Cornell University ILR’s investigation focuses on human, social capital

Caitlin Ray, assistant professor of Human Resource Studies at the ILR School, has had papers published on a pair of related topics – human capital resources and social capital resources.

In “Human Capital Resources: Reviewing the First Decade and Establishing a Foundation for Future Research,” published in January in the Journal of Management, Ray and her co-authors review previous research that has looked at how human capital – individual employees – work together in a group to help a company be successful.

According to Ray, there has been a push over the past decade to understand how people come together in groups. Her review highlights the importance of thinking about how the group comes together to function best, rather than focusing just on the individual contributor.

In another paper, “Human Capital Resources Emergence: The Role of Social Capital,” published last December in the Academy of Management Review, Ray and her co-authors take a broad view to look at the structure of how people are connected in a group.

Several areas that are key to how social capital can create the highest functioning group, Ray said, are:

How are people connected in the unit? Is it a large group or small group, and how frequently do connections interact?
How much trust and camaraderie exist among members?
Do members share a common institutional knowledge and language that allows them to communicate more efficiently?