INDIAN ETHICS AND THE SPIRIT OF DEVELOPMENT: THE VEDA MODEL OF LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT Many of our ancient books display a uniqueness of futuristic looks and timeless ideas, They are sanatana or eternal in their approach. They form a basis for articulating a vision for social and management theory as reflected by an emphasis on the eternal human values. Though the nature of political system, production system and organizational forms has undergone a change anu innovations in technology have affected our life-styles, however, the human yearning for idealized values has not in any manner diminished, This is indicated by the emphasis on revival of human values. With the flow of time, many isms have come and gone. In future also new isms would arise and go, but the sanafana or the ‘eternal aspect of human values would continue to inspire the humanity and its institutions. lmdeed during each era of social upheaval, a jgreat need has been felt for revival of human Jyalues. This upheaval-revival dynamic or the {dialectic is captured by the famous s/oka from ‘Gita viz. Yada yada hi dharmesya... which ‘indicates that whenever there is erosion of human values or the adharma takes over, there is anced to re-establish the human values. Itis in this context that a new model of development ‘as well as leadership and management is ‘Fequired to guide us to take up the challenges ‘@fthe new millennium. Director, Indian Institute of Plantation Management, Bangalore and author of several ‘management books. {S87 December 12001 3 Dr. Subhash Sharma ‘Two Sides of Life: ‘The Essence of Indian Model Indian thought favours a holistic view of life, a balanced approach to the material and spiritual development of individuals and society. In today’s context, it implies combining the spiritual heritage with scientific advances. In the holistic model of development, the spiritual side of life is also represented by the yin and the material or the materialistic side by yang, The holistic model strives to achieve a balance between the two. Thus, it is based on the complementary principle or the harmony of opposites. The concept of the ‘dialectical harmony’ has its origin in the Eastern thought and is best represented by the yin-yang concept ofthe Chinese and the Ardhnareshwar/Shiva- ‘Shakti in the Indian thought. Hegel’s thesis, anti-thesis and synthesis concept also bears interesting similarities with this idea. In holistic model of development, emphasis is on dialectical harmony of the spiritual and material side of life, Management concepts and theories as derivatives of this model imply that both sides of the life should be combined in such a manner that it leads to the holistic happiness while operating in a competitive situation. This is the essence of the Indian model of development. The Indian model of holistic development has also been metaphorically described by people of wisdom as the two wings # Managomont Parcaption, Vol. Il, No. 2, 2001of a bird - one representing the material side and the other the spiritual side. Both wings are needed to fly. Thus, development implies a balanced approach to life and progress. Ifthere is only one - sided materialistic development, it leads to several social problems, as the Western experience indicates. Similarly if there is an emphasis only on spirituality there would be no material progress. Hence, the ‘spirit of evelopment’ demands that for the progress of life in the ‘material’ and the ‘spiritual’ world, a balanced approach is needed. Indian Ethics and the Spirit of Development Foundations of the Indian Model Indian Ethics also referred to as Indian ethos is at the heart of the Indian model of development. It is in sharp contrast to the Western model of ‘Protestant Ethics and Spirit of Capitalism’, that’ is rooted in extreme individualism and has resulted in emergence of mal-developed societies. Hence, the need for a correction, The Indian ethics model with its ‘emphasis on holistic development provides us ‘a new model for future development of human society, in which ‘spirit of capital’ or the artha dimension of life is not negated but is driven by dharma or the ethics. Thus, ‘dharma driven artha’ or the ‘spiritually guided materialism’ represents a balanced approach to development. While Western ethos are rooted in individualism or the primacy of self-interest, Eastern ethos favour /oksangraha or the primacy of collective interest and altruism. What is required is a balance between the two. The intellectual foundations of the Indian model could be traced to three July = December 120011111 34 It fundamental ‘theories’ from Indian scriptures viz. The panchkoshas theory, the purusharths theory and the theory of gunas. The essential aspects of the three are presented below. By combining the three theories we can arrive a the foundational basis of the Indian model, The panchkoshas theory provides a framework for holistic self - development. It identifies five levels of self-development viz the physical, psychological, mentological, intellectual and the spiritual consistent with the annamays, pranamaya, manomaya, vijanmaya and anandamaya koshas. It provides foundations for the idea of ‘ Panchmukhi vikas’ or the fivefold holistic development - ‘Physical, Practical, Aesthetic, Moral and Intellectual’ at the individual level.’ The theory of purusharthas takes a holistic perspective on balancing the four ‘objects of life’ viz., the dharma, artha, kama and mokshaor the ethical, material, sensual and spiritual dimensions, This theory suggests @ balanced approach for the holistic development at the individual level as well as of the society. The theory of gunas identifies three gunasvviz., the tarmasik, rajasikand the sattvik as three aspects of nature. Tamasikis indicative of the selfish and self-interest, rajasik connotes the enlightened self-interest and sattvik connotes the enlightened collective interest. This theory is applicable at the individual and society levels and has also been applied at the corporate level. This theory also provides us a framework for transformation of work culture in organisations from tamasik to sattvik with a view to improve the quality of work — life, # Management Perception, Vol. Il, No. 2, 20015 By combining the three theories we get by eternal human values and a balanced ral theory of development, wherein approach taken towards material and spiritual dual, society and organisations are driven development of individuals and society. Figure 1 provides the framework of the general theory of: ustic development. Eternal Human Values Individual Physical Self - interest Psychological Ethical Enlightened self Mentological Material i i interest ° Intellectual Sensual Enlightened ‘ Spiritual Spiritual Collective interest t Individual and Society Holistic Development & Management [oe eee & Management Peroaption, Vol. Il, No. 2, 2001Foundations of an Indian Model It may be indicated that there have been several scholarly efforts to formulate conceptual frameworks drawn from Indian ethics for application in management and administration particularly in the corporate context, In fact, need to move beyond American and Japanese models has been felt strongly (Gupta, 1991),? During the recent years these efforts have gathered momentum and it has been realized that Indian concepts though developed for the individual and social development are also useful for corporate management. Swami Ranganathananda (1982) provided a lead in showing the relevance of Indian thought to corporate management.’ M.B.Athreya (1995) drawing upon darsanas provides us a conceptual model for National Human Resource Management.‘ $.K.Chakraborty’s (1987, 1993, 1998) pioneering work in applying Indian ethos in corporate context through his frameworks of ‘Managerial Effectiveness and Quality of Work - life’ and ‘Managerial Transformation by Values’, is widely known.* Swami Someshwarananda (1996) provides many interesting insights from Indian Ethos Management and applies them in corporate context.‘ Subhash Sharma (1996, 1999) provides several workable models rooted in Indian ideas.” A number of Indian models of leadership have also been developed during recent years. ‘These include Nurturant Task Leadership Model (Sinha, 1980)*, Maternalistic Model of Leadership (Rao, 1990), Transcendental Leadership (Bodhananda, 1994)", Four Steps July ~ December //2001//I1 36 11 Model of Enlightened Leadership (Sharma, | 1995)", Theory K Model of Enlightened} Leadership (Sharma, 1998)", Mother Leadership (Banerjee, 1998), and Wisdom Leadership (Chakraborty, 1999)", etc. ‘The VEDA Model: The Essence Leadership & Management For translating the idea of ‘Indian Ethics and the Spirit of Development’ in practical context, a supporting model is required. This model is presented bere-as VEDA model of leadership and management. Int this model we| identify the following four aspects of the leadership: ieee Itis interesting to note that the academic literature on Transformational Leadership is coming closer to the above - presented modi ofleadership. | (Our model has many interesting insight to offer. VEDA If at the heart of the Indi model articulated through the expression] “Indian ethics and the Spirit of Development’ Further, it also reveals the convergence of 4 four mangas viz. raj-yoga, gyan yoga, bhak yoga and karma yoga. The parallels are give in the box below: i The VEDA Model j V : Vision i E : Enlightenment 1 Managemen Prcepfen, Vol Il, Ne 2,204D : Devotion A: Action Raj-yoga Gyan yoga Bhakti yoga Karma yoga Thus, all the four mangas viz. raj-yoga, gyan yoga, bhakti yoga and karma yoga are