Doing things differently is perhaps the only way of coping with `disruptive technology', she says. Liebman's department plays a key role in attuning Intel's workforce to the rapid cycle time of innovation and disruptive technology. In fact, the HR department is instrumental in changing Intel's business model ``from microprocessors to other businesses''. Intensive executive training has helped Intel cope with the new business model and retain the cutting edge in business, she says.

Intel is fortunate in that it has a very stable management at the senior level. ``We have people who have been doing the strategic thinking for the company for thelast three decades,'' she says. ``It is this very fact that helped us tide over the difficult times in the 1980s.''

In the normal course, Liebman's team takes on the responsibilities of organisational effectiveness, an umbrella concept that covers staffing, recruitment, organisational alignment and so on. With a recent increase in employees from 12,000 to 65,000 worldwide, the HR department's role has become that much more challenging. ``We have to ensure that everybody does the right things right. Indeed, the HR department is one of the main defenders of this faith,'' she says.

To facilitate this, ``we have systematised all the HR processes. All data on training and development is available to managers and other employees online,'' says Liebman.

Every employee at Intel can verify data on his/her training and development needs. ``This underlines the performance issues,'' she says.

``We are the first MNC to adopt Peoplesoft Basic Data for HR worldwide,'' says Liebman, and adds that ``it was scary andnot without troubles. Implementing it worldwide was a big step.''

HR has also stepped into strategic business in this global major. ``We have moved up the value chain. We are now an exerting force in strategic policy,'' she says.

The HR department ensures Intel's organisational conversation. ``We seek equal participation of all at the conferences. Interestingly, the HR presentation is one of the most well attended and one of the most controversial,'' she says.

Cross-cultural problems are a rarity with Intel. Liebman says this is because ``Intel's culture is based on simple truths spread across time and geography''. ``We try to make this work in the non-US cultures,'' she adds.Nevertheless, Intel set up cross-geographic and cross business groups in 1983 to synergise the business cultures of Intel worldwide.