Two University of Iowa business professors have been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to develop new models to help businesses improve workforce development and employee training.

Barrett Thomas, associate professor management sciences, and Kenneth Brown, professor of management and organizations, both in the Tippie College of Business, will receive $218,675 from NSF for their project, “Collaborative Research: solving large-scale, high-fidelity workforce planning models that recognize the potential of human learning.”

Thomas and Brown say the research will better help American businesses compete in the global economy by developing new models and methods for improving how organizations improve their work forces through careful management of training and on-the-job learning. The research combines perspectives and techniques of data mining, operations research, and organizational psychology.

“The models and solution techniques created in this proposal will allow companies to learn more effectively than their competitors, leading to more effective use of human capital and providing a sustainable competitive advantage,” says Thomas.

The project also includes Mike Hewitt of Loyola University of Chicago and Scott Grassman of Rochester Institute of Technology. The NSF award and project number is CMMI-1266064. It expires June 30, 2016.