Accessed July, 2014
32 Gulf Industry, Dubai Knowledge Village - U21Global builds human capital. News. October 1, 2006.
http://www.gulfindustryonline.com/news/4923_U21Global-builds-human-capital.html. Accessed July
2014.
33 MasterCard, MasterCard-U21 Global Scholarship Program Marks Fifth Year of Empowering Women
Executives in Travel and Tourism Sector. Press release. May 26, 2010.
http://www.mastercard.com/us/company/en/newsroom/empowering_women.html. Accessed July
2014.

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of Management Bangalore (IIMB)34, IGNOU35, Mod'Sp Paris36, the University of Sunshine
Coast37, The Golf School of Business38 and the University of Newcastle, Australia39. By allowing
its own diploma graduates to articulate easily into others Master programmes, U21Global tried
to add value to its programme offerings and give prospects another good reason to join the
U21Global community. Other than degree programs, a major source of revenue came from
executive education. U21Global was busy providing corporate training to executives from
multinationals throughout the mid-2000s. Some of the key corporate clients included Aditya
Birla Group, Avantha Group, Emirates NBD, Indian Oil, Li & Fung, Shangri-La, and WIPRO.

U21Global Innovations

We strongly believe that our unique proposition of an online programme, as well as our fervent
commitment to providing quality education has created access and consequently a demand and
will continue to do so as we set the global standard in online learning.
Dr. Mukesh Aghi , CEO, Universitas 21 Global, 200640

Being the first online university in Asia Pacific, and also one supported by a consortium of
research-led universities, U21Global was an innovator in online pedagogy development. One of
the unique features that successfully differentiated U21Global from others was an authentic
assessment called the Open-Book Open-Web (OBOW) examination41. Instead of having a timed,
web-based multiple-choice or fill-in-the-blank examination that was commonly used by
online schools at that time, the OBOW examination allowed students to assume a particular
management role and make recommendation on a simulated business problem. Students were
given time period during the stated examination period to work on these case questions in their
locations around the world, in an open-book, open-web manner. All completed examination
papers had to be uploaded to an online plagiarism-checker called Turnitin42 via the U21Global
Learning Management System. Since all of the OBOW examinations were developed specifically
for each class, this gave the U21Global professors a great opportunity to test their students on
recent business issues that might have happened only a few weeks or months prior to the

34 Businessgyan, NSRCEL-IIM Bangalore and U21Global launch joint Mgmt Programme for
Entrepreneurs & Family Businesses. Newswatch, Oct 6, 2006,
http://www.businessgyan.com/node/1849. Accessed July 2014.
35 U21Global, IGNOU and U21Global announce the 3rd intake for 'Joint Postgraduate Programme in
Information Technology Management, ' June 20, 2010, https://twitter.com/u21global. Accessed July
2014.
36 U21Global, Introducing Executive MBA in Fashion Business Management. Jointly delivered by
U21Global, IGNOU and MODSPE, Paris, June 30, 2010, https://twitter.com/u21global. Accessed July
2014.
37 The Age. Tell em theyre dreaming. Education News, March 7, 2011.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/blogs/third-degree/tell-em-theyre-dreaming-
20110307-1bl1l.html. Accessed July 2014.
38 U21Global, The Gulf School of Business forges partnership with U21Global to provide high impact
programs in practising management, Jan 18, 2011, https://twitter.com/u21global. Accessed July 2014.
39 U21Global, U21Global announces collaboration with the University of Newcastle, Australia, on MBA
programme, Feb 8, 2011, https://twitter.com/u21global. Accessed July 2014.
40 U21Global, Universitas 21 Global Celebrates Second Anniversary with 1,000 Student Milestone, Press
release, September 7, 2005,
https://web.archive.org/web/20060220041823/http://www.u21global.edu.sg/portal/corporate/html/
press-2005-09-07.html. Accessed July 2014.
41 Wing Lam, Jeremy B. Williams and Alton Y.K. Chua (2007), E-xams: harnessing the power of ICTs to
enhance authenticity, Educational Technology & Society, 10 (3), 209-221.
42 Turnitin is the worlds standard tools in spotting plagiarism in student papers. This online system can a
students paper against millions of web pages, prior submitted school papers, and hundreds of databases
in a few minutes. A similarity index (score) will be given to allow the professor to properly assess the
originality and quality of the submitted work.

