Prof. S. Sundar, PGP Chairman of BIM, Trichy gave the welcome address. He brought out the difference in the structures of medical and management education, the former being more practical and the latter more theoretical. He said that research was one of the methods of bridging the gap and making management education more meaningful.

Prof. David Jawahar, Conference Chairman and Head of the Centre for Contemporary Management Research (CECMAR), gave an introduction to CECMAR and Athenaeum ’07. The response to the call for papers was encouraging with papers from all over the country and also Canada, Dubai, Iran, Mexico and Pakistan. Athenaeum ’07 will have 24 papers being presented, including two papers by students of BIM, over two days. Papers will also be presented by Dr. Colin Funk from the Banff Centre, Canada and Ms. Amber Raza from the Karachi Institute of Economics and Technology, Pakistan. The event is also ISO 9001:2000 certified.

Mr. R. N. Misra gave the Key Note Address of the conference. He praised the topics selected for the conference, Bottom-line HR and IT in Business & IT as Business. Both topics were of paramount importance in present day management. Employees nowadays expect more from their work. They require more than just a job or good pay, they are looking for career growth, a meaningful work environment, good work atmosphere among other things. This makes HR very essential in the management of a company. There has also been an integration of HR with other business practices. A key example is the integration of Information Systems with HR, spawning a new dimension of management. BHEL, Trichy has incorporated HR into their ERP modules joining many other companies in doing so. From electronic process to knowledge-based internet service, e-commerce has come to stay; more and more work systems rely on IT systems. Workers need to understand the IT systems in order to understand their work systems. It has become the central nervous system of the organisation. BHEL has been a pioneer in their field in this area and in their dealings with ancillary industries, enabling them to reduce their cycle time and become more profitable.

Mr. Misra also put forth some points which he felt were essential for the occasion.
Respect for Human Beings
Empowerment
People Development
Root Cause Analysis
Benefit of Ratio
Target Setting

The inaugural issue of the Journal of Contemporary Management Research was released by Mr. Misra, with Prof. Y. Lakshman Kumar receiving the first copy. The Journal will initially be a bi-annual journal.

The vote of thanks was delivered by Prof. Raghavendra, Conference Co-Chairman. He thanked the efforts of the Director, Prof. Sankaran, the faculty members and the students. He also thanked the press for their overwhelming support for the event.