Author: Laxmi Devi
Publication: The Economic Times
Date: November 14, 2005
URL: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1294033.cms
Scene II, Act I: Infosys chairman, Narayana
Murthy, is in his own Kurukshetra, facing attack from former Prime Minister
Deve Gowda, on the Bangalore infrastructure issue. Should he keep silent or
fight back? Just like Arjuna, Murthy is fighting the battle with his conscience.
The supreme management guru Krishna comes and gives a management insight to
Murthy. He says:
"If you refuse to fight this righteous
war then, shirking your duty and losing your reputation, you will incur sin.
Nay, people will also pour undying infamy on you; infamy brought on a man
enjoying popular esteem is worse than death."
This is just a glimpse of a stage-play enacted
in a small village near Mysore. But the moral message it gives to the corporate
world is profound. It is the the Pandavas and Kauravas theory of management.
Be it Narayan Murthy or the Ambani brothers
- the corporate Mahabharata is the study of the use and abuse of power. It
is not that in itself power is good or bad. It is essentially a force, a weapon,
than can be used to save and foster or to harm or exhort.
Mahabharata is not simply the story of a fratricidal
war or a fount of wisdom for philosophers. It reveals the secrets of leadership
and the path to success. Mahabharata is equal, if not superior, to other management
bibles such as The Art of War, The Prince and Go Rin No Sho - The Book of
Five Rings.
All characters in Mahabharata can be compared
to India, Inc. leadership cutting across the different rungs. Whether it is
human behaviour, organisational behaviour, group theory, motivational theory,
game theory, management by objectives or line of control, all facets of modern
management can be discovered in Lord Krishna, Arjuna, Bhisma, Dronacharya
and others.
CEOs In Corporate Battle:
The present day corporate world is a battlefield
over markets shares, customer satisfaction, share value, innovation and quality
products. Though the above are the declared objectives of all players, often
undesirable stratagems are adopted to gain market shares and profits.
After all, 'everything is allowed in war and
love'. Companies consist of people with varying interests, backgrounds and
expectations. To knit them together and motivate them to pursue a shared goal
is difficult involving many compromises.
What is the state of CEOs in the battlefield
of market competition? The corporate CEO is only interested in quarterly performance
and share value. But this single-minded pursuit doesn't save the CEO from
inner conficts and ethical dilemmas. The central question any CEOs faces is
basically an ethical question - should he transgress the laws of the land
as well as corporate ethics in the pursuit of profit in a highly competitive
world?
Krishna advices the Pandavas that no action
can be perfect and absolute in an ever-changing dynamic world and hence he
nonchalantly advocates them to keep the overall ethical standards in view
and then act according to the contingency of the situation which may necessitate
temporary deviation from strict ethical standards.
For example, Krishna prevails upon Yudhisthira,
who never lied, to lie to psychologically harass and depress Dronacharya.
From the absolute moralistic standpoint, such a lie may be considered immoral
and unethical. But as long as such lies contributed to a desirable final outcome
and public good - it was acceptable. So the greatest challenge for the modern
corporate leader is the fine-tuning of these responses keeping in mind the
ethical and legal issues but without compromising corporate interests, like
Krishna in Mahabharata.
Mahabharata is the battle for money, power
and land. And same is the goal of a corporate manager. In the modern corporate
houses, explains Swami Bodhananda, a spiritual founder and the director of
the Sambodh Foundation, New Delhi, "We find brothers fighting for the
fiefdom left behind by their illustrious predecessors. The infamous or famous
squabble between the Ambani brothers is the most recent example. Though one
may not be able to say that there were ethical issues involved between the
brothers what we learn is that human ambition invariably leads to conflict
even among brothers."
"And, there should be a way of resolving
such conflicts without causing damage to the organisation and the country.
In that sense, the Ambani brothers improved upon the performance of the Mahabharata
that they could engage in a rational and enlightened dialogue and settle the
issue without much harm."
Managers in Mahabharata
Swami Bodhananda explains the role of managers
giving examples from Mahabharata:
Some of the memorable names from Mahabharata
in the context of management are Bhishma, Dhritarashtra, Dharmaputra Yudhisthira,
Karna, Abhimanyu, Draupadi and the inimitable Lord Krishna himself.
Bhishma is the perfect example of an upright
manager caught in irreconciliable conflicts who was forced to take wrong decisions
by forces beyond his control. With Bhisma, his vow of celibacy takes precedence
over everything else, including the public will.
He is not bothered about the chaos that will
occur in Hastinapur with no one to inherit the throne. His major concern is
that his vow must remain intact. His motivation is highly complex!
Dhritarashtra's was an example of warped decisions
caused by extreme attachment to his son Duryodhana. Yudhisthira is a shining
example of managerial wisdom, though he also was compelled to deviate from
his principled stand on practical considerations, faced with a ruthless enemy.
Krishna is the perfect example of a leader-manager
who kept his eye on the ball till the desired outcome was achieved. And Draupadi
is the classical model of a woman powerhouse who kept others motivated till
the goal is achieved.
Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna, is an example
of a dare-devil leader without a business-plan of escape. He fought his way
into the chakravyuha, but failed to come out and was brutally cornered and
killed by Drona and others.
Karna is a tragic example of a manager who
fought his way up the ladder but could not keep up with the pressure and tensions
and met a tragic end.
Corporate Mahabharata:
Pritam Singh, Chairman of Management Development
Institute (MDI), says "It's not easy to lead a corporate Mahabharata
but at the same time it's not difficult also. Look at Ratan Tata, Naryanan
Murthy, Azim Premji and the likes - all are great leaders who have strong
belief and conviction."
Quoting from Bhagavad Gita Karmanyeva adhikaraste
maphaleshu kadachana makarma phala heturbhu mate sangotswa karmani , he expounds,
"Leaders/CEOs should perform duties sincerely and effectively without
looking at the results. One should adopt the right strategies to get the results
or else it is possible that he may adopt practices which are not proper."
Today leaders often lack decision-making power.
For example, while preparing for battle, Duryodhana chose Krishna's large
army while Arjuna selected Krishna's wisdom instead of just the army.
In the end, Arjuna emerged as the winner as
he had made the right choice after having weighed all the options carefully.
The basic principle of modern management is not just co-ordination but moving
with high degree of optimism. Mahatma Gandhi was able to use the lessons of
Gita to win the war against the British without using any destructive weapons.
Interestingly, he used `the mass' as the weapon to defeat the British with
massive weapons!
"When we are dealing with management
and human action we cannot take absolute positions on passions like greed
and intolerance," says the modern management guru, Shiv Khera. "Note
Arjuna was intolerant of Karna, while Duryodhana was very tolerant of him.
The source of these emotions is insecurity and the instinct for survival."
"So management is not dealing with 'categorical
imperatives', it is dealing with 'optimal choices'. Human's insecurity needs
are legitimate and management deals with fulfilling man's insecurity needs
in an environment of scarcity. We must understand human frailties like ego,
greed and intolerance in that light."
And finally Swami Bodhananda says, "Today
there is intense competition within as well as between organisations. One
lesson we learn from Mahabharata is that an all-out zero-sum battle ends with
the destruction of all. The victors of the Mahabharata battle suffered equally
as the losers, and what they got was a desolate land and a ravaged country."
"If there is a single lesson from the
Mahabharata, it is that competitors must try to find areas of collaboration
wherever is possible, pool their resources for research and development and
offer innovative solutions for customer's money (eg. the Airbus Company in
Europe). Companies must also look into the social as well as environmental
implications of their activities."
