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The book, DHARMIC VALUES AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (by R. C. Sastry; Vikas

Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., 576, Masjid Road, Jangpura, New Delhi-110014)is an

offbeat approach in

application of dharmic values to modern managerial practices. The book review

will be of interest to spiritual minded people looking for an alternate

perspective.

 

regards,

 

Ram Chandran

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This article is emailed to you by Ram Chandran ( rchandran )

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Source: The Hindu (http://www.hinduonnet.com)

 

Ethics in management

 

DHARMIC VALUES AND HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: R. C. Sastry; Vikas

Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., 576, Masjid Road, Jangpura, New

Delhi-110014. Distributors: UBS Publishers' Distributors Ltd., 5,

Ansari Road, New Delhi-110002. Rs. 475.

 

PETER F. DRUCKER, in his locus classicus, The Practice of

Management, stresses that modern managers should lend the

"dynamic, life-giving element" to business. Prof. Amitav Bose,, IIM Calcutta (which prescribes a module on "values")

observes: "Professionalism does not mean goodbye to ethics".

While Maharishi University of Management refers to "the self-

referral consciousness" of the manager, the Indian School of

Business, Hyderabad, makes a holistic study of "mind, body and

soul" compulsory. Thus, value-based management, with focus on the

individual, has become the mantra of the new millennium.

 

The author of this autobiographical-cum-professional book under

notice adds yet another dimension to human resource (HR) problems

and perspectives. The main feature of this book is its offbeat

approach in application of dharmic values to modern managerial

practices. The book has seven chapters.

 

Chapter one, "Trials and tribulations" is the curtain raiser to

the author's eventful corporate career. His early contacts and

purposeful dialogues with senior managers, trade union leaders

and grassroots level workers at the Aluminium Industry Ltd.,

(ALIND) and the Indian Leaf Tobacco division of India Tobacco

Company (ITC) went a long way in laying firm foundations for

future growth. Experiments and experiences shaped the writer to

become a vital link in the employee-management chain instead of a

cog in the industrial wheel. Development of industrial culture

embedded with noble qualities like duty, character and loyalty

treating all employees as associates was discovered to be the

hallmark of a good HR manager.

 

Chapter two, "Speak-up and at the right time" draws inspiration

from a host of spiritual texts. For instance, Vidura's counsel to

Dhritharastra in the great epic, Mahabharata, on decision-making

is eminently applicable to the present day corporate scenario.

Another precept is a king (read manager) should have integrity,

consult seniors and seek consensus, be discreet in choice of

words and maintain equanimity. Managers who practise these

qualities motivate others and become leaders before long.

 

Chapter three, "Confrontation and collaboration" provides

guidelines for settlement of conflicts and disputes. It

highlights how different yogas of the Bhagavad Gita (an

outstanding exposition on self-management), serve as several

disciplines in the art of living for survival in the oppressive

organisational world. One is also constantly reminded of Kartavya

(duty), the cardinal message of the Gita. Similarly, Adi

Sankara's sane advice in dealing with fear and desire is very

helpful in the development of human resources.

 

Chapter four, "Nice to be tough" proclaims the need of "loose-

tight" and "nice-tough" approach in developing leadership

capacity. A case study "The way we want to manage" structured by

C. R. Jagannathan, former Deputy Chairman, ITC (annexure I),

comprehensively deals with various topics like organisational

diagnosis, need for paradigm shifts, employee involvement in

strategic planning and total quality management (TQM) et al. The

anecdote of Ramarao, an ILTD employee, walking 16 km in deep

water of cyclone-affected Ongole area to provide succour to

colleagues in distress, is an enlightening HR lesson worthy of J.

Krishnamurthy's saying "first a human being". That this employee

had no career growth speaks ill of corporate ethics. Chapter

five, "Commitment to truth" reminds the well-known Sanskrit

slogan (of the Government) "Satya meva jayathe" of

Mundakopanishad. According to Valmiki's Yoga Vasishta, Lord

Rama's ministers include Hanuman, Sushena, Indrajith as well as

dispassionate, deteached, above greed and possessiveness. Besides

listening to advice, a ruler should have noble qualities. The

prevalent craze for lofty titles, such as chairman, vice-

chairman, president and vice-president et al look ridiculous,

since this sort of ego trips threaten the fundamentals of

participatory management. Service to customers, employees,

community and stakeholders becomes meaningful only if openness,

empathy and trust are spread all around.

 

Chapter six, "Principles do pay" emphasises that formal corporate

communication through group induction and common development

programmes have to be fine-tuned towards achievement of spirit of

cohesion and common culture. The phenomenon of top jobs going to

outsiders can be reversed, if employees become more career

conscious than job (for money) conscious. Providing future

leaders from within the industry should become the sheet anchor

of corporate philosophy.

 

Chapter seven, "Truth prevails" relates how America's greatest

leadership problem i.e. "arrogance" also plagues the Indian chief

executive officers (CEOs), who practise the "Ahameva Brahma" (I

am the ultimate person) concept. Jack Ebbels categorises people

as big-big men and big-little men; while the former are genuine

and human, the latter gets puffed up about nothing.

 

Annexures at the end of the text, illustrated with diagrams and

flow charts, explaining different aspects of management like

stakeholders' image, organisation climate survey and environment

are interesting and instructive. The author has four decades of

managerial experience in a number of prestigious organisations.

 

His interactions with stalwarts lend authenticity to issues

discussed and solutions arrived at. It may be difficult to agree

with all that the author says; Ganguly's projection as a leader

(sports) is a case in point. At places, the text appears to be

didactic and repetitive.

A list of abbreviations (found throughout) and a sum-up at the

end of each chapter should have made the book more reader-

friendly.

 

Despite these minor hiccups, this excellent treatise will be of

immense use to business management students, faculty and

practising HR managers. With a blend of tradition and modernity,

theory and practice, here is a role model of Indian management as

distinct from the American and Japanese brands. A valuable

addition to the corpus of management literature.

 

P.V.L.N. RAO

 

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