Indigenous Indian Management: Conceptualization, Practical Applications and Pedagogical Initiatives

ISBN-13: 9783030879082 / Angielski / Miękka / 2023 / 567 str.

Ashish Pandey; Pawan Budhwar; Dharm P. S. Bhawuk

Opis

This book reflects on the growing appetite for plurality in management knowledge that addresses the problems important to business and society. Over the last three decades, India’s rapid economic growth has helped to make it a leading economy of the world. The social and cultural setting of India is unique because of its diversity, large population, and social and economic stratification. India is a living culture of more than three thousand years that simultaneously embraces traditional and contemporary beliefs and practices. From world trade to climate change to democratization, India’s actions have a global impact. Reviewing management literature in the Indian context, this book attempts explaining and addressing the problems important to business and society. This book has three primary aims: to identify and describe the insights from traditional culture of India relevant to management, to report on the Indian institutional dynamics and its reflection on management and to present pedagogical initiatives that integrate the wisdom of Indian culture and tradition with contemporary management knowledge. In light of these objectives, this book will be relevant to management scholars, educators, and practitioners, particularly in the areas of organizational behavior, human resource management, strategic management, marketing, entrepreneurship, and international management.

Spis treści

Introductory Chapter: This chapter will explain the need for this volume, structure and flow of the proposed contents. It will also pre-set the underlining structure of the handbook and that of followed in most of the chapters.

All chapters (apart from the Introductory and Last) will be written along a given framework to ensure consistency and thoroughness. Where possible, the core themes of the framework will include: a) Focus of the chapter (including expected learning); b) Historical developments of the topic, including what is unique/indigenous about it, c) Core aspects of the topic/ key constructs covered under the topic, d) How the topic/construct(s) of the chapter be applied in modern day organisations operating in India; e) Confirmation of the eligibility of the same (e.g., by getting feedback from a senior and relevant practitioner), f) List of further reading: g) List of any relevant websites or case studies, video, etc, h) References

The first section of the handbook is drawn from the prominent schools of Darshans or philosophy of Indian tradition. The most widely accepted classification of Indian philosophy accepts six Astika darshanas and three prominent Nastika Darshanas. Six Astik Darshanas (Sad-darshanas) accept the transcendental reality and thus accepts the Vedas as eternal and infallible exist since the pre-Buddhist era (i.e. prior to 6th century BC). These are Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Mimansa and Vedanta. The Buddhist, Jain and the Charvaka darshanas are called Nastika Darshanas, since they don’t admit of (or don’t need to or care to admit of) the Vedas as eternal and infallible and are classified as heterodox systems.

Chapter 1: Nature of Human Self, Role of Work and Place in Nature of Human Being: Indian Worldview and its Implications for Management Practices and Scholarship (Author: Ashish Pandey, Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay)

Worldview is the philosophical outlook that a person, knowingly or not, utilizes to organize his or her belief system and activities (Theilmen, 2008). A worldview comprises of culturally organized and inter-related macro thoughts that organize much of the body of symbolic creations and ethnophilosophy among many other epistemic and ontological stances. This chapter will aim at deciphering the Indian worldview by elaborating the nature of human self, goals of human life and the role of work in the human life subscribed in the Indian traditional wisdom and their theoretical implications on management theories and practices.  

Chapter 2: Concepts in Indian Culture and Wisdom Traditions and Positive Organizational Processes and Scholarship (Author: Dharam P. Bhawuk, University of Hawaii, Manoa)

Indian psychology is an approach to psychology based on the Indian ethos, the characteristic spirit of the Indian civilization (Dalal and Mishra, 2010). One could also say that it is a psychology rooted in the Indian worldview, yoga and a life-affirming spirituality. The field of Indian psychology unravels many positive aspects of human nature and its manifestations at the work place. In the wake of technological advancement and globalizations in business organizations, the performance is coming at the cost and with the growing prevalence of stress, environmental degradation and meaninglessness. The positive psychology is offering a wealth of solutions to our modern challenges related to organizations and their management. Indian psychology can offer distinct and a fresh perspective and wide range of interventions for organizations and its members. In particular, the focus of the chapter will be on virtues derived from the Bhagavad-Gita, which constitute the foundation of all values and a rich theoretical frameworks for what is now popular as positive psychology in the West, without ignoring the values that should be rooted out while cultivating those virtues that inspire us individually and are good for the collective at all levels, namely, dyad, small group, organisations, societies, nations, and global. 

