Indian civilization is one of the most ancient in the world. It has a unique cultural and spiritual fragrance gifted by great seers, saints, kings, acharyas, and visionaries. Their timeless advice is enshrined in the ancient Indian scriptures. Ancient Indians knew the art and science of management and Indian scriptures are a testimony to this. Scriptures such as the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, and the Mahabharata speak volumes about the management excellence of Lord Krishna. King Janaka, Arjuna, Vidura, Bhis hma, and the list is only indicative. They were front runners in the management of affairs of their times.
Their management styles showed enough poignancy to complement and supplement the present-day management concepts. Indian scriptures are a treasure house of philosophy and offer vital guidelines on psychology, sociology, political science, social psychology, human behaviour and modern-day management concepts. Resurging focus on spirituality, yoga and meditation in management has made the scriptural knowledge all the more relevant for modern-day managers. Add to it, deteriorating ethics and degrading values in society and the time is ripe for Indian managers to imbibe management concepts from these scriptures. The Indian style of functioning is different from the Western style, and that makes it imperative for managers to provide ‘Indian uniqueness’ to management.
Admittedly, Western and Japanese management styles are not irrelevant for Indian managers but these can at best serve as nutritional supplements. The ‘basic food’ should come from Indian scriptures ~ experiences, culled from Indian sentiments and sensitivities rooted in these scriptures. Present day managers are well versed in technicalities of Western management concepts. They have modern infrastructure to support them but equally important is the ‘Knowledge of SelfManagement’. Arjuna was adamant, confused, fragmented, disjuncted and collapsed exactly when he was supposed to perform.
Although he was a highly qualified warrior (his area of specialisation) and equipped with the best weapons (infrastructure in a modern context), yet he emotionally involved himself with the consequences of war (attachment with results) which did not speak well of a person of his stature. Scriptures label an emotionally immature person who refuses to perform when the time comes as a Tamasic and indolent personality (Tamasic mentality). Arjuna felt deluded and confused because of poor self-management.
A modern manager suffering from the Arjuna Syndrome would behave like Arjuna. He has premier educational degrees and infrastructure at work to support him. Nevertheless, his inner self stays turbulent and does not let him concentrate on work. Further, he works with an eye on rewards (Rajasic work efforts, Tamasic Mentality and attachment to rewards). Results are neither encouraging for the manager nor fruitful for the organisation. He suffers from poor physical and mental health. His work potential is grossly underutilised. He loses confidence in himself and trust in others.
Interpersonal relationships at work suffer. Business imperatives of globalisation and the quickening pace of obsolescence call for a fluid, horizontal de-structured organisation which eastern thinking with its emphasis on internal resources facilitates. The root of Indian management is the Pantheism concept ~ the oneness of God and the Universe. The universe, and all in it, is interconnected. While Western management has taken notice of the Law of Karma, the principle of detachment, yoga and meditation from Indian scriptures, the Indian management fraternity is still wanting. Management curriculums in Indian B-schools are based on Western thoughts, concepts and corporate experiences.
Today’s students become managers of tomorrow. Thriving on Western management concepts, they come across the problems of ‘Indianizing’ their knowledge. Ignoring Indian sentiments and culture makes management students confused in actual work situations where they have to deal with employees and coming to work with Indianized work habits such as late coming, false commitments, gossiping, wasting time at the workplace, nepotism, and other questionable work ethics. Management in action is a holistic process. Nowhere in our education, least of all in our management training, is it taught as a holistic process. We are told to be rational and to concentrate on analysis.
This fragmentation of the mind into analysis or rationality and emotions creates a gap in our values. In the words of Lord Curzon, ‘Though educated in a Western curriculum, you should remain Indians, true to your own beliefs, your own traditions, and your own people.’ The need of the hour is to develop a ‘India-centric management style’. For this to happen, scriptures need to be explored for In dianized management wisdom. To justify the relevance of Indian management, Swami Somes warananda, then President of Vivekananda Centre for Indian Management, Indore, along with his team conducted experiments in different public and private sector companies.
