Supporting Innovation to
Change the World Around Us

Smith research drives business change. In less than a decade, the Smith School of Business has established five research centers that foster cross-disciplinary scholarship keyed to the practice of business in the digital economy. The centers serve as a structure for coordinating and promoting Smith faculty scholarship in strategic business areas, as a conduit for research funding, and as a vehicle for promoting and disseminating new knowledge through publications, seminars and conferences.

The Smith School’s research activities span theory and application, producing the visionary ideas and innovative techniques that are shaping business practice in the 21st century. In 2000 the Smith School created a unique resource for faculty and student research in the Netcentric Research Laboratories. The netcentric labs—supply chain management, financial markets, electronic markets, and behavioral—create an integrated electronic teaching and research environment, with applications to e-commerce, supply chain management, financial markets, auctions, and consumer research. The first environment of its kind at any business school in the country, the netcentric labs reflect Smith’s vision of converging technology applications across the various functions of business.

SMITH RESEARCH CENTERS:

• Center for Electronic Markets and Enterprises
• Center for Excellence in Service
• Center for Human Capital, Innovation, and Technology
• Center for Health Information and Decision Systems
• Supply Chain Management Center

Spotlights

Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship

North Star Games Signs Deal with Target

Smith’s Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship is dedicated to facilitating, supporting, and encouraging new entrepreneurial growth in the mid-Atlantic region. One of the earliest entrepreneurship centers in the country, the Dingman Center continues to grow as a national catalyst in the evolving arena of entrepreneurial education and practice. Founded in 1986 with an initial gift from Michael D. Dingman, founder of Signal Corporation (later AlliedSignal), the center has not only helped to propel the Smith School into one of the nation’s top ranked business schools for entrepreneurship, but also set the bar for private philanthropic investment at Smith.

North Star Games was incubated in the Dingman Center by founders Dominic Crapuchettes and Satish Pillalamarri as their 2003 MBA summer internship. Several years later, North Star Games is poised to break into the mainstream with their award-winning hit, Wits & Wagers.

Zoey Rawlins got even more than she bargained for when she enrolled in the MBA program at the Smith School of Business. During her year as a Dingman Center Scholar, Rawlins developed SHOP DC—a Washington, D.C., shopping and fashion guide distributed in upscale hotels.

Dingman Scholars receive scholarships, advice, mentoring, and start-up funding to help them take their business ideas from concept to reality. Launched in 2004, SHOP DC was recently acquired by Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, a significant achievement for a young entrepreneur.  

Center for Health Information and Decision Systems

Smith’s Center for Health Information and Decision Systems (CHIDS) is a respected thought leader in applications of information and decision systems in health care. In July 2006, CHIDS’ director Ritu Agarwal testified before a federal workgroup headed by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services on the value of digitized, portable personal health records. “IT has transformed other information-intensive industries such as financial services and retailing, but health care is lagging,” Agarwal notes. “There is tremendous potential for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the health care delivery process through the application of advanced information and decision technologies.”