Chapter 3: Karma-Yoga: The Indian Philosophy of Moral Development and Work Motivation (Authors: Zubin Mulla, TISS and Venkat Krishnan, Centre for Oneness & Transforming Leadership, Chainnai, erstwhile Professor XLRI Great Lakes)

According to the Indian worldview, Karma-Yoga is the technique of intelligently performing actions and forms the basis of deciding the moral worth of an action. Moreover, Karma-Yoga explains a distinct motivation for action based on one’s duty towards others (Mulla and Krishnan, 2014). In this chapter we describe the beliefs which sustain and explain Karma-Yoga; the operationalization of Karma-Yoga in the Indian work context; and locate this variable in relationship with other work-related correlates and outcomes. This chapter will then focus on future research possibilities in exploring this construct further for the benefit of individuals and organizations in India and worldwide.

Chapter 4: Understanding Self and Wellbeing based on Ayurveda – Implications for Indian Management (Authors: Mala Kapadia, Vaidya Gram and S.P Jain Global School)

Most of the existing personality models are based on mental or psychological aspects alone. However, personality can be understood better in a holistic way; as an integrated whole of physical, emotional and intellectual aspects. Traditional Ayurvedic literature provides a thorough description of physiology and personality types using the notion of Vata, Pitta and Kapha and ways of their assessment (Patwardhan, 2012). At the physiological level our tissues are mainly Kapha, the digestive system is mainly pitta and nervous system is mainly Vata. Vata governs sensory, emotional and mental harmony. Pitta governs our intelligence and qualities like courage and vitality whereas Kapha endows with psychological stability, qualities of love and caring and relations with others. These insights have strong practical applications. Accordingly, the focus of this chapter will be on an elaboration of understanding self and wellbeing based on Ayurveda and its implication on behaviour at workplace, productivity of human resources, leadership, emotional intelligence, conflict handling etc.

Chapter 5: Triguna Research in Indian Psychology: Philosophical Reconstruction, Implication for Management Practice and Directions (Author: Alok Kumar, XLRI, Jamshedpur)

Indian psychology has leveraged several systems of Indian philosophy to base its scientific enquiry. Sāṁkhya - the oldest known system of Indian philosophy - has been commonly leveraged to develop Indian accounts of personality. This research has focused on the idea of triguṇa - three constituents so to speak that variously interact to produce the manifest world (e.g. Marutham, Balodhi, & Mishra, 1998). This chapter contends that this line of enquiry has deviated from the original philosophy of Sāṁkhya. Accordingly, the focus of this chapter will be on philosophical reconstruction of the idea of triguṇa as used in Indian psychological research on personality. It will show that it makes greater sense to study personality at the level of bhava rather than triguṇa as such. Bhāva are triguṇa effects of a certain kind manifest as cognitive dispositions.  Further, it will highlight implications of the resulting insights for important organizational behaviour constructs such as motivation, leadership, and mindfulness.

Chapter 6: Madhyam Marg: A Conceptual and Epistemic Tool for Understanding Indian Mind and Practice (Author: Minati Panda, Jawahar Lal Nehru University, New Delhi)  

Madhyam Marg could be treated as a master concept capable of explaining the relational and the dialectic mind of Indians (and the conflicts the Indians experience in situ) and the Indian practices (Panda, 2013). The contemporaneity of this concept is immensely evident in our everyday lives that includes dialogues, narratives and decision makings involving conflicts in situ and its resolutions. This chapter will be structured along an elaboration of the notion of Madhya Marg, how it explains the thinking and the tradition of India and how the Madhya Marg approach can help in the effective managing of the business organizations.

