Industrial Relations Counselors, Inc. (IRC), was established as a non-profit in 1926 — with funds donated by John D. Rockefeller Jr. — to promote positive employment relations and advances in human resources management through consulting, research, and education. In the words of IRC’s original mission statement, these activities will “advance the knowledge and practice of human relations in industry, commerce, education, and government organizations.”

Today’s new 21^st century IRC — Innovation Resource Center for Human Resources (IRC4HR^®) — is founded on the same mission and principles but with a new name and focal set of activities. The research component is elevated in the new IRC4HR and aims to bring together employers, academics, and other stakeholders for collaborative, ‘make-a-difference’ projects on challenging issues related to human relations in the workplace. IRC4HR seeks to make organizations more competitive, productive, and effective through improved organization design, leadership development, and people management practices, and to serve the mutually beneficial interests of organizations, workers, and society.