ICIBM 2011 Sets A Platform For Evaluation Of International Research Locally

Held on the 13th and 14th of June, 2011 at the University of Central Punjab (UCP), Lahore was the 1st International Conference on Contemporary Issues in Business Management (ICIBM) that evaluated 144 research papers submitted from India, Bangladesh, Srilanka, Malaysia, Iran, Thailand, Mexico, Romania, Indonesia, England and Pakistan. ICIBM shares an affiliation with quite a few business research journals including the International Journal of Contemporary Business Studies, African Journal of Business Management, Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research In Business, and Journal of International Business Research amongst others, an added incentive to the winning research papers.

Guest speakers to the two-day conference included Badar Khushnood, Google Pakistan Country Consultant, Mian Amir Mehmood, Chairman Board of Governors (UCP), Dr. Nadeem-ul-Haque, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission at GoP, Syed Mehmood Hashmi, Chief Executive Officer at Orient Advertising, Dr. Syed Tahir Hijazi, Pro Rector, Professor Khalil Muhammad, A.D (FMS), Dr. Rauf Azam, Director at PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rahmat Ullah Javai, President at FPCCI and Javed Saddique, Director Marketing at Stylo Shoes, amongst others.

Extending support to the ICIBM 2011 from the local industry were Telenor, Stylo Shoes, Google Pakistan, Lahore Chambers of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), CIO Pakistan, PC World Pakistan, Sony, Pakistan Today, Manager Today, Dunya TV & City 42 on-board as sponsors to the conference. Short listed from the 144 research papers were 66 papers and 1 dissertation presented over a two-day period on topics of socioeconomic, macroeconomic, and discipline-specific business relevance. A few of these included:

1. Fluctuations in Crude Oil Prices- An Analytical Study

2. Underline Causes of Financial Crises in Emerging Markets

3. Fear of Terror and Psychological Adjustment of Sojourners with Moderating Role of Social Support

4. Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Brand Equity

5. Service-based Brand Equity, Measure of Purchase Intention

6. Moderating, Factory Dynamics, a Case of Continental Cash Systems

7. Business Process Modeling & Simulation: The Context & Practice

8. Conceptualizing Competitive Advantage

9.  Interdependence of Value Chain Links: A Tale of Three Cities

10. Determinants of Banking Sector Development 1970-2007

Opened by Dr. Nadeem-ul-Haque, Day 1 of the conference witnessed a presentation of 12 papers on the disciplines of Economics, Finance, Human Resource, and Applied Research. Stepping into Day 2, role of SME’s in Pakistan was the theme of the opening speech by Javed Saddique, followed by a presentation of 46 papers, and an acknowledgment of the relentless efforts of the presenters, the sponsors and the organizers in the closing ceremony to ICIBM 2011.