Abstract

This article aims to address the question of whether centralized decision-making is always better, particularly related to the internationalization of higher education. The study was conducted at Sebelas Maret University. This university was selected because it is one of the universities in Indonesia undergoing the process of implementing the internationalization of higher education. This qualitative study applied a case study design. The data were collected through interviews, documentation, and focus group discussions (FGD). Interviews were conducted among twenty-two purposively-selected informants for three months. The informants were selected based on their roles in the decision-making of internationalization for higher education institutions at the university and faculty level. The result of the analysis shows that the decision-making of the internationalization for Sebelas Maret University is centered on the rector at the university level and the dean at the faculty level. Both implementations have different aspects of decision-makers, relationships, duties, and authority. Centralization is considered more appropriate to make strategic decisions such as internationalization with the aim to avoid mistakes. However, further analysis reveals that centralization and decentralization are applied simultaneously in the decision-making process at the faculty level. Therefore, further research is required to analyze the decentralization of decision-making in the internationalization of higher education institutions.