315-043-1
examination. Furthermore, some of the case questions were open-ended ones that required
students to demonstrate not only their critical thinking skills, but also specific knowledge
acquired from the course. As such, it would be very difficult to outsource such examination-
writing task to others, especially when the exam had to be completed within a 3-day period. The
OBOW examinations also helped U21Global to avoid logistical issues, such as arranging
proctored-examinations for students to attend in other countries.

Another U21Global innovation was demonstrated from their Virtual Conference on Business
and Management (VCOBAM) that was organized 3 times from 2009 to 2011. This 2-day virtual
conference allowed academics from other universities, industry practitioners, and students all
over the world to have meaningful intellectual exchange on various business issues. Similar to
traditional academic conferences, there were rigorous peer reviews on the submitted
conference papers and a conference proceeding was published for each conference. During the
conference, presenters made use of the CISCO WebEx technology to give their Powerpoint
presentations to the audience who are residing in different continents. VCOBAM provided a
great platform to those who could not easily travel to traditional face-to-face conferences due to
travel expense or logistical concerns.

The Unexpected Crisis

June 20, 2011 is the end of 18-month period for PEIs to transit to new requirements under the
Private Education Act.
Council for Private Education, Singapore43

With the growing programme offerings, expansion of sales channel partners, and a series of
brand reinforcement exercises in North America44 and Europe45, U21Global seemed to be on the
right track to success during the 2007-2008 timeframe. However, the fate of this online
university took a sharp turn soon after. The financial crisis in 2008 forced many multinationals
to significantly cut their spending in corporate training; some abruptly cancelled the contract,
while others had no choice but to postpone their programmes. Having a huge impact on the
executive education revenue stream, U21Global had to rely on its flagship MBA and MMIT
degree programs to keep the operation afloat. However, an unrelated incident in Singapore put
U21Globals operation into a challenging position.

In late 2009, the Council for Private Education (CPE)46 was formed to issue new regulations to
govern private educational institutions (PEI) operating in Singapore. It was triggered by the
Brookes Business School scam in which 400 students in Singapore were tricked to study at
Brookes for a fake RMIT degree47. The Singapore government had been criticized for not
protecting students fast enough, after seeing students suffered from school closure or course

43 CPE, Key Milestones, Council for Private Education Singapore, February 17, 2014.

http://www.cpe.gov.sg/about-us/key-milestones. Accessed July 2014.

44 U21Global U21Global Debuts MBA in North America, CNW Press release, September 8, 2008.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/267907/u21global-debuts-mba-in-north-america. Accessed July,

2014.
45 U21Global U21Global Sets Its Sights on Europe, Business Wire Press release, November 25, 2008.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20081125005725/en/U21Global-Sets-Sights-
Europe#.U8bNYdxrLY8. Accessed July 2014.
46 CEP was operated under the Ministry of Education. It was established by the Private Education Act that
was passed in the Singapore Parliament in September 2009.
47 Farrah Tomazin, RMIT snared in degree scam, The Age, News, June 18, 2009,
http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/rmit-snared-in--degree-scam-20090617-chvv.html.
Accessed July, 2014.

315-043-1
cancellation at AIT Academy48, Froebel Academy49, Shines College50 and many others
throughout the mid-2000s. The Enhanced Registration Framework (ERF) of The Private
Education Act 2009 governed many aspects of a schools operation, in terms of registration,
corporate governance, quality of provisions, and information transparency.51 Specially, there
were new requirements for curriculum design, student contract, fee protection scheme,
classroom facilities, and on-campus teachers deployed. The new, stringent regulations that were
mainly designed to govern traditional, brick-and-mortar schools gave little room for an
innovative, pure-online university like U21Global to continue business in Singapore. As a result,
the U21Globals Master programmes were ordered to be taught out. Although the school was
allowed to continue its certificate and diploma programmes, the fact that no new revenue could
come in from the flagship master programmes created a big financial burden to U21Global.
Seeing little possibility to successfully articulate into the MBA programme at U21Global, some
existing certificate and diploma students chose to discontinue their study with this online
university. The new regulation also led the university to change its official registered name from
Universitas 21 Global Pte Ltd. to U21Global Graduate School Pte Ltd. as it could no longer
offer degree programmes to new applicants.

