Across the divide: teaching a transnational MBA in a second language

China is a growing market for the provision of transnational programs. However, there are manychallenges associated with providing good—quality learning opportunities while ensuring costeffectiveness,particularly in bilingual programs. This paper describes the experience of businessacademics teaching a postgraduate MBA program in Mandarin to students located in China. Theacademics found that their attempts to provide an effective teaching/learning environment whileteaching through translators led to many additional challenges, including increased rigidity of teachingprocesses and difficulties in monitoring learning outcomes. The paper identifies some ways inwhich staff teaching transnationally might be supported, while also suggesting that teaching acrossa language divide needs to be carefully considered before universities venture into this complexeducational setting.