Microeconomics of Competitiveness:
Firms, Clusters, and Economic Development

Course Faculty - Prof. Vinod K. Jain

Vinod Jain is the founding director of the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, and an affiliate professor in the department of Logistics, Business & Public Policy. Previously, he served as academic director for the Smith School's Executive MBA program in China as well as director of the Center for Global Business. Prior to joining the Smith School in 2005, he taught for some twelve years at universities in the United States, U.K., and Bahrain. And, in spring 2005, he taught on the Executive MBA program at the Polish-American Management Center, University of Lodz, Poland as a Fulbright Scholar. A true cosmopolitan, Vinod has lived, studied, and worked in India, United States, Europe, and the Middle East.

Vinod teaches courses in strategy, global strategy, and clusters and competitiveness on Smith's MBA and Executive MBA programs in College Park, China, and Switzerland. His current research involves measuring the innovation economy in the United States, a project funded partially by the IBM Center for the Business of Government. His research and publications have been in fields as diverse as strategy evolution, foreign direct investment, performance measurement, and knowledge management. During the last nine years, he has received and managed five competitive grants from the U.S. Department of Education, with a total budget of over four million dollars.

Prior to returning to academia in 1989, Vinod worked in industry for some twenty years and held a variety of junior, middle, and senior executive positions with multinationals corporations. He has also consulted for a number of multinational corporations and non-profit organizations and has conducted over one hundred executive seminars worldwide.

In 2004, Vinod received a Citation from Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich, Jr., recognizing him for his services promoting international understanding with people from different parts of the world in business and education. And, in 2001, he won the "E" Award for Excellence in Exporting from Ohio Governor Robert Taft for the services he provided to multinational companies in the state.

Vinod has a Ph.D. degree in Strategy and International Management from the University of Maryland at College Park and Master's degrees in Management (UCLA) and Statistics (Indian Statistical Institute). He is a member of Academy of International Business, Academy of Management, Maryland-Washington D.C. District Export Council, Mensa, Strategic Management Society, and the World Affairs Council. He is President Emeritus of the board of directors of the Toledo Area International Trade Association and served on the boards of governors of Ohio's Information Technology Alliance and the IT Alliance for Northwest Ohio during April 2000 - April 2002.