Indian Ethos in Management

Indian Ethos in Management refers to the values and practices that the culture of India (Bharatheeya Sanskriti) can contribute to service, leadership and management. These values and practices are rooted in Sanathana Dharma (the eternal essence), and have been influenced by various strands of Indian philosophy.

Work values from Bharatheeya Sanskriti

1. Paropakaaraartham Idam Shareeram - The body is meant for serving others or for the higher common good.

2. Atmanomokshartham Jagat Hitayacha - Endeavors should be made considering the well-being of the world too, while considering the (spiritual) well-being of oneself.

3. Trikaranasuddhi - To consider work as a means to grow oneself in 'Purity and Unity of Thought, Word and Deed'.^[1]

4. Yagnaya charatha: karma - To engage in work as a sacred offering^[2][3]

Influences

Attempts have been made to distill aspects related to management theory and practice from various texts of India. A variety of works has influenced this area and few of them include Autobiography of a Yogi, Thirukkural, Mahabharatha, Ramayana and Bhagavad Gita.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]}

Examples of practice

E. Sreedharan is one of the leaders who attributes his excellence in professional world to Bhagwad Gita and its principles.^[10][11] A number of examples indicating the practice has been documented.^[12][13][14]

Popularisation

Academicians and practitioners such as Prof S K Chakraborty,^[15] Jack Hawley,^[16] Debra and William Miller,^[17] Devdutt Pattanaik,^[18] Prof Subhash Sharma,^[19] Prof Sharda Nandram,^[20] Prof. Dharm Bhawuk,^[21][22] Ankur Joshi^{[23][24][25][26]} etc. There are even research based videos on application Indian ethos in era of artificial intelligence. ^[27] have contributed to the evolution and popularisation of this domain. Stephen Covey has detailed the application of Gandhian values in leadership, through his book Principle Centered Leadership.^[28] Faculty of Management Studies, Banasthali Vidyapith has been teaching Indian Ethos in Management since 1996.^[29] Recently IIM Ahmedabad made a foray into the domain by introducing lessons from Panchtantra stories for management.^[30] The AICTE in its model curriculum for MBA has stressed on need for Indian ethos in the MBA education.^[31]

Prevalence

This theme is embedded in varying levels as part of programmes in business management offered by various business schools and universities.^{[32][33][34][35]}

• FMS-WISDOM at Banasthali Vidyapith under the National Resource Center setup by Ministry of Education (India) Government of India, developed video based modules with focus on Indian ethos for management teachers.^[36][37]
• IIM Calcutta has a centre for human values to foster research and academic activities in the domain of Indian ethos.^[38]
• IIM Indore organised a conference on Indian Management in December 2017.^[39]
• IBA Banglore linked cultural symbols to the idea of Indian ethos.^[40]

