The University of South Carolina's CIBER supports multiple Darla Moore School of Business study abroad programs for students, primarily through financial support to faculty and staff to assist with curriculum, program development and program management, as well as domestic and international travel costs.

Each year, the Moore School offers numerous short-term business study abroad programs open to all business school students, to include such locations as New Zealand, Turkey, Southeast Asia, Africa and several locations in Western and Eastern Europe. For information visit the Business Study Abroad Office.

The University of South Carolina CIBER supports the Moore School in offering business language instruction in numerous languages to students and faculty in a variety of curricula and programs. The U.S. Department of Education (the source of the CIBER grant) places major emphasis upon instruction and competence in less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) and critical languages. The South Carolina CIBER and the Moore School support the study of many business languages, the majority of which are Less Commonly Taught Languages (LCTLs).

International Business Major

Undergraduate students who select the undergraduate international business major (consistently ranked as No. 1 by U.S. News & World Report) are required to complete four advanced courses (300 level or above) in one of the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian or Spanish. The University of South Carolina CIBER and the Moore School of Business are also members of the Consortium of Undergraduate International Business Education, and are actively involved in furthering all aspects of undergraduate international business education, to include business language instruction, undergraduate research initiatives, curriculum development and international/overseas experience through study abroad, field studies and internships.

The University of South Carolina CIBER, like the other 15 Centers for International Business Education and Research in the United States, has been given six mandates from the U.S. Department of Education and the Higher Education Act of 1965 to promote international business in its various forms. Two of those mandates fall under the heading of OUTREACH activities:

• Serve as regional resources to local businesses by providing programs and research designed to meet the international training needs of such businesses.
• Serve as regional resources for other faculty, students and institutions of higher education.

SC CIBER offers and supports a variety of programs and activities to local businesses, faculty, students and institutions in the state of South Carolina, the southeast region, and at the national-level to enhance international business experience and expertise. These activities and programs are also organized and managed by SC CIBER: Faculty Development in International Business programs, Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) and Community Colleges (CC) outreach, International Business research initiatives, as well as seminars, workshops and conferences. Fourteen of the 16 CIBERs, including the University of SC CIBER, have formed a national-level MSI/CC Outreach Consortium to support institutions and individuals (faculty, administrators, students) from MSIs and CCs across the country who aim to increase expertise in international business education or develop capabilities that will expand and strengthen international business education.

Faculty Development in International Business Programs

he University of South Carolina CIBER manages and leads customized Faculty Development in International Business (FDIB) programs, in particular leading the FDIB-Africa program annually for the past two decades, and offers several CIBER scholarship stipends to faculty from our regional area. 

The University of South Carolina CIBER reserves participant slots for MSI & CC Faculty in its FDIB programs, as well as making available generous scholarship stipends for faculty to participate in other CIBER led FDIBs to other regions.

The University of South Carolina CIBER has a long and successful history of funding and supporting International Business research, investing a significant portion of its annual CIBER budget to research. As a result, CIBER has assisted the Sonoco International Business Department faculty in becoming the most prolific International Business research department in the Unites States for many consecutive years, as well as supporting other Darla Moore School of Business faculty in their IB-related research, while adding valuable literature to the area of U.S. competitiveness in the global market.

The SC CIBER has published over 300 research papers since its inception in 1989, and continues to devote funding toward research initiatives that promote the international competitiveness of U.S. businesses in the global market. SC CIBER offers annual CIBER research grants to its Moore

School faculty as primary researchers on various research topics of international importance, especially centered on three comprehensive research themes critical for pushing the frontier of IB knowledge and practice:

1. Corporate governance and global value creation in multinational corporations,
2. Innovation and entrepreneurship in the digital age and in a multipolar world and
3. Business and society and the role of multinational corporations. This research initiative supports not only regional faculty and businesses, but also the future global business interests of all U.S. companies.

Global Leaders Rethinking Quality Infrastructure

The Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) and Folks Center for International Business at the University of South Carolina, co-sponsored a workshop in Geneva, Switzerland, May 9-10, 2024. The program entitled “Rethinking Institutions of Development: Transformation of Quality Infrastructure” was organized by Gerald McDermott of University of South Carolina; Richard Doner of Emory University; Carlo Pietrobelli of UNU-MERIT and Roma Tre University; and Antonio Vezzani of UNCTAD. 

The goal of this inaugural workshop was to advance the understanding of quality infrastructure (QI) beyond an emphasis on QI’s general importance for issues such as trade, investment, and development. The larger venture attempts to recast core issues of technological upgrading and global value chains for emerging market firms. 

We are building a unique network of “thinking doers and doing thinkers,” including top academics, former government ministers, and key leaders from the International Trade Centre (ITC), United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). As noted by Hernan Manson, the head of Inclusive Agribusiness Systems at the International Trade Centre, “Building a working group of ‘Thinking Doers and Doing Thinkers’ and the quest to co-create, test and showcase impact driven partnership ecosystems for improved MSME and value chain competitiveness comes at the right time. Quality, Sustainability and Business are intertwined and must be addressed systemically and holistically - if we are to respond to the broader Environmental, Economic and Social challenges and opportunities associated with trade and inclusive development. At the ITC. we welcome the collaboration with academia, peers and colleagues and are ready to play our part.‘’

SC CIBER and the Folks Center will collaborate with Brown University to convene the second workshop in Spring 2025. Brown University Professor Andrew Schrank emphasized: “The Geneva workshop was a huge success. Thanks to CIBER and the Folks Center we were able to bring together key stakeholders from around the world to rethink quality and how to achieve it. We're looking forward to next year's event at Brown, where we'll build on this success and catalyze the quality network for the challenges ahead."