CIBRE Research: Applied research solving contemporary business issues

With a laser focus on research that solves today’s business problems while helping businesses prepare for tomorrow’s challenges, the CIBRE’s applied research projects serve as a focal point for thought leadership among academics and business leaders.

Relying on the strength of years of collaborative cross-disciplinary research within OU’s SBA, CIBRE builds on existing partnerships across OU’s campus and the world to research, analyze, disseminate information, manage knowledge and recommend solutions on a wide range of contemporary issues.

Topics include international business, global strategy with IT competencies; health care management; law; entrepreneurship; IS management and leadership, international marketing and branding; financial planning, governance and reporting system integration; virtual teamwork and communication; product life cycle management,  and more.

“The research arm of SBA’s CIBRE is key to our vision of facilitating integrated thought and bridging academic theory and business practice. CIBRE’s research projects offer real solutions for the economic foundation and the future of our region,” says SBA Dean Mohan Tanniru. “Each research project stands on its own merits while also connecting CIBRE and SBA faculty to the business community.”

For example, expert faculty researchers have projects underway in the following areas:

• Health care (see article this issue)
• Finance
• Product lifecycle management
• Marketing
• Global business (watch for article in spring SBA Insight)
• Entrepreneurship (see article this issue)
• Information systems
• Law

Integrating the SBA’s existing connections and partnerships under the CIBRE builds on the strength of SBA’s 40-year history. Existing partnerships include:

• An alliance with the Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Institute means CIBRE can explore cross-disciplinary research between engineering, computer science and business, broadening the engineering/manufacturing focus to the entire product life cycle.

• Through a partnership with the former strategy group called Enterprise Architecture Interest group (EAIG), the CIBRE at SBA is supporting the integration of global business strategy to internal IT competencies (people, processes, technology).

• Addressing key areas of health care management research through partnerships with OU’s Schools of Health Science, Nursing and the new Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine .

• OU’s College of Arts and Sciences  and School of Education and Human Services, to examine the role of global culture and virtual communication on team work, learning and knowledge sharing in the area of global business research.

• More than 40 institutions and 17 countries that allow CIBRE to focus on global business research in areas such as information technology, international marketing and branding, strategy, governance and reporting system integration, virtual team work, etc.

• Cooley Law School to explore issues such as contract and intellectual property laws, tax and financial reporting, and entrepreneurship.

• The Entrepreneurship Institute to develop undergraduate and graduate programs to support entrepreneurship research and education in partnership with OU Incubator and other regional small businesses and entrepreneurs.

“The CIBRE is the foundation through which the SBA is transforming into a business school that integrates education with real-world application and skills, and research with the business needs of today and the future, while also providing an overarching global perspective,” Tanniru says. “This is something that has remained constant over the course of our 40-year history and a strength we are formalizing with the launch of CIBRE.”