References

1. Sankar R N, Ajith (July–December 2012). "Ascertaining Linkages between Trikarana Suddhi and 'Tapping Spirituality as the Context of Leadership'" (PDF). IPE Journal of Management. 2 (2): 81. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
2. "Karma as yagna". The Hindu. 2016-02-29. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
3. "Yagna Bhava – Selfless Karma with an Attitude of Sacrifice". Retrieved 14 April 2016.
4. "Steve Jobs's Secret to Greatness: Yogananda". 21 June 2015.
5. Muniapan, Dr Balakrishnan; Rajantheran, M.Raja (1 January 2011). "Ethics (business ethics) from the Thirukkural and its relevance for contemporary business leadership in the Indian context". International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management. 4 (4): 453–471. doi:10.1504/IJICBM.2011.040961. S2CID 143379175 – via ResearchGate.
6. Subramaniam, Sairavi (16 September 2018). "Ethical Leadership Views from Tamil Classical Literature - With Reference to Thirukural". doi:10.2139/ssrn.1605320. SSRN 1605320. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
7. Chendroyaperumal, Chendrayan; Chandramouli, Seetharaman (16 September 2018). "Leadership and Managerial Implications for Practice and Organizational Excellence from a Drop of the Case of Ramayana - A Celebrated Indian Work on Wisdom". doi:10.2139/ssrn.1875495. S2CID 154216871. SSRN 1875495. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
8. "Bhagavad Gita and Management - Seton Hall University". shu.edu. September 2016.
9. http://vaikhari.org/downloads/Bhagavad%20Gita%20and%20Management.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}
10. "E Sreedharan: More Than The Metro Man". Forbes India. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
11. Das, Mamuni (13 March 2016). "'Metroman', may your tribe increase". @businessline. Retrieved 2020-06-30.
12. Sankar R N, Ajith (July 11, 2012). "Ethicus: India's First Ethical Fashion Brand". The Journal of Values Based Leadership. 5 (1): 61–78. SSRN 2103599.
13. Sankar R N, Ajith (2011-05-16). "The Enterprising Life of Isaac Tigrett". doi:10.2139/ssrn.1842943. SSRN 1842943. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
14. Pruzan, Peter; Pruzan Mikkelsen, Kirsten (June 1, 2007). Leading With Wisdom: Spiritual-Based Leadership in Business. Greenleaf.
15. Chakraborty, S.K. (April 2005). "Ethics: Light from the Golden Quartet". Journal of Human Values. 11 (1): 1–8. doi:10.1177/097168580401100101. S2CID 220676569.
16. Hawley, Jack (October 1995). "Dharmic Management: A Concept-Based Paper on Inner Truth at Work". Journal of Human Values. 1 (2): 239–248. doi:10.1177/097168589500100207. S2CID 143018317.
17. "Welcome to the Global Dharma Center!".
18. "Management Mythos by Devdutt Pattanaik". Retrieved 14 April 2016.
19. Sharma, Subhash (2007). Management in New Age Western Windows Eastern Doors. New Age International. ISBN 9788122417890.
20. Organizational Innovation by Integrating Simplification. Management for Professionals. Springer. 2015. ISBN 9783319117249.
21. "Dharm P S Bhawuk - Google Scholar Citations". scholar.google.co.in. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
22. "Dharm Bhawuk | Shidler College of Business |". shidler.hawaii.edu. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
23. Nandram, Sharda; Joshi, Ankur (2016), "An Ethics of Care Induced from Kautilya's Wisdom", Ethical Leadership, Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 53–69, doi:10.1057/978-1-137-60194-0_4, ISBN 9781137601933
24. Joshi, Ankur; Gupta, Rajen K. (2017). "Elementary education in Bharat (that is India): insights from a postcolonial ethnographic study of a Gurukul". International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management. 15 (1): 100. doi:10.1504/ijicbm.2017.085390. ISSN 1753-0806.
25. Joshi, Ankur; Bindlish, Puneet; Verma, Pawan; Dutt, Priyanka (2015-10-15). "Exploring Indigenous Concepts of Public Administration: Learning for Leadership and Governance". Rochester, NY. SSRN 2674972. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
26. Joshi, Ankur; Bindlish, Puneet; Verma, Pawan Kumar (December 2014). "A Post-colonial Perspective towards Education in Bharat". Vision: The Journal of Business Perspective. 18 (4): 359–363. doi:10.1177/0972262914552171. ISSN 0972-2629. S2CID 144782215.
27. Application of Generative AI in Management Education and Role of Indian Ethos - by Ankur Joshi, retrieved 2023-07-15
28. "Seven Deadly Sins as per Mahatma Gandhi". Retrieved 13 April 2016.
29. "MBA - Courses & Schemes - Welcome to Banasthali Vidyapith". banasthali.org. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
30. "At IIM Ahmedabad, it's time for lessons from the Panchatantra". Hindustan Times. 2017-10-17. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
31. "Model Curriculum for Management Program" (PDF). aicte-india.org. Retrieved 2019-01-16.
32. "Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore" (PDF). Retrieved 20 March 2016.
33. http://www.himtu.ac.in/pdf/jun-2013/Indian%20Ethos%20&%20Values.pdf. Retrieved 20 March 2016. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
34. http://psrt.cusat.ac.in/pages/PDF/indian%20ethos%20in%20management.pdf. Retrieved 20 March 2016. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
35. "SSSIHL | Academics | Department of Management & Commerce | Overview". Retrieved 24 April 2016.
36. . swayam.gov.in. Archived from the original on 2019-01-16. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
37. "Annual Refresher Programme in Teaching" (PDF). mhrd.gov.in. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
38. "Management Center for Human Values | IIM Calcutta". iimcal.ac.in. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
39. "5th Biennial INDAM Conference 2017 Begins at IIM Indore". भारतीय प्रबंध संस्थान इंदौर - IIM Indore. Retrieved 2019-03-15.
40. "Cultural Symbols". IBA (Indus Business Academy). Retrieved 2019-03-15.