RENEWING U.S. BUSINESS TOPIC OF CONFERENCE AT RPI.(Local)

Byline: Staff reports

More than 170 entrepreneurs, business school professors, students and venture capitalists from across the country are expected to attend a two-day "Renewing Global Competitiveness" conference starting today at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

"It's the seventh in a series of conferences that is designed to help American businesses get more efficient, develop new ways to improve and help entrepreneurs become more competitive worldwide," said Dick Beach, a conference spokesman.

"We hope to address the kinds of obvious problems we've had with Japan, trade tarriffs and the trade deficit," he said.

The conference is being sponsored by the IC2 Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, the RGK Foundation, RPI's Center for Industrial Innovation and School of Management, Sterling Winthrop Labs and Coopers & Lybrand.

Among the speakers and topics scheduled are:

*Louis Doctor, chairman of the board of Raster Technologies, on "Entrepreneurial Management for Fast Growth and Competitive Leadership."

*Tyzoon Tyebejee, professor of business and marketing, Santa Clara University, on "New Technical Ventures Expanding into the International Markets."

*Bela Gold, professor at Claremont Graduate School, on "Changes in United States Management Culture and Practices to Achieve International Leadership."

The closing address on Saturday, "The Challenge Ahead: Renewing U.S. Global Competitiveness Through Innovative Manufacturing and Entrepreneurial Management," will be given by George Kozmetky, director of IC2 Institute.

Faculty and students from RPI will be joined, according to Beach, by faculty and students from universities nationwide.