The Conference found its way to India after a gap of 8 years after traversing numerous locations across the world – South Korea, Taiwan and Australia being some. The city of Indore witnessed active participation from about a hundred management scholars from fifteen countries including USA, Canada, Japan, India, Taiwan, Iran and Malaysia amongst others for the sixth edition.

2005 VENUE
The venue was the state-of-the-art Conference hall at the Indian Institute of Management, Indore. This conference hall boasts some of the best equipment in the world, a sound absorbent stage all of which is garbed aesthetically in green with splashes of orange. It was ready just before the nation celebrated its Independence Day.

THE CONFERENCE
The proceedings were initiated by Mr Anil Srivastav, Secretary, Finance and Commissioner of Treasuries and Accounts, Government of Madhya Pradesh.

As may as 79 papers on sixteen subjects were presented during the span of three days giving all participants a comprehensive overview on many advances in fields like Inventory Management, Operational Strategy, Optimization Models, Quality Management, Supply Chain Management and so on. The conference enabled the delegates to exchange their practical experiences, pedagogical viewpoints, and discuss developments in the emerging nations and in innovative areas of research.

A FEW HIGHLIGHTS
Among the plenary sessions, the participants had the opportunity to listen to papers by speakers like Prof SK Goyal, from Concordia University, Canada. One of the most prolific writers of the last fifty years in this field, having authored over 235 research papers he was the best person to speak on the topic that he chose – From an Idea to A Refereed Journal Publication: The Never Ending Journey of an Academic. He elaborated on the quality, techniques and disciplined approach required to be a consistent contributor to international OR/OM journals.

Another prominent speaker to have graced the occasion was Prof Ashok Kumar from the Grand Valley State University, Michigan, USA. His paper titled – Intelligent Paradigms of Operations Strategies for Global Organizations enunciated the formulations of intelligent, strategic models that significantly depart from their traditional counterparts and unequivocally deliver sustained competitive advantage, when implemented properly. In a tribute to the organisation team, headed by Prof PP Yadav of IIM Indore and Prof Omprakash K Gupta of Prairie View A&M; University, Texas USA, Prof Kumar lauded the ICOQM at IIM-Indore as amongst the best 5 pc of all conferences attended by him.

At any confluence of management thought, it is inevitable that the classic debate on the effectiveness of the Eastern and Western ways of decision making arises. ICOQM was no different Prof Arvinder Loomba of San Jose State University, California, USA presented a paper titled Intelligent Decisions: Western vs. Eastern Management Thought. This was another high point among the many papers that were presented.

Dr SP Parashar, the Director, IIM-Indore said about the conference, “This conference emphasises on quality research and networking amongst the top researchers of the world in this field. Hosting the sixth ICOQM is another step towards placing IIM-Indore as a benchmark on the world map.”