Athenaeum '08

The Centre for Contemporary Management Research (CECMAR), the research wing of Bharathidasan Institute of Management (BIM) conducted Athenaeum '08 - the Second International Conference on Management Research. The conference was held on 15th and 16th of February 2008 at Trichy in M D Hall located in the BHEL premises. The conference aptly started with the invocation. The welcome address was given by Prof M Sankaran, Director, BIM. He stressed on the academic excellence of BIM and its achievements in the last 24 yrs. He also spoke of the excellent placement record since inception. The Conference Chairman, Dr P David Jawahar gave a brief on the conference. He talked about the increasing quality of papers received at this year's Athenaeum and also of the number of foreign participants. He spoke about the intellectual capital created by way of the conference proceedings and the compilation of selected papers in the form of an edited book. The conference was inaugurated on 15th at 09.15 A.M by the Honourable Vice-Chancellor of the Bharathidasan University, Dr M Ponnavaikko. The Honourable Vice Chancellor delivered the inaugural address and released the abstracts and proceedings of the conference. He spoke with pride about the value based education provided at BIM. He also emphasized on the importance of continuous learning, decision-making and management research. He quoted extensively from the 'Thirukkural' and spoke of its relevance in Management. The inaugural function had another distinguished guest - Mr. G K Agarwal, Executive Director (HR& PMI) of the National Thermal Power Corporation Limited. Mr. G K Agarwal delivered a special address at the conference. He brought out the significance attached to Goddess Athena - the embodiment of knowledge and courage. He said that there are three key qualities that any ambitious individual needed to possess - aspiration, inspiration and perspiration. He congratulated BIM for its research initiatives. Mr. G K Agarwal also received the first copy of the conference proceedings. With the vote of thanks by Prof V P Sriraman, Faculty, BIM, the inaugural programme concluded at 11.15 A.M.

The paper presentation sessions started immediately after the inaugural function. Athenaeum 08 had attracted participation from throughout India and across the globe. The conference had accepted research papers on all functional streams of management. In addition to the conventional functions, a few papers on Entrepreneurship and Family Business Management had also been received. In all, more than 120 papers were received including 14 international participants. Of these, 58 papers had been selected after careful scrutiny by a peer committee. The paper presentation sessions were chaired by six eminent researchers drawn from different universities.

The first plenary session for the conference was held to discuss the topic "Women in Management". The participants were Ms. Pamela Ramalingam, Director, iSoft Technologies; Ms. Lalitha Natraj Head, Special Projects, Business Intelligence Unit, ICICI Bank, Ms.Uma Baskaran, Assistant Vice President, AXIS Bank and Dr. N. Manimekalai, Director, Centre for Women Studies, Bharathidasan University. They spoke about large participation of women in various fields but many were not occupying higher positions in corporate. Only 2% of women occupy management positions and this is because they are not exposed much to the challenges and opportunities in the corporate world. They stressed Women should realize their potential, shed their inhibitions and become emotionally strong. They also said that some sacrifices must be made for progress in careers. Following this, some questions were put forward to highlight gender differences in the corporate world, how to achieve work-life balance, etc. The panelists were very participative and answered all the questions in very practical manner. They concluded by stressing the importance of trust in double income families and the adjustments that the family has to do for the women to excel in their careers. The first day of Athenaeum'08 concluded with cultural programme performed by BIM students which reflected the Indian culture.

The second day of the conference started with paper presentation sessions. The paper presentation sessions were chaired by eminent researchers drawn from different universities. After the paper presentation sessions the second plenary session of the conference was held to discuss the topic "Creating an Entrepreneurial Spirit-Opportunities and Challenges". The participants for the session were Mr.K G Muralidharan, Managing Director, G.K & SONS, Mr. T. K. Sreedhar, Chairman and Managing Director, Novellsys Technologies, Mr.Ashok Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, MAA Integrators and Mr. P.M.Austin, Chief Executive Officer, Max Value Learning Technologies and Consulting. They opined that everyone has got the spirit of entrepreneurship in them but it is only the question of realizing the same. They also felt that one cannot wait to equip themselves with all infrastructure including finance before becoming an entrepreneur. Once the deep desire to become an entrepreneur is realised, it was time to transform the idea into action. They also gave some guidelines that the entrepreneurs should follow in order to be successful. The issues relating to ethics were also discussed. The session was very interesting and informative and they answered various questions posed by the audience in a pragmatic manner. This was immediately followed by a special workshop on "Leadership" conducted by Mr. C.Mahalingam, Executive Vice President & Chief People Officer, Symphony Services Corporation. He brought out the importance of establishing the leadership brand. The corporate can no longer showcase their performance based on Return on Investments but only on Return on Intangibles.

The second day witnessed the valedictory function when the Conference Chairman Dr P David Jawahar welcomed the gathering and was proud to say that the objectives of the conference were met satisfactorily and the end of the conference marked the beginning of another and many more thereafter. Valedictory function began with Dr M Anandakrishnan, Chairman IIT Kanpur and Madras Institute of Development Studies presenting the first edited copy of the book titled "Emerging Issues in Management" (edited by) Dr P David Jawahar to Mr. T. Anandan, General Manager, HR, BHEL. Dr. M. Anandakrishnan, delivered the Valedictory address. He emphasized that todays research will lay the foundation for the benefits we enjoy tomorrow. He spoke about the importance of inventions and also innovations. He encouraged more research and development initiatives in the areas of science and technology. Lastly he concluded by saying three important things that is needed for managing R&D and managing innovation is sovereignty of decision making, avoiding sectoral distortion and lastly protecting public interest. Mr. T. Anandan, General Manager, HR, BHEL delivered the special address. He listed a set of leadership qualities that are essential to become great managers. He talked about the important roles a manager has to play as that of a planner, provider and protector. He concluded by sharing 10 guiding principles of staying afloat in the changing world. This was followed by the best paper awards given away to the delegates who presented their papers during the conference. The best paper in each category was awarded Rs 5000 each. The conference concluded with the vote of thanks proposed by Prof. Nigama K, Faculty, BIM in which she duly acknowledged everyone for contributing to Athenaeum '08 and making the event a grand success. The gathering dispersed after paying respect to our nation by singing the National Anthem.