The seminar was organised jointly by the Surat chapter of the National Institute of Personnel Management (NIPM) and the South Gujarat University's Department of Research Methodology and Inter-disciplinary Studies in Social Sciences (DRMISSS). This is the second conference of its kind with the SGCCI and DRMISSS organising one such conference earlier in 1993.

The conference was held in seven sessions, which included topics `HR - Key to Competitive Edge', `Open Door Policy', `Increasing importance of Information Technology in Industries', `Changes in Industries Because of Globalisation,' `Importance of Performance Management and Career Management,' among others.

While Municipal Commissioner S Jagadeesan inaugurated the conference, former SGU V-C B A Parikh, besides other university professors were present.

DRMISSS head of department Dr Y S Purohit apprised the gathering of the course content, importance and future prospects of the MLW, MHRD and Diploma in HRD courses run by SGU. Also present for the conference were NIPM (west zone) president M A Bholerao, who spoke of the functioning of the NIPM and laid stress on the importance of language in communication and NIPM (Hazira chapter) chairman M V N Rao.

Joint General Manager of Essar Steel, Hazira Biswajit Patnaik, speaking on the importance of HR personnel in the age of competitiveness, stressed that instead of duplicating efforts of multinationals, HR personnel should find their own means and ways to address problems. He said there was no shortage of human resources in the country.

Speaking on the Open Door Policy, NIPM West zone president Bholerao felt that there was a need to amend labour laws in the country with the changing globalistion scenario. Dwelling on various aspects of labour laws currently being implemented in the country, he said that many laws were proving to be a hindrance in the globalisation process even as it was being implemented by the government.

Executive Director of NIIT, Ahmedabad Sanjay Saxena, while speaking on the increasing role of information technology in industries, provided figures of a study on its impact on HR. The session was chaired by L and T assistant general manager (HR) Y B Pandya.

Kribhco General Manager H L Patel and Dr Rajendra Mehta of Novartis, while stating problems faced in industries after globalisation and their specific impact on HRD, stated ways by which the process could be made more effective. Vijay Vanikar of Noshil in Mumbai spoke on performance management and presented models in his session on the second day. Atul Industries vice-president Anil Kalra spoke on the problems in performance management.

A panel discussion marked the end of the conference. The Indian Express was one of the sponsors of the two-day event held in the city on Friday and Saturday.