Manipal, The White Knight

U21Global is a quality institution with excellent faculty and administration, making it an
attractive addition to the Manipal Education brand portfolio.
Anand Sudarshan,
CEO and MD of Manipal Universal Learning International, 2007

Universitas 21 initially predicted that 1,000 global students would be enrolled by 2003, 5,000 in
2004, and 27,000 by 2005. Thomson Learning also suggested U21Global could get up to 60,000
students52 by 2010. The original business plan suggested that U21Global only required 10,000
students to break even53, a goal that should not be difficult to meet as the university opened its
door to students across the continents. The reality turned out to be otherwise. Despite the fact
that the university was able to enjoy a 95% student retention rate in the first few years of
operation, U21Global only acquired the 1000th student in September 2005, approximately two
and a half years later than originally planned.54 Since the burst of the dot-com bubble in early
2000s, the online education sector had changed a lot. The first few years of the 21st century had

48 Singapore school closure hits Indians, September 02, 2005, http://www.hindustantimes.com/news-

feed/indiansabroad/singapore-school-closure-hits-indians/article1-35477.aspx. Accessed July, 2014.

49 Froebel Academy in trouble, Education in Singapore, June 5, 2007,
http://singaporeeducation.blogspot.ca/2007/06/froebel-academy-in-trouble.html
50 Sandra Davie, Stop these degree courses, school told, Asiaone News. Sep 15, 2008.
http://news.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20080911-87201.html
51 CPE, Enhanced Registration Framework (ERF), Council for Private Education Singapore, Jan 30, 2013,
http://www.cpe.gov.sg/for-peis/enhanced-registration-framework-erf/enhanced-registration-
framework-erf. Accessed July, 2014.
52 Update on Universitas 21 Global another e-university destined to failure? The Observatory on
borderless higher education, December 2004.
http://www.obhe.ac.uk/documents/2004/Articles/Update_on_Universitas_21_Global_another_e_universi
ty_destined_to_failure_ Accessed July 2014.
53 Update on Universitas 21 Global another e-university destined to failure? The Observatory on
borderless higher education, December 2004.
http://www.obhe.ac.uk/documents/2004/Articles/Update_on_Universitas_21_Global_another_e_universi
ty_destined_to_failure_ Accessed July 2014.
54 U21Global, Universitas 21 Global Celebrates Second Anniversary with 1,000 Student Milestone, Press
release, September 7, 2005,
https://web.archive.org/web/20060220041823/http://www.u21global.edu.sg/portal/corporate/html/
press-2005-09-07.html. Accessed July 2014.

315-043-1
seen the rapid demise of some very ambitious online education projects, such as UNext, Fathom,
Scottish Knowledge, Worldwide Universities Network, and UKs E-University (see Exhibit 3). It
was estimated that each of these projects lost US$20 million on average, whereas the largest e-
University project cost the British government US$100 million.55 So, the Universitas 21
members were not surprised to learn that the U21Global project was still unable to break-even
with its several thousand students.

In 2007, Thomson Learning not only renamed as Cengage Learning56, but also sold its 50%
stake in U21Global to Manipal Universal Learning International (MULI), an academic and
education services provider from India. This investment is reflective of our continuing
commitment to make education valuable, available, accessible and affordable, said Anand
Sudarshan, CEO and Managing Director of MULI. We believe U21Global offers significant
growth opportunities, particularly when combined with other Manipal resources.57 To
streamline operation, U21Global started to make use of Manipals resources in India to provide
IT, finance, and student support.