Through their studies, Swami Someswarananda and team could convince that a new approach is needed in industries and organisations to come out with desirable results. Studies and experiments were conducted with company workers both in public and private sector undertakings. And in places like Pune, Trivandrum, Delhi, Baroda and Chennai the responses were very encouraging. It would be prudent to share here some of their findings. It was found that at the workers’ level there was lack of self-confidence and self-respect. There was a dearth of autonomy.
There were not many contributions from unions. In the public sector, to give importance to concern for workers, customer-centric issues were neglected. While the powerful union members created stubbornness and arrogance, they could not inculcate self-respect. Equally important to point out is that autonomy was never practised as it is the leaders, not workers, who had a voice in management. The Vedanta gospel of “Aham Brahmasmi” (I am full of immense potential) played a pivotal role in their studies and experiments. Workers told the team they thought of themselves as ordinary human beings ~ a smelter, a fitter, a driver, a crane operator etc.
It was equally disheartening to note that their supervisors and bosses did not want them to use their brain or heart. When they were made to realise that each and every one of them had infinite potential, it worked miracles. The purpose was to develop in them self-respect. It is indeed unfortunate that in the present system an extraordinary human being is made ordinary. An area of management known as Job enrichment is a debatable concept. Can I always get a job of my liking? Shall I always depend on external stimuli to get myself motivated from time to time? While Transactional Analysis has its own justifications do I always require positive strokes? If I have to depend on positive strokes, it will make me psychologically dependent. This is where Vedanta comes in and talks about “mind enrichment”.
The million-dollar question is “can I make any job, whatever I do, interesting? And that is karma yoga. Another area that draws attention is the modern-day corporate training programme. Majority of the training initiatives revolve around preparing a performance oriented employee and manager. The issue is that in all these Management Development Programmes the participants are considered as Managers and Executives only. The facilitator rarely understands that the participant is also a parent, a friend, a relative and above all a citizen. If a training programme is to be unified, systematic, comprehensive and integrated, then there is a need for all these aspects to be integrated. Else it will remain one sided. From the teachings of Vedanta we learn about the concept of ‘advaita’ that asks us to see the person in totality.
Emotional Intelligence of late has gained popularity. The idea is to give importance not only to the intellect but also to the emotions, values, beliefs and actions. The roots can be traced through Vedanta that suggests the path of jnana, bhakti and karma. To be successful one needs to coordinate the intellect (jnana), emotions (bhakti) and action (karma). Thus training programmes must involve participants in discussions (this helps them to grow intellectually and be creative). The next step is to adopt techniques of meditation to remove mental blocks. Finally, the action takes place. Thus, when all these three are integrated ~ jnana, bhakti and karma ~ the learning generates impactful results. One burning issue is job hopping. Employers complain that employees are not committed to their organisations. This is because money is the sole criteria and a job is considered as a means to earn money.
Unless a philosophy does not guide people, the trend will continue. Vedanta has an answer to this. Its teachings state that work is a means to grow. In Karma yoga, Lord Krishna preached that unless there is a deeper meaning to work, efforts are in vain. Vivekananda also chronicles the same through his lectures and discourses. Indian management thus suggests an alternative to Western concepts. According to the Indian ethos, effective supervision is to supervise the growth of people. More autonomy and creative opportunities will not only make them more productive but motivated and committed. Insights gained through concepts of Indian management go to the roots of holistic development of the tremendous human potential that lies untapped. They give us intellectual conviction that the ultimate aim of work is perfection and autonomy, and not merely monetary benefits and profits. If we can inculcate Indian values and ethos in our executives, managers and corporate captains, unselfishness will become the path to achieve the goal.
(The writer is with the Eastern Institute for Integrated Learning in Management, Kolkata)