Following a rapidly changing external environment, internationalization has become an institutional phenomenon with strategic relevance for universities worldwide. However, the frequently reported gap between theory and practice remains. Engaging staff and achieving successful organizational implementation appears increasingly problematic with more stakeholders and disciplines involved. This study explores the long-time gap between strategy and implementation with Pettigrew's organizational change framework (1987). We conducted a systematic scoping literature review of articles about curriculum internationalization (N = 325) published in English in peer-reviewed journals between 2000 and 2022. Our study demonstrates that the organizational change perspective provides guidelines to improve and facilitate the process. Based on an organizational change perspective we developed a comprehensive framework that may contribute to more effective strategies for staff engagement and meaningful implementation outcomes for curriculum internationalization in higher education.