The Death of Professor Alan David Gilbert

U21Global regrets the demise of Professor Alan Gilbert, founder, Universitas 21 network of
international universities.
U21Global, Press Release

The death of 65 years old Professor Alan Gilbert on July 27, 2010 saddened U21Global and the
Universitas 21 community.58 As the brainchild of U21Global, Professor Gilbert was instrumental
in defending criticism and securing support for this innovative online university among
member universities. Without his presence, U21Global became an arms length project with
little relevance. Faced with the inability to acquire new MBA and MMIT students due to the new
CPE regulations, U21Global had to further reduce operating cost for survival. Many of the
marketing and sales team members were let go, and the U21Global headquarters was relocated
to a smaller office to accommodate the reduced workforce59. The majority of marketing
activities were stopped as sales funnel began to dry up.

Despite various downsizing efforts made by the U21Global management to keep cost under
control, the joint venture continued to bleed financially. At the same time, member universities
finally realized that the promised financial return was not realistic; The universities of
Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Nottingham only recouped 40,000 after investing more
than 5.5 million together into the joint venture, with an embarrassing return rate of just 0.7
per cent60. Since all of the Universitas 21 member universities were government funded, they
also faced their own financial challenges, as government funding on education was on a
declining slope in the past decade. Their unwillingness to put additional funding, together with

55 Tony Bates, Why e-learning has failed - and why it will succeed, EDEN Conference
Helsinki, p4, 2005, http://www.eden-
online.org/contents/conferences/annual/Helsinki/Keynotes/Bates.ppt. Accessed July 2014.
56 Thomson Learning was rebranded as Cengage Learning in 2007.
57 Business Development Asia BDA advises U21Global on sale of Cengages 50% stake to Manipal
Universal Learning International. Press release. November 19, 2007,
http://www.bdallc.com/?news=bda-advises-u21global-on-sale-of-cengages-50-stake-to-manipal-
universal-learning-international. Accessed July, 2014.
58 Professor Alan Gilbert Blog Post on British Religion in Numbers.
http://www.brin.ac.uk/news/2010/professor-alan-gilbert/. Accessed July 2014.
59 The U21Global headquarters was relocated from 5 Shendon Way, #01-01 UIC Building to 88B, Level
Three, Amoy Street.
60 Melanie Newman, Finances of e-school are not making the grade, Times Higher Education, October 1,
2009, http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/408445.article. Accessed July 2014.

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the mentioned academic concerns, caused some of the original U21Global supporters to leave
the joint venture; the number of U21Global affiliated universities kept decreasing; there were
18 in 2006, 11 in 2009 and the number further reduced to 4 in 2011.61

U21Equity had no option but to dilute its 50% stakes while the private sector partner, Manipal,
increased their investment and effectively controlled the online university starting 2010.62
Unfortunately, the challenging situation did not improve as revenue and enrollment continued
to shrink. In late 2012, U21Equity had to write off the entire U21Global investment and
essentially handed over the operation to Manipal, a while knight who was trying to expand its
presence in the education sector. This concluded the U21Global era and began a new chapter
under the name of GlobalNxt University63. The headquarters was relocated from Singapore to
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and business continued as usual. Existing U21Global students who
completed their study successfully could choose to receive an U21Global testamur, or one from
the University of Melbourne where the concept of U21Global was originated.

GlobalNxt University Is Born

With GlobalNxt University, a new institution has been created that is well placed to transform the
traditional model of university education.
Board Director, U21Global Graduate School64

The GlobalNxt name was made up of two important components. The first part Global
indicated that the new university was built upon the U21Global heritage, while the second part
Nxt was derived from EduNxt, the Learning Management System that Manipal used across its
universities. To help the academic community recognize its association with U21Global, the
GlobalNxt Univeristy logo cleverly adopted the same green-blue globe design that had been
used by the U21Global joint venture for over a decade (see Exhibit 4). Although GlobalNxt is
officially registered as a full private university with the Ministry of Higher Education in
Malaysia, the need for external recognition is not ignored. As a truly global business school, it is
important for us to remain connected with respected organisations around the world that
continually help us exchange new ideas, keep abreast of global business trends, and shape our
view of management education in a rapidly changing world, said Dr. Jason Fitzsimmons, Dean
of the Business School at GlobalNxt University. Similar to U21Global, GlobalNxt University is a
member to both AACSB65 and EFMD66. It has also maintained the globally recognized EFMD-CEL
accreditation67. GlobalNxt University is now fully owned by the Manipal Global Education
Services (MaGE)68 which serves over 400,000 students in its university campuses in Malaysia,
Antigua in the Caribbean, Dubai, Napel and India (see Exhibit 5). Although GlobalNxt University

