Introduction

Universities everywhere require leadership and expertise capable of participating in an increasingly complex and globalized world. Universities can demonstrate “world-class” thinking and policy development in the sense that they employ state-of-the-art solutions to pressing challenges of the twenty-first century. Regardless of the national or cultural context in which they operate, world-class universities are committed to providing the best-possible academic services to students, academic staff, and the community. These institutions “think” globally without losing sight of their national and local environments. They achieve this goal by taking lessons from academic trendsetters around the world and then adapting relevant ideas and practices to meet local needs and goals. This kind of strategic thinking requires an understanding of how the broad themes of the day-such as, competition in the global academic marketplace, privatization, and new mechanisms for financing universities-affect the daily operation of a university and the policy decisions required of academic leaders.