BITSoM

2 Year Flagship MBA Program

Course Outline

Course Title: Culture and Business

Faculty: Pradeep Chakravarthy

Dates: 16th to 27th January 2023

Course Objectives:

● Define, analyze, and apply the concept of the Dharmic Leadership model to go beyond
the current leadership models taught and practiced.
● Differentiate Dharmic Leadership from existing leadership models – Eastern and
Western.
● Learn how history can be a useful insight for learning about ourselves.
● Explore personal enablers and disablers to dharmic leadership based on the Arishad
Varga and the Rasas
● Learn how to have a Yagna conversation of exchange rather than sacrifice-focused
interactions.

Key Takeaways:

• Recognize the importance of Dharmic Leadership which emphasizes improving

performance through a focus on relationships and then on tasks.
• Characterize, evaluate, and reimagine one’s own leadership strategies against the
threshold of Dharmic Leadership.
• Use history, culture, and yoga as tools inseparable from one’s day-to-day functioning.

Learning Goals:

• Learn how to reach long-term performance by focusing on collaborative value-building

rather than confrontational competition.
• Learn what are the personal past experiences, emotions, breath, and body awareness that
help and hinder collaborative value building or the Dharmic approach.
• Craft your personal plan for improving performance by building alliances and
increasing self-awareness.

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Course Requirements:

Required Readings:

1. Chakravarthy, Pradeep. “Leadership Shastra: Lessons from Indian History”. Chennai,

Westland Business, 2021.

Additional Readings:

1. Ravikumar, Hari, Koti, Sreekrishna. (Transl). “Srishti – Songs of Creation from the
Vedas.”. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015. Pp 13 – 63.
“Introduction”

2. Narayana Rao, Velcheru ; Shulman, David ; and Subrahmanyam, Sanjay. A new

imperial idiom in the sixteenth century: Krishnadevaraya and his political theory of
Vijayanagara In: South-Indian Horizons: Felicitation volume for François Gros on the
occasion of his 70th birthday [online]. Pondichéry: Institut Français de Pondichéry,
2004 (generated 21 November 2022). Available on the Internet:
<http://books.openedition.org/ifp/7916>. ISBN: 9791036556210. DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4000/books.ifp.7916.

3. https://www.amazon.in/Akbar-Great-Mughal-Ira-Mukhoty-
ebook/dp/B086PML371/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Pp.
183-194 (The Man Who Set the World on Fire), 278 – 286 (Universal Civility).

4. Sengupta, Nandini, “Rani Durgawati – The Forgotten Life of a Warrior Queen”, Pp.1 –
16 , 149 – 174, Remembering the Rani, Battle of Narai Nala – Part 1 and Part 2

5. Pattanaik, Devdutt. “Business Sutra – A Very Indian Approach to Management”, New

Delhi, Aleph, 2015. Pp.371 – 401 – “Inclusion”- In “Darshan, Observing the subject”..

6. Dandapani , Kamini . Raja Raja Chola - King of Kings. Aleph Book Company, 2022.
Pp.108 – 130 – “The Land Beneath the Chola Sun: Chola Organization” and Pp. 172 –
194 – “The Eponymous Temple – Rajarajeshwaram in Thanjan’s City”

7. Ananthanarayanan, Raghu. Five Seats of Power : Leadership Insights from the

Mahabharata: Discovering the Best You Can Be through the Mahabharata.
HarperCollins India, 2021. Pp. 174 – 199. “Part III – Discovering The Best That You
Can Be”.

8. Desikachar, T K V, “The Heart of Yoga”, Inner Traditions International, Rochester,

Vermont, (1995) Pp.17 – 24. “The Principles of Yoga Practice”.

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Assessment:

Individual Component
Class participation (20%)
Individual Assignment (40%)
Group Component
Group Assignment (40%)

Assessment Guidelines: Criteria will be provided to students via detailed instructions for each
component.

Session Schedule

Session 1: Introduction to Dharmic Leadership (16th January, Monday)

Before Class: Read the Reading list – Introduction from (1) & (2)
In Class: Pre-Course assessment (Not graded), Course overview, Definition of Dharma,
Arishadvarga, and Yagna, and why history can help us learn leadership lessons

Session 2: The Chola administration system (17th January, Tuesday)

Before Class: Read (7) and watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkvDk95v_7E
In Class: Why is the Chola empire worth studying? What enabled them to fund their empire
and how did they earn their money? From dispute resolution in their time, what principles can
we learn that are relevant to our lives? From their eventual demise, what can we learn to build
a sustainable legacy?
After Class: Personal reflection based on the concepts & read (7)

Session 3: Krishna deva Raya and the Amuktyamalyada and Akbar’s Din Ilahi (18th
January, Wednesday)
Before Class: Read (3) and “The Deccan Sultanates” from (1)
In Class: Why should we learn about Krishna deva Raya? Understanding his list of what
qualities, a king requires from his text Amuktyamalyada. The value of literature and poetry in
leadership. How did Akbar work at bringing cultures together, and what can we learn from him
in dealing with conflict?
After Class: Read (4) and (5) & personal reflection on concepts.

Session 4: Applying to life (19th January, Thursday)

Before Class: Collect photos of your life and complete a questionnaire
In Class: execute the river of life exercise and debrief learning

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After Class: Personal reflection based on the concepts.

Session 5: Arishadvarga and the Rasas and how breath influences and mind and body
(23rd January, Monday)
Before Class: Watch this and do this at least twice - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq_Tz-
swz2Y
In Class: How do the Arishadvarga and Rasas help or hinder me from reacting rather than
responding? How can yoga asana and breath influence the way I think and feel? How can we
bring sensitivity to understanding the connection between our feelings, thoughts, breath, and
body?
After Class: Read (9)

Session 6: Aurangzeb and Tipu Sultan (24th January, Tuesday)

Before Class: Read Chapters on Aurangazeb and Tipu Sultan from (1)
In Class: What can we learn from these leaders to build a long-term legacy? Why is futile to
label anyone as “good” or “bad”? When do we tend to label? What are the consequences of
doing so for our performance?
After Class: Personal reflection based on the concepts.

Session 7: Yagna (25th January, Wednesday)

Before Class: Self-scoring on a critical goal for the year ahead & (6)
In Class: Learning how to have a yagna conversation based on the learnings from earlier
sessions. Using the archetypes of Asura, Rakshasa, Yaksha, Yajamana, Devata, and Bhagavan.
After Class: Read (8)

Session 8: Conclusion (27th January, Friday)

In Class: Post-Course Assessment (Graded), Anonymous peer review