Chapter 7: Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development: Insights from Indian Traditional Wisdom and Impact on Present Practice (Author: Sunita Singh-Sengupta, Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi University, New Delhi)

The ethical failures of many organizations have increased public awareness about the subtle inner workings of business organizations and has surfaced issues core to the corporate social responsibility (CSR) of the business world. There is considerable need for elevated levels of CSR in the rapidly changing global economy, where business executives are constantly eying on new ways of cost cutting and increasing profit levels. Actors who are intrinsically committed to the common good and define success in multi-dimensional terms are inclined to serve nature, society and future generations. Spirituality can play a major creative role in the deliberation of economic decisions and actions. Only non-materialistic value orientation can produce real material wellbeing for people. The present chapter will address the ethical and spiritual foundations of sustainable development as outlined in Vedic Scriptures.

It attempts to understand CSR through spirit centric leadership styles based on Vedantic wisdom. It also proposes that in order to create virtue-based management practices, which coupled with servant leadership, is expected to create a felicitating environment for the implementation of CSR so that the expectations of various stakeholders will be fulfilled.

Section 2: Grounded Research and Empirical Inquiry to Understand Management Practices and Management Education and Development in India

Chapter 8: Unique Features of Indian Financial and Economic System (Author: V. Bapat, Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay, Kanag Sabhapathi, P.G. College of Management, Coimbatore)

Non-corporate sector, consisting of partnership, proprietorship and household enterprises constitute nearly 50% of Indian GDP while contribution of corporate sector or companies is just 15% of the GDP. The share of foreign direct investment (FDI) and foreign financial institutional investors (FFII) in Indian investment is not more than 7%. This means, 93% of the investment in India comes from domestic savings, out of which household savings contribute almost 80%. Saving habits of Indians, their investment pattern and orientation towards entrepreneurship are the reflection of family-based society, community orientation (Kanagasabapathi, 2013; Vaidyanathan, 2014). This chapter will bring out the unique aspects of Indian financial and economic system and their implications on management theory and practices.

Chapter 9: Understanding Organizations and Business Ecosystems in India using Business Systems Framework (Authors: Abinash Panda and Rajen Gupta, MDI Gurgaon)

India presents a unique challenge. It is one of the most dynamic and persistent democracy. However, the state institutions have not evolved organically from traditional social institutions. State institutions, which were imposed during colonial period (and that thinking has persisted in the post-independence period), are guided by Anglo-Saxon rationality. On the other hand, socio-cultural institutions, which have evolved over time, are guided by traditional rationality. There seems to be a significant disconnect between socio-cultural institutions and state institutions.

Disconnect between socio-cultural (background institutions) and formal state institutions (proximate institutions) poses a huge challenge to organizations to understand the business ecosystem to effectively do business in Indian context. Hence, an understanding of the business ecosystem is a must for organizations to effectively do business in Indian context.

Hence, the primary objective of this chapter is to offer an authentic account of business ecosystem of India and how it impacts the functioning of organizations in India. The business system perspective (as in Witt & Redding, 2013) primarily guides the analysis

Chapter 10:  Social Entrepreneurship in India (Authors: Nisha Pandey, Mumbai University and E.M. Reji, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai)

Social entrepreneurship (SE) has emerged as a global phenomenon to bridge the gap between the demand for fulfilment of social and environmental needs, and the corresponding supply of resources, generally considered as a response to failure of market, state or/and both in meeting needs of society (Austin, Stevenson, & Wei-Skillern, 2012). Social entrepreneurs as individuals are the change agents because they aim at systematic solutions to problems in the society and create social value. SE has been rapidly growing in all the sectors: private, public and non-profit. Its constituent elements, strategic focus on social impact and an innovative approach to achieve its mission, reflect the combination of social mission and entrepreneurial creativity, and this combination makes SE distinct from other public, private or civil sector activity.