61 They were the University of Birmingham, the University of Melbourne, the University of Nottingham

and the University of Virginia.

62 Andrew Trounson, Manipal to control U21Global, The Australian. January 27, 2010

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/manipal-to-control-u21global/story-e6frgcjx-
1225823749309?nk=c0a2e09229d9e9b29171eb35495bf39e. Accessed July, 2014.
63 Prior to choosing the GlobalNxt University name, the university was initially registered with Malaysia
Ministry of Education as Global e-University but this name was not used commercially.
64 GNU, U21 Global Heritage, GlobalNxt University Home, January 5, 2014.
http://www.globalnxt.edu.my/u21-global-heritage. Accessed July, 2014.
65 AACSB, All Member Schools - Ordered by Country/Region, State, Name, Membership.
https://www.aacsb.net/eweb/DynamicPage.aspx?Site=AACSB&WebKey=788e1dc7-9b35-4446-82a1-
c88cd07af17d. Accessed July 2014.
66 GNU, EFMD Member, GlobalNxt University Home. http://www.globalnxt.edu.my/efmd-member.
Accessed July 2014.
67 EFMD, CEL Accredited Programmes. Accreditation. http://www.efmd.org/index.php/accreditation-
main/cel/cel-accredited-programmes. Accessed July 2014.
68 MaGE is part of the Manipal Group conglomerate.

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is no longer invested by Universitas 21, it maintains academic partnerships with leading
academic institutions, including the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus and the LH
Martin Institute at the University of Melbourne.69

Programme offerings have been expanded significantly at GlobalNxt. In addition to the Post-
Graduate Diploma in Business Administration (PGDipBA) and Global MBA programmes that it
brought forward from U21Global, a Professional Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA)
programme is also planned for launch under the School of Business. The MMIT programme is
now known as MSc in IT Management (MITM), managed by the School of Information
Technology. Unlike U21Global that only focused in business and IT education, GlobalNxt has
expanded into other areas by establishing the School of Education, the School of Travel and
Tourism, and the School of Media and Creative Arts. A series of degree programmes are planned
for launch in the 2015/16 timeframe (see Exhibit 6). After 10 years operating as a business
school, we developed into a full-fledged university, said Dr. Wing Lam, Vice Chancellor and
Chief Executive of GlobalNxt University70. Perhaps that was a relief to someone who has
personally witnessed the decade-long evolution of this online university. Since joining
U21Global in 2003, Dr. Lam has served as Program Director of Master of Science in Information
Systems Management71, Dean of Information Technology Management Programmes72, and
eventually Dean of U21Global Graduate School73 during its last legs. With the continued support
from Manipal, it would not be long for Dr. Lam and his team to realize their dreams in online
education at GloblNxt University.

69 GNU, University Partnerships, GlobalNxt University Home, July 1, 2014.

http://www.globalnxt.edu.my/about/university-partnerships. Accessed July, 2014.

70 GNU, Vice Chancellor, GlobalNxt University Home About.

http://www.globalnxt.edu.my/about/vice-chancellor. Accessed July 2014.

71 Wing Lam, Alton Chua, and Jeremy B. Williams, Real Problems with Virtual Teams: An Analysis of

theFactors leading to Dysfunctional Online Collaboration, U21Global Woking Paper Series. June 005.
http://www.academia.edu/2500158/Real_Problems_with_Virtual_Teams_An_Analysis_of_the_Factors_lea
ding_to_Dysfunctional_Online_Collaboration. Accessed July 2014.
72 U21Global U21GLOBAL ONLINE eLEARNING CONFERENCE 2008,
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/elan/conference.pdf. Accessed July 2014.
73 Wing Lam and Alton Chua (2009), Knowledge outsourcing: an alternative strategy for knowledge
management, Vol. 13 Iss: 3, pp.28 - 43
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1793711. Accessed July 2014.

