FIU Business’ newly-formed Department of International Business (IB), previously within the Department Management and International Business, plans to strengthen its academic programs as it solidifies strong rankings and high faculty achievement.
The department includes faculty and programs in entrepreneurship and strategy, fields that are closely related to international business, particularly in Miami, a global city known for its start-up culture. The new structure will allow the department to focus on developing programs that focus on preparing students for today’s international business climate and its related fields. The department holds one of FIU Business’ most prestigious rankings: No. 7 nationally for its undergraduate international business program from U.S. News and World Report. Its excellence has been consistently recognized, with top 10 rankings for five out of the last six years.
“We want to make the major even better, to make sure it stays in the forefront of international business education,” said Bill Newburry, the department chair. To that extent, the department is working with the Consortium for Undergraduate International Business Education (CUIBE) on a study of the value of international business education among its core constituents: students, corporate recruiters, deans and alumni.
New on the table for the undergraduate degree: a required international experience component, and a second language requirement. This, Newburry said, will complement the depth and breadth of the department’s course offerings. With about 1,500 international business majors, FIU’s program is one of the largest of its kind in the U.S. The department also plans to develop an entrepreneurship major, which will be designed to meet the needs of South Florida’s internationally-focused student population.
There’s also change coming in the Master of International Business (MIB) program. It will include an international startup course, focusing on providing students with skills they need to start and support global ventures and sustain entrepreneurial thinking in a global setting.
“It’s the right focus for Miami, where global trade is central to our business mindset,” Newburry said. Coursework will also be added on in geopolitics, an arena international business professionals need to understand in an era infused with global trade wars. A mandatory international trip will also be added, as well as a master’s project that will allow teams of students to work directly with companies on challenging project work – real companies with real projects – and present their findings at the end of the semester.
Key to the department’s success is the strong international reputation of IB’s faculty members, who have held leadership positions in virtually every major academic international business organization and publish frequently in top journals. FIU’s faculty ranks No. 5 in the U.S. and No. 12 in the world for the number of publications in the Journal of International Business Studies, and houses two of the world’s most prolific authors in international strategic management research. FIU Business also has more faculty members on the editorial board of the Journal of International Business Studies, considered the top journal in the field, than any other U.S. business school.