By employing innovative business models, SEs are addressing India’s vast development needs, while maintaining sustainability through viable revenue models. The field of SE can have strong implications on management theory like motivation, leadership, organization culture and climate and practices like performance appraisal, compensation management, recruitment and training and development etc. After defining the SE, this chapter will aim at explaining the how it is crucial and how it is developing in India, understanding its social impact, the major operational areas of social entrepreneurs and will throw the light on Indian models for SE and their contribution on strengthening social value Chain and social innovation in India.

Chapter 11: Made in India: Business Models for Affordable Healthcare (Rajesh Chandwani, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Somshekhar Bhattacharya, National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai)

There have been various innovative health service initiatives in the developing world, to cater to the needs of the have-nots, the poor population. These initiatives extend the provision of high-quality health care services at affordable costs, thus providing the health care services for the masses (Rangan, & Thulasiraj, 2007). Several such initiatives have been successfully designed and implemented in the Indian context (Bhattacharyya, et. al., 2010). Such projects may be initiated from various sources such as government, NGOs, corporate, public-private partnerships and so on.

The success of these initiatives highlights the contextually sensitive design and implementation processes. Particularly, some of these endeavours have emerged as case studies for teaching various aspects of management worldwide, for example Aravind Eye Care System and Narayana Hrudayalaya.

The leadership who were involved in the design and implementation of these organizations were not only able to overcome the resource constraints so characteristic of the Indian context, but also worked towards ensuring financial sustainability. This chapter would delve into some of such initiatives to understand the philosophical underpinnings that formed the basis of these initiatives. Further, the scaling up of these organisations entailed several innovative strategies for example highlighting the ‘pro-social’ nature of the initiatives for motivating the healthcare providers and conducting extensive outreach to establish connect with the community. The chapter would also explore the integration of these aspects in developing the context sensitive business model.

Chapter 12: Role of Religious-Spiritual Organizations in Social Development and Environmental Protection in India (Aditya Agrawal and Ashish Pandey, Faculty, Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay)

Scholars define religion as a visible expression of a faith and belief system, via a formal or ceremonial activity whereas spirituality is defined as a broader concept   related to the quest for meaning, purpose, morality, transcendence, well-being, and profound relationships with ourselves, others, and ultimate reality (Pargament,1999). However, the distinction between the two blurs in many large-scale developmental projects in India completed by so called religious and spiritual organizations. Unlike large charitable organizations funded by few rich and philanthropic business leaders or business houses many religious organizations in India have undertaken the projects of social development and environmental protection with the financial and voluntary support by a large number of common citizens. In a way it is crowd funded developmental work generally under the influence of a spiritual master and religious leader.

The nature of Hindu traditions and Vedic traditions are such that people don’t distinguish religion and spirituality. They embrace the religious symbols as tools for transcendence and realizing the relationships with self, others, and ultimate reality. The idea of "Seva" or selfless service is considered an integral part of spiritual development. This aspect of Indian mind-set is strongly reflected in social development project conceived and carried out by religious and spiritual organizations in India. A large number of volunteer base of these organizations serves the people. Due to the influence of spiritual master, many industrialists undertake work at cost price (paid by the spiritual organizations). This combines the efficiency of private sector with near zero overheads. These projects range from education, water conservation to prisoner’s reform to bringing back extremists to the main stream, and deaddiction.

This chapter will elaborate on the convergence of religion and spirituality in Indian mind-set in the development projects carried out by religious and spiritual organizations in India using the cases on Education Project of Art of Living Foundation, Plantation drive of Isha Foundation, water project of Sathya Sai Sewa Organisations and the project of providing mid-day meal to kids by International Society of Krishna Consciousness.

Chapter 13: Societal Culture and Management Practices:  Qualitative Studies of Culture of MNCs Operating in India (Author: Richa Awasthi, Ambedkar University, Delhi)

Since the liberalization process started in India in early 1990s, the nature and degree of competition has changed qualitatively. The opening up of the markets has lured a lot of MNCs from around the globe to India. The interaction of foreign culture and societal culture of India in the MNCs operating here makes interesting grounds for learning about cross cultural and intercultural management (Sinha, 2004).  The present chapter will share lessons driven from the study carried out in Indian context to understand the interplay of management practices and societal culture. 