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Exhibit 1
U21Global Founding Universities

Country
Australia

Canada
China
Germany
New Zealand
Singapore
Sweden
United Kingdom

USA

Name of University
University of Melbourne
University of New South Wales
University of Queensland
McGill University
University of British Columbia
Fudan University
University of Hong Kong
Albert-Ludwig University in Freiburg
University of Auckland
National University of Singapore
Lund University
University of Birmingham
University of Edinburgh
University of Glasgow
University of Nottingham
University of Virginia

Source: http://www.u21global.edu.sg/PartnerAdmin/html/portlet/PrintPreview/printPreview.jsp?articleId=HOME_ABOUT_ABOUT_U21_GLOBAL_HISTORY

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Exhibit 2
Branding of Universitas 21 Global
Before 2005

After 2005

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Exhibit 3
List of Failed e-learning Consortium

Name of e-
learning
Consortium
UNext

Fathom

Scottish
Knowledge

Worldwide
Universities
Network

Participating Universities/Institutions

London School of Economics and Political Science

Carnegie Mellon University
Columbia Business School
Stanford University
University of Chicago Graduate School of Business
Cambridge University Press
London School of Economics
British Library
Victoria and Albert Museum
Science Museum and the Natural History Museum
Columbia University
New York Public Library
University of Chicago
University of Michigan
American Film Library
RAND corporation
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Abertay Dundee University
Edinburgh College of Art
Fife College
Glasgow Caledonian University
Heriot-Watt University
Highlands and Islands Millennium Institute
Napier University
Paisley University
Queen Margaret College
Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
Robert Gordon University
Scottish Agricultural College
Strathclyde University
University of Aberdeen,
University of Dundee
University of Edinburgh
University of Glasgow
University of St Andrews
University of Stirling
University of Bristol
University of Leeds,
University of Manchester
University of Sheffield
University of Southampton
University of York
University of California
University of San Diego

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E-UNIVERSITY
(UK)

University of Illinois
Pennsylvania State University
University of Washington, Seattle
University of Wisconsin-Madison.
All British Universities

Source: Idealism trodden in rush to market? News section, Time Higher Education. June 8, 2001.
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/idealism-trodden-in-rush-to-market/160950.article. Accessed July 2014.

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Exhibit 4
Logo of GlobalNxt University

Source: http://www.globalnxt.edu.my

Exhibit 5
LIST OF MANIPAL SCHOOLS

Country
Antigua
Malaysia

United Arab Emirates

Nepal
India

Name of Institution
American University of Antigua
Manipal International University, Malaysia
GlobalNxt University, Malaysia
Melaka Manipal Medical College, Malaysia
Manipal University, Dubai
Manipal College of Medical Sciences, Nepal
ICICI Manipal Academy for Banking and Insurance
Institute of Customer Experience Management, Bangalore
Manipal Academy of Certified Professionals
Manipal Academy of Banking
Source: http://www.manipalglobal.com/OI.html.

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Exhibit 6
OVERVIEW OF GLOBALNXT UNIVERSITY PROGRAMMES

Name of School
Name of Program
School of Business
Professional Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA)
Global MBA
Post-Graduate Diploma in Business Administration
(PGDipBA)
School of Information Technology
MSc in IT Management (MITM)
School of Education
Master of Education
School of Travel and Tourism
MSc in Travel Tourism and Hospitality Management
Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) with
specialization in travel and tourism
School of Media and Creative Arts
Doctorate in Media Studies
MA in Media Studies
MA in Journalism
MA in Mass Communications
Bachelor of Arts in Media and Journalism
Note: Programme name shown in italics are planned but not yet launched as of July 2014.

Source: http://www.globalnxt.edu.my

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