About Us

The Smith School CIBER

The overarching purpose of the U.S. Department of Education's CIBER Program is to enhance the international competitiveness of American business. The Smith CIBER has five objectives, seven themes, and forty project activities designed to help achieve the CIBER mission in the National Capital Area and the Mid-Atlantic region.

Objectives

  1. Internationalization of the Smith School: Internationalization of the Smith School was stimulated by the erstwhile Maryland CIBER in the early to mid-1990s, with renewed emphasis in the last 4-5 years. CIBER is now helping to launch the third wave of the School's internationalization.
  2. Foreign Languages and Area Studies: This objective will continue and strengthen opportunities for business students to learn the languages, cultures and business practices of other nations and for non-business students to be grounded in the basics of business and management.
  3. Teaching Program: The teaching program will strengthen some of the existing courses by infusing greater international content into them, add new international courses in different disciplines, and launch new learning initiatives to serve our multiple constituencies.
  4. Research Program: The research program will include research by faculty and doctoral students designed to promote the international competitiveness of American business.
  5. Outreach Program: Outreach activities include research, training, and consulting services intended for two broad constituencies, business and higher education. For example, the education outreach program will have specific activities designed to strengthen the international business programs of colleges and universities in Maryland and the National Capital Area.

Central Themes

The Smith CIBER has seven themes, as shown below. These are the specific areas in which the Smith School and the University of Maryland have particular strengths relevant to the CIBER mission. Hence, a majority of our teaching, research and outreach initiatives are built around these themes.

  1. Competitiveness
  2. Entrepreneurship and innovation
  3. E-Business and technology
  4. National and homeland security
  5. Language study
  6. Global services
  7. Emerging markets

The figure below shows the interrelationships between and among the seven themes. In particular, the figure highlights how the interfaces between and among national and homeland security, language education, entrepreneurship and innovation, and e-business and technology lead to competitiveness in product and geographic markets. While all product and geographic markets are of importance to the Smith CIBER, global services and emerging markets, respectively, are of special interest.

Theme Champions

Theme

 Theme Champions
Competitiveness Dr. Vinod Jain
Director, Center for International Business Education and Research
Affiilate Professor, Logistics, Business & Public Policy Department
Entrepreneurship and Innovation Dr. Anil Gupta
Research Director, CIBER
Research Director, Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship
Ralph J. Tyser Professor of Strategy and Organization
Department of Management & Organization
E-Business and Technology Dr. G. “Anand” Anandalingam
Ralph J. Tyser Professor of Management Science
Dean
National and Homeland Security Dr. Lawrence Gordon
Director, Information Security Project
E&Y Alumni Professor of Managerial Accounting
Department of Accounting & Information Assurance
Language Study Ms. Karen Watts
Assistant Director, Center for International Business Education and Research
Global Services Dr. P.K. Kannan
Director, Center for Excellence in Services
Associate Professor of Marketing
Emerging Markets Dr. Lemma Senbet
William E. Mayer Chair Professor of Finance
Editor, Journal of International Business Studies

Dr. Saúl Sosnowski
Vice Provost, Office of International Programs
Professor and Director, Latin American Studies Center
Department of Spanish & Portuguese