Chapter 14: Effective Organizational Leadership in the Indian Context (Author: Abinash Panda, MDI Gurgaon)

Early leadership studies in India supported the notion that Indian culture is authoritarian; therefore, an authoritarian leader was thought to be more effective (Lippitt & White, 1943; Meade, 1967). The argument that Indians prefer and perform better under authoritarian leadership was challenged by a group of scholars (Sinha, 1980). There are research findings that indicate the preference for democratic styles of leadership in India (Kakar 1974). Such findings contribute to the conceptualization of Nurturant Task Leadership (see Sinha, 1980, 1995), and an attempt to reconcile some of the early discrepancies in the leadership research in India.

Kalra (2004) has proposed consultative style managerial leadership and argues that such style of managerial leadership fits with the average Indian psyche, which is dependency prone, feels comfortable in hierarchical structures, looks for support/approval from superiors and even being heard by the boss gives him a feeling of acceptance.

Accordingly, this chapter presents a concise review and synthesis of leadership studies in Indian context and draw inferences for future leadership research, and leadership development process in organizations and their relevant for present day organizations.

Chapter 15: Psycho-social Analysis of Indian Mindset (Author: Upasna Agrawal National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai and Ashish Pandey, Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay)

Indians’ respect their past traditions and easy acceptance of the new enables them to develop ‘paradoxical beliefs, values, and norms’. Depending on the context, they choose to think and act either as a collectivist or an individualist. Three concepts that are considered key to understanding of the Indians are desh (place), kaal (time) and paatra (person). Thus, Indians could both be materialist and spiritual at the same time (Sinha, 2014). The Indian societal context is pervasive with casteism, poverty, corruption, fragmented politics and violence. Even so, the Indians are conscious of their cultural heritage and bound to an inclusive and adaptive mindset, which is quite different from mindsets of other nationalities. Accordingly, the focus of this chapter is to elaborate the Indian mindset, largely based on the research findings of Sinha (2004; 2006; 2010; 2014) and delineate the implication of these finding on management theories and practices.

Chapter 16: Influence of Indian Culture on Marketing Communication and Practices in India (Author: S. Bhardwaj, Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai, erstwhile Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Madras)

Behaviour of a consumer largely depends on both the inner self and outer stimuli. Consumption decisions made in the market are closely related with values and social relationship and cultural allegiance. It has been found that even after tremendous exposure to globalization, consumers from different cultures have different attitudes, perceptions, tastes, preferences and values (Banerjee, 2008). This chapter will elaborate on how the culturally sensitive marketing and branding practices and communication enables organization to ensure competitive edge and it minimizes chances of erroneous decision-making decrease in Indian context.

Chapter 17: Innovative Practices in Management Education in India (Authors: Sushant Mishra, IIM Indore, Gopal Mohapatra, IIM Bangalore)

Knowing, being and doing are the three aspects of management education (Datar, Garvin and Cullen, 2010). ‘Knowing’ refers to the cognitive aspects of management that is, what does one know or need to know about management and particularly business management like marketing, finance, operations management and so on and the situations in which managers have to work which are covered in the courses like business environment, economics etc. ‘Being’ is the next aspect of management education which is based on the premise that is who you are affect your ability to manage. The underlying values, assumptions, beliefs, and assumptions about the world and the way of its functioning can shape our approach to management. The ‘Doing’ aspect is about how management is practiced, applying the functional and integrative knowledge, using technology, building relationship and networking are the Doing aspects of management. A cursory view of the management suggest that in general management education in India is more focused on ‘knowing’ aspects. However, we also come across few interesting examples of the management institutions and management educator are trying to nurture ‘being’ and ‘doing’ aspects of in regular management programs or executive programs in management. compulsory internship in social sector in S.P. Jain Institute of Management, real time sale experiments (Mandi experiment) in management program at National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Rural Development project known as Karma Yoga project in Great Lakes institute are amongst the interesting examples of the pedagogical initiatives which touch upon the ‘Doing’ aspect of management education. Similarly, a course on behavioural lab in IIM Ahmedabad, Yoga based practices in SJMSOM in IIT Bombay, and TM in Maharshi Institute of Management, wholesome leadership program offered by Pragati Leadership Institute in management development programs in more than hundred organizations in last twenty-five years are few examples where ‘Being’ aspects are aimed to nurture. Many of these innovations have arisen from the socio-cultural context of India and many of them are inspired by the insights from the Indian traditional wisdom.

