Ancient Indian values & ethics & Modern Management Practices

 

The ancient Indian values & ethos have their basis & foundation rooted deep in SANATAN DHARAM which is eternal & has evolved  over centuries. These eternal & ever relevant principles focus on making the life of a common as fruitful & as relevant as themselves. These principles have been imparted to the masses through various channels viz. Scriptures, Guru-Shishya Parampara, Rites & Rituals to name  a few. The language of the scriptures has been predominantly SANSKRIT which has been termed as DEVBHASHA, & was spoken by the elite in the olden times & thus could sustain itself amongst the masses. Thus, these values were communicated to masses in their own dialect which happened to be the offshoot of Sanskrit( Awadhi, Hindi etc.) by various poets, writers such as Goswami Tulasidas, Surdas etc.  Since, most of the reasoning for the various methodologies & practices were beyond the comprehension of common man, they were incorporated as a religious ritual so that people would follow them which would ultimately help them only.

In Modern times, there has been furore over the relevance & application in the day-to-day life & management practices. These ancient values hold a great relevance & form the basis of modern management principles & have their scientific explanations. When the Indian Sages & Gurus called the rivers, animals etc. as  Mother ( GANGA MAIYYA, GAI MATA  etc.) , amongst myriad others they referred to the Sustainable development in hindsight. These are the natural resources which must be cared for & used judiciously. They meant for MILKING of these resources & not EXPLOITATION.

On the administration & taxation front, Indian ethos propound a very healthy framework by giving an analogy of Honeybees which suck the juices from the flowers in such a way that they are not harmed in any way. When Indian Culture talks of the lesser focus on the outcomes & more on the karma, & propounds that man doesn’t control the fruits & results, it essentially talks of Strategy being put to work. In modern management, there is a concept of Strategic Inflection Point which comes not due to the managers/management concerned but comes from external environment, thus the output is affected adversely whose control goes beyond the Management.

Srimad BhagawadGita , which is the song of the LORD himself is the gist of all ancient Scriptures, & has YOGA as its underlying theme. Yoga, in truest of its sense means Combination, Addition or culmination of various ethos. This also signifies the importance of Dexterity & Skill in all the actions undertaken by the man(agers). Perfection is the key to success, & must thus be practised with fullest of concentration. If we have a look at the learnings from each of the ancient Indian Texts the illustrations would be much more clear & lucid.

SRIRAM CHARITMANAS by Goswami Tulasidas

The above is a scripture which depicts the life of an able administrator, Team Leader, Manager & someone who knows his job very well. The very fact that Lord Rama, was able to form an army out of monkeys in the jungle & motivated  them to walk with him across the sea depicts the true leadership traits that a modern manager should have. Managers should be able to keep their team motivated which has been clearly reflected  in the epic. Management principles such as encouraging lower category of employees, rewards for good work, self-motivation, decision-making, recognition, market survey, market exploitation, time management and the art of communication are aligned with several instances in this scripture.

 

 

MAHABHARATA by  Bhagwan Vedvyas

 

This scripture is the longest epic ever written in the history of mankind. This encompasses a whole lot of knowledge in itself as in Vidura Neeti, SrimadBhagwadgita etc. are a part of the scripture only. The main learning out of the entire scripture is the Governance ,i.e. how should an administrator run his government efficiently by following the DHARMA & not resorting to unfair means which are not in the benefit of the stakeholders. Mahabharata offers valuable lessons in international diplomacy as well  as in management of public finance.

In today’s modern management when ethical judgment and importance of recognizing the

ethical dimensions is talked about, Mahabharat gives excellent analogies to identify the ethical  boundaries. "Rules of ethical conduct", dharmayuddha, for the war were framed by the supreme commanders of each side. Both sides broke most of these laws at least once.

 

BhagvadGita….the song of the LORD

 

Gita  explains the theory of non-attachment to the results of work as under:

If the result of sincere effort is a success, the entire credit should not be appropriated by the

doer alone. If the result of sincere effort is a failure, then too the entire blame does not accrue to the doer.

The driving forces in today's rat-race are speed and greed as well as ambition and competition. The natural fallout from these forces is erosion of one's ethico-moral fibre which supersedes the value system as a means in the entrepreneurial path like tax evasion, undercutting, spreading canards against the competitors, entrepreneurial spying, instigating industrial strife in the business rivals' establishments etc.

 

The main message that has been imparted through the Gita is that “ One should be very focussed while undertaking his mission, & should not rethink while executing the work. The mission should be well thought of before starting & managers should follow  the guidelines religiously.

 

 

 

 

The age-old wisdom of the Indian seers seems to have caught on today in the world of

management. It will only be a reclaiming of our own heritage if we in India return to our spiritual

lineage and reshape it, if need be, to suit the present claims. It is apparent that, we are well

placed to take advantage of this knowledge economy owing to our celebrated spiritual heritage.

Indian spirituality is waiting in the corporate corridors ready to serve the business community.

The need is for self-awareness of it.

A number of factors have brought the spirituality to the centre stage of discussions. A few of

them are:

* Corporate downsizing and retrenchment

* Luxurious lifestyles

* Balancing the personal and professional life

* Materialistic Business approach

* Role conflicts

Besides these spirituality has gained importance because of problem of survival in this hyper

competitive world where growth of education, social upliftment etc are common features.

Employees no longer are happy with professional success or material gains.

 

·         According to Kautilya, four elements that define management excellence are: gaining possession of non-possessed; protecting that which is gained; making the protected grow; and deployment of employees. These are very much relevant to the modern management though the roots are in ancient Indian ethics.

·         Enterprise management forms the basis of the science of ethics, as one learns in a chapter on rajya-niti.

·         Learning about competing enterprises is essential not only for collaborating, but also for `standing alone', reminds Kautilya.

·         To those who ask if materialistic pursuits deviate from virtue, a sutra clarifies that coveting wealth/resources is not counted amongst vices. A corollary is that wealth leaves those who are satisfied with resources they possess.  This implies that without working for growth, even maintaining the given level of performance becomes difficult to achieve.

·         Another sutra reminds that in law enforcement lies one's own protection. "Employment is sustained through enforcement," is a helpful clue to the HR department.

·         And the golden rule, that today's management gurus would also vouch for, is: "When the number of tasks is many, priority should be given to that work which is most fruitful."