University Research Council

January 20, 2011

Meeting Summary

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Multidisciplinary Grant Project

John Camillus, Professor in the Katz Graduate School of Business, reported on the status of his multidisciplinary grant, which is entitled The Business of Humanity. Faculty members from Katz, the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, and the School of Engineering participate in the project. They analyze case studies drawn from firms in Brazil, China, the Czech Republic, India, Russia and the U.S. The project explores the following proposition: Strategic decision making that employs criteria falling under the rubric of "humanity" – in its two dimensions of "humaneness" and "humankind" – leads to superior economic performance.

There are three bases and motivations for the project:

• The short- and long-term economic and strategic advantages of "humaneness" in managerial decision making, which focuses on criteria and programs related to safety, quality, diversity, environmental sustainability, gender equality, social sustainability, integrity, ergonomics, and good design.
• The imperative of recognizing "humankind" in innovating strategy, which recognizes the global context of decision making and draws attention to the needs and potential of markets – at the "bottom of the pyramid" – with low per capita incomes.
• The inadequacy and potential dysfunctionality of accounting profits as a guide for managerial decision making, especially when facing crises, innovating strategy, and confronting wicked problems.

Additional information on the project is available at this website: http://www.katz.pitt.edu/boh/.

Report from the Office of Research

Allen DiPalma, Director of the Office of Research, discussed several aspects of the Office’s operations:

• The Office currently is working with several departments to test the InfoEd’s proposal development module. This module will help investigators route a proposal electronically and permit them to submit the proposal electronically to the sponsoring agency.

• The Office of Research will periodically sponsor an open forum entitled “Ask the Office of Research.” The first forum was held December 16, and the next one will be held January 25.
• InfoEd hopes to provide the material transfer agreement (MTA) portal to the University soon. It will be rolled out a couple months after it is received.

Multidisciplinary Projects

The Provost’s Office continues to explore three multidisciplinary topics: how to apply immunology models to cybersecurity, how to minimize the complexity of manufacturing models, and how to use social networks to enhance problem solving. Teams are meeting regularly to work on the projects. Each team will prepare a white paper as a plan for future research.

Miscellaneous

Council members also discussed the Washington, D.C., federal agency trip. The social sciences and education will be featured during this trip.