Smith’s Center for Human Capital, Innovation and Technology Takes an Active Role in Fueling State Growth

The State of Maryland has recently been cited as No. 2 in the nation as a source of economic growth and the Smith School’s Center for Human Capital, Innovation and Technology (HCIT) is an important contributing driver.

A June 2007 report produced by the Miliken Center, an independent economic think tank, shows that the State of Maryland has moved up to second place in on the Center’s State Technology and Science Index between 2004-2008, exceeded only by the State of Massachusetts. The index relies on more than 15 different indicators to provide a multi-faceted picture of states’ performance in today’s highly competitive knowledge-based economy. Maryland ranked first in the nation on the Miliken Center’s Human Capital Investment Composite, an index created in recognition of the role that individuals’ knowledge and innovation capabilities play in a state or region’s competitive advantage within today’s intangible, digital economy.

The HCIT, one of several research centers in Maryland’s university system praised by the report, is driving a research agenda intended to further develop the capabilities that underlie the state’s recent climb to No. 2 on the Technology and Science Index. HCIT Co-Directors Paul Tesluk and Susan Taylor note that the center was one of the first to focus on human capital as one of a small cluster of critical resources that drive economic development.

“HCIT’s research studies how human capital interacts with technology and the innovation process to produce results that are greater than the combined contribution of human capital, innovation, or technology,” said Tesluk. “Examples include research on how organizations can most effectively motivate knowledge transfer and utilization among employees, how training provided to geographically distributed teams can be enhanced to improve team effectiveness, and exploration of the team processes that support the ability of organizations to effectively search and discover new ideas that foster innovation.”

Recently HCIT put its reservoir of knowledge into practice with an ongoing three-year leadership program with Anne Arundel Health System (AAHS) that was produced jointly with Smith's executive programs. The program has helped the health center manage growth and change by creating the AAHS Leadership Institute.

The medical center faced challenges that accompanied a period of rapid expansion. The addition of 50 hospital beds, new buildings and units resulted in new issues and questions. “For example, we created a separate pediatric emergency unit,” said Nancy Luttrell, Vice President of Human Resources at AAHS. “We needed the nurses in the pediatric unit to be on board. We needed cleaning and sterilization processes in place. We needed to figure out the flow of patients and how to direct them. We needed to share resources and to work together.”

Faced with the challenge of making sure disparate parties were able to come together as a team to support a common outcome, AAHS targeted directors and vice presidents for training and leadership development. HCIT played a key role in developing classes and executive coaching that have significantly enhanced teamwork and organizational capabilities.

“I don’t think we would have been able to get where we are going without the training,” said Luttrell in describing the impact. “It has been very valuable.”

Some additional examples of HCIT projects that are taking the lead in improving organizational use of human capital include those that look at:

• The impact of leadership behavior at all levels of the organization on the success and innovation of radical change in high technology organizations
• The factors driving knowledge workers to continue to explore new uses for existing information technologies that enhance their own and organizational performance
• The way cross-cultural differences impact the nature and the results of the innovation process across information technology organizations in three different countries, the United States, China and Israel. Related work is focused on the development of leadership capabilities through means such as executive coaching that provide sustained organizational growth

For further information about HCIT projects and its upcoming executive conferences on leading organizational change and executive coaching, contact: Paul Tesluk or Susan Taylor.