This chapter will present overview of the innovative pedagogies adopted in India which touch upon the ‘Being’ and ‘Doing’ aspects in management education.

 

Epilogue:  Indian Management Theories and Practices: What India and the Rest of the World Can Learn from Each Other? (Authors: The Editors).

This chapter is constituted of the three parts along with the three broad themes of the present handbook. First it will present a synthesis of the philosophical perspective of Indian thoughts and their theoretical implications in management. The second part of this chapter will describe the unique features of India in terms of socio-economic reality and mindset and their implications for management theory and practices. Third part of the chapter is based on learnings from the management practices and pedagogies unique to Indian context. This chapter is not only aimed at summarizing and synthesizing the ideas present in the different chapters about the current directions of management theory and practices in Indian context but also proposes the directions for future management research and practices. In essence, we attempt to address the question – ‘is there an Indian model or approach of management like American model or Japanese model of management’? This chapter is concluded with the actionable ideas on plausible research studies, experiments, practices and pedagogical initiatives to further develop the field of Indian Management, which we hope that management practitioners will try to follow, and management academics would like to share with their students.

O autorze

Ashish Pandey, Associate Professor, with Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management in Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, has more than 30 research articles in the leading journals and handbooks in the areas of spirituality at work, yoga and mindfulness in OB, interface of business and society.

Pawan Budhwar is Head of Aston Business School, UK, and the Co Editor-in- Chief of Human Resource Management Journal. He is the co-founder and first president of Indian Academy of Management. He has published over 150 articles in leading journals and written and/or co-edited over 25 books.

Dharm P S Bhawuk, Professor of Management and Culture and Community Psychology, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, USA, has published more than 100 papers and books including Cambridge Handbook of Intercultural Training (2020), Indian Psychology: Lessons from the Bhagavad-Gita (2011), and Asian Contributions to Cross-Cultural Psychology (1996).

Blurb

This book reflects on the growing appetite for plurality in management knowledge that addresses the problems important to business and society. Over the last three decades, India’s rapid economic growth has helped to make it a leading economy of the world. The social and cultural setting of India is unique because of its diversity, large population, and social and economic stratification. India is a living culture of more than three thousand years that simultaneously embraces traditional and contemporary beliefs and practices. From world trade to climate change to democratization, India’s actions have a global impact. Reviewing management literature in the Indian context, this book attempts explaining and addressing the problems important to business and society. This book has three primary aims: to identify and describe the insights from traditional culture of India relevant to management, to report on the Indian institutional dynamics and its reflection on management and to present pedagogical initiatives that integrate the wisdom of Indian culture and tradition with contemporary management knowledge. In light of these objectives, this book will be relevant to management scholars, educators, and practitioners, particularly in the areas of organizational behavior, human resource management, strategic management, marketing, entrepreneurship, and international management.

Ashish Pandey, Associate Professor, with Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management in Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, has more than 30 research articles in the leading journals and handbooks in the areas of spirituality at work, yoga and mindfulness in OB, interface of business and society.

Pawan Budhwar is Head of Aston Business School, UK, and the Co Editor-in- Chief of Human Resource Management Journal. He is the co-founder and first president of Indian Academy of Management. He has published over 150 articles in leading journals and written and/or co-edited over 25 books.

Dharm P S Bhawuk, Professor of Management and Culture and Community Psychology, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, USA, has published more than 100 papers and books including Cambridge Handbook of Intercultural Training (2020), Indian Psychology: Lessons from the Bhagavad-Gita (2011), and Asian Contributions to Cross-Cultural Psychology (1996).