Purpose This study aims to investigate how students from non-English-medium undergraduate backgrounds successfully transition into English-medium business master’s programmes. It addresses a gap in the international business education literature by examining how multiple interrelated factors combine to shape these transitions, moving beyond linear, variable-centred approaches. Design/methodology/approach Integrating the ROAD-MAPPING framework with crisp-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (csQCA), this study analysed data from 35 Chinese business pre-master's students who had completed a pre-sessional English programme at a Sino-British joint venture university. Six conditions derived from the framework were examined: Roles of English in relation to Other languages, Academic Discipline, (Language) Management, Agents, Practices and Processes, and Internationalisation and Glocalisation. Findings The analysis identifies Practices and Processes (active pedagogical engagement) as a necessary condition for a successful short-term academic transition. Furthermore, the results reveal three sufficient configurations, reflecting different combinations of academic readiness, language confidence, institutional support and learner agency. Originality/value By operationalising ROAD-MAPPING within a configurational method, this study provides a holistic understanding of transition to English-medium business master’s programmes as a multidimensional learning process. It illustrates how the framework can be extended from a descriptive heuristic to a diagnostic-analytical approach and offers data-driven insights into learner adaptation in internationalised business education.
Tang et al. (2026) studied this question.