revealed through the individual letter V, E, D, A. Ina way this de-coding or ‘discovery’ is interesting because essence of Vedas in the form of four margas to self realization, is reflected in the very expression VEDA. While the four margas were evolved for traversing the path of self-realization, they also lead to emergence of several spiritual centres rooted in one or the other path. Thus, ‘dhakti-vedanta’ emerged as a strong movement because vedanta was articulated through the bhakti route, which has popular appeal. One reason for the emergence and spread of ‘American Hinduism’ as a ‘modern religion’, is its rootedness in the bhakti-vedanta, Bhakti vedanta is in a way a ‘new concept as it brings down the Vedantic ideas and ideals within the grasp of the common people in the Post ~ Modern, Post ~ Marxist societies. It may be indicated that bhakti concept has also found its expression in work ethos. ‘Work is worship’ is a well - known phrase and perhaps forms the core of the work ethos of many who have excelled in their profession and work. To capture the essence of this idea, Chatterjee (1998) suggests the concept of ‘workship’ as a key concept to infuse the proper work ethos in our organizations", “uly - December /2001// Il 37 1 Das Gupta (1995) argues for ‘Action by Objective’. Enlightened leaders not only believe in karma-yoga but practice it as their “work-religion’ immaterial of whatever be their ‘personal religion’. Biographies of many enlightened leaders provide testimony to this observation. In view of this author, Vivekananda’s ‘Practical Vedanta’ could be best summarized by the VEDA model discussed here because for success of any enterprise, all the four elements viz. Vision, Enlightenment, Devotion and Action should find convergence. A discussion on different paths to self- realization is available in the well-known book, The Call of the Vedss, authored by A.C.Bose and published in 1954 by Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay. In this work, Sanskrit slokas from Vedas have been classified in terms of path of mysticism & splendour, path of knowledge, path of devotion and path of action. English translations of the Sanskrit slokas are also available, This book is a good source for an understanding of four paths to self-realization. Our interest is primarily in the managerial context and usefulness of these four paths in enhancing managerial effectiveness. Managerial effectiveness is linked with the VEDA concept as defined in this paper. ‘Managerial effectiveness is high when Vision, Enlightenment, Devotion and Action are integrated together. This implies that person should reach the level of ‘sthithpragyan’, wherein he/she completely controls his/her mind, Whether mind controls the person or person controls the mind, represents the key to # Management Perception, Vol. ll, No, 2, 2001managerial effectiveness. A stressful and uncontrollable mind would often lead to wrong decision making. Hence, the need to master the mind. For this Raj-yoga is considered the ideal yoga. During the modern times, an organized effort in transmitting the knowledge about Raj- yoga has been undertaken by Brahma Kumari Spiritival University, Mount Abu. Many ‘managers in their individual capacity and many corporate organizations have benefited from the teachings of Brahma Kumaris. Considerable literature exists with respect to tools, techniques and experiences of individuals undertaking a course in this school of Raj-yoga. We may call it as “BK School of Raj-yoga". The practitioners of this school of Raj-yoga should accept its fundamental assumptions to make an advancement towards self-realization through soul-consciousness. To accept of not to accept these assumptions is a matter of individual choice. Models for Corporate Management Having discussed the broad perspectives on the Indian model of holistic development, wwe need to evolve the specific frameworks and ‘models that can help managers in improving the performance of their enterprises in a competitive environment. While VEDA model discussed above is a model of enlightened leadership, there is a need for development of such new models rooted in the philosophy of “Indian Ethics and the Spirit of Development’ and relevant for corporate management. The wheels of modern society are turned by four types of individuals viz. Leaders, Managers, Entrepreneurs and Workers. Leaders luv - Mecember 2001/1 38 It provide the vision, managers achieve results and translate vision into reality, entrepreneurs innovate and workers provide the support function. All the four complement each other in achieving the goals of a society or an organization. Thus, there are four roles a society demands from its citizens viz. Leadership, Managership, Entreprencurship and Workership. This is now well recognized in HRD and OB