Spiritual Musings of SWAMI BODHANANDA

Towards An Indian Management Style
Swami Bodhananda
(written on 14 September 2004, Los Angeles
Source: bodhini.com )
Management being a culturally determined discipline exhibits flavours peculiar to the genius of the people, inspite of its universal scientific structure. Thus we have American Management, European Management, Japanese Management etc. The overall concern of management is creating value for stakeholder's money and time. And of them customer is the king. This requires technology and design innovations on an ongoing basis. Worker motivation also is important. There has to be an investment-capital friendly entrpreneurial environment.

India, as it is poised on the high road to economic boom, has to learn to integrate the modern management values and practices with its ageold intgral worldviews and human objectives. Environment, family, spirituality, ethics and social justice are important survival values that humanity pursues and management science cannot and shoud not ignore those values in its wealth creating activities. Indian Management is in the crossroads. It can remain rooted in its present orthodox paternalistic mode, breeding corruption and inefficiency, and perpetuating poverty or take bold steps to open the economy to market competition, individual enterprise and to the challenges of global standards. No doubt it will be a painful process.

Growing up is always a painful experience. This does not mean that government has to go passive and remain a moot observer. The state must play critical role in ensuring infrastrucure building, social justice, law and order, individual freedom and above all reaching every citizen with food, health care and education. What is required is a partnership between government and private initiative. Sixty percent of Indians are abjectly poor, living below the poverty line, whose daily income will be less than fifty rupees. Another thirty percent may be called the middle class, with a percapita monthly income of 5000-7000 rupees. The rest ten percent of Indians are super rich. Goverment's focus should be on the bottom sixty percent poor. Government must ensure that the disposable income of the middle class grows and that the rich finds it profitabe to invest in India. This requires broad tripartisan class consensus in India's political culture and economic thinking. Individual thinkers, think tanks, media and grass root workers have to join hands to create such a dialoguing and focussed society. This is what is meant by the phrase 'Towards An Indian Management Style'.

Swami Bodhananda
14 September 2004,
Los Angeles