literature. Indeed these phrases are now being used widely in the academic community and also by the practitioners. They also provide a functional classification of the tasks/roles performed in a society. Balakrishnan et.al. (1999), provide a discussion on conceptual distinctions between leadership, managership and entrepreneurship in terms of task demands and personal dispositions." An economic enterprise would run effectively if all the four roles viz. leadership, managership, entrepreneurship and workership move in thythm leading to synergy. However, if the orchestra of the four roles is out of tune with each other, the music produced will have several flaws. Fig.2 provides a diagrammatic representation of the wheel model of modern society and corporate organizations. Forward Movement Four Pillars of Society and Organizations The above - discussed framework provides us an understanding about the forward movement of organizations which is dependent upon the proper synchronization in the four types of roles indicated above. This framework also provides us a foundational premise for developing models of corporate management # Management Perception, Vol. Il, No. 2, 2001and good governance. New Age Management for Corporate Development This author has taken a model-building approach to draw upon Indian intellectual heritage. From this approach, author has developed a number of management models that managers have found useful in their day- to-day work to improve the performance of their enterprises. Rooted in Indian ethos, these ‘models blend the Indian and Western concepts ina holistic form. These models represent the conceptual frameworks that have relevance for corporate enterprises. Detailed discussion on these models is available in this author's two books, viz. Management in New Age: Western Windows Eastem Doors (1996)"* and Quantum Rope : Science, Mysticism & Management (1999) and other writings. These books attempt to provide systematic, analytical and structured approach to the Indian indigenous knowledge available in tacit form in a variety of sources, Thus, the tacit knowledge has been converted into structured knowledge in the form of management models and “mantras’ that are directly relevant for managing enterprises Indeed, converting intuitional wisdom or tacit knowledge into structured knowledge in the form of workable models for improving the overall performance of enterprises is the essence of ‘New Age Management’ Examples of ‘new age management models’ include OSHA model,” the negergy- synergy grid,” the ‘MBA’ (Manas-Buddhi- Abankar) model,” A four steps model of enlightened leadership, Total Quality Of Management (TQOM),* Omnijective OD,” July - December 2001//11 391 Theory K of leadership and management,” CINE Matrix,” etc, These models have been tested in the organizational context and have been found to be useful for corporate development. These models in conjunction with other models developed on the basis of Indian ethos could provide a foundational premise for future development of ‘Indian Management’ based on the Vision, Enlightenment, Devotion & Action (VEDA) approaches to leadership and management, With the advent of spirituality-at-work movement, the application of the Indian ethos in corporate context has acquired a new relevance (Kalburgi Srinivas, 1998), It is perhaps because of the realization of the need for spirituality at work place, that Indian concept of “Transcendental Meditation’ and similar other techniques of stress reduction have become part of the “received knowledge’ on corporate management. Indeed, in the future development of management theory and practice, the Indian model of a balance between. the spiritual and materialistic achievements, could provide a new foundational premise for a balance between excessive individualism and extreme altruism. With this, the new age management models discussed here would find increasing acceptance in the corporate world. Perhaps it is time for the ‘Asian Dharma’ to provide the new social vision for the new millennium — a vision of sacro-civic society (Sharma, 1999, 2001)*#* based on spiritualization of modernity (Pathak, 1998). The four paths of VEDA viz. Vision, Enlightenment, Devotion and Action are at the heart of this new vision. # Management Perception, Vol Ill, No. 2, 2001References The concept of ‘Panchmukhi Vikas’ has been developed by Banasthali Vidyapith For details, see Institutional Profile of WISDOM (Women’s Institute for Studies in Development Oriented Management), Banasthali Rajen K.Gupta, ‘Employees and Organization in India: Need to move beyond American and Japanese models’, Economic & Political Weekly, 1991, M68-M76. Swami Ranganathananda, Human Values in Management (New Delhi Punjab National Bank, 1982). 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