Values in management

THE MANAGEMENT AND ETHICS OMNIBUS: S. K. Chakraborty; Oxford University Press, YMCA Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi- 110001. Rs. 595.

Corporate responsibility is a vital issue in contemporary business climate. Much of its currency comes from the scale and influence of the present day corporate. Some business houses are bigger than many nation states. Their domain and economic imperialism is worldwide. Nevertheless, business houses are subject to constant and intense scrutiny and surveillance by the State and the society in which they function. It is well established that their freedom to operate is not a licence to abuse.

Of course, profit has to be the primary concern of any business: without profit, it is impossible to carry out any other activity for the welfare of the society at large. However, there are two overriding criteria, which assume significance in this context. While profit may be the overall objective, the methods employed to achieve profit have to be above board, they must be ethical and moral. Secondly, having achieved profit, the company must look around for ways and means by which it can return to the society some endowments for the welfare of everyone. The summum bonum of any enterprise is the lofty and noble objectives it seeks to serve in and for the society, in which it subsists.

The volume under notice is appropriately entitled an "omnibus'', as it comprises three separate books, by the same author on the same subject. This three-in-one is a mammoth production, both physically and metaphysically. While the three books together constitute over 900 pages in close print, the treatment of the subject is complete, comprehensive, and encyclopaedic. During his early years in the profession, the writer was an acknowledged authority in Management by Objectives (MBO). He wrote a treatise on MBO in 1976. Subsequently, however, disillusionment seems to have set in, when he began to believe "that in the ultimate analysis, organisational values always derive from individual values, and that importing the latest technology does not mandate the import of methods for handling the human side of the organisation.''

Hence, he started a search into the orthodox system of normative values enshrined in the wisdom of Indian classical scriptures; and thus, was born the first book in this series viz., Management by Values (1991). Three years later, when the author discovered that his quest to determine an intrinsically Indian ethos had led him straight and sure into the Vedantic school of philosophy, he collated all his views on the subject, and came out with the second book, Ethics in Management (1994). Again, three years later, he published the third book, Values and Ethics for Organisations (1997).

The first book contains 12 chapters. All of them address the issue of the normative aspect of values. Barring chapter 4, other chapters deal with qualitative information. In the treatment of values, there is an underlying and constant current on the emphasis of individual values as against organisational values. The author is a staunch proponent of the principle that the organisation is just a composite of individuals and that the values of the organisation are only a derivative and inference from the collective values of individuals. This theory has a consistent and insistent appearance throughout this book - it is omnipresent.

The sum and substance of what the author advocates in this tome is that such of us who have some care and concern for India's good, with a sense of responsibility towards posterity, must appreciate that India's genius has always given a priority and pride of place to "subjective purification,'' and not "objective quantification.''

The author has dedicated this first book "to the golden quartet of the golden decade,'' viz., Rabindranath Tagore (born in 1861), Swami Vivekananda (born in 1863), Mahatma Gandhi (born in 1869), and Sri Aurobindo (born in 1872). That he has been fired and inspired by these four has been amply demonstrated by the innumerable quotations and references from their works in these three books.

In the second book, the author declares that human values based on spiritual reality constitute the bedrock and foundation to build the ethical and moral edifice of management on top. The pavement for this paradise must begin at the doorstep of Vedanta. "It is my view that India's contribution to the many paths to effective, value-driven management has to spring from Vedanta... Modernity is not its own testimony, nor tradition its own indictment.'' The second book is essentially idealistic in its content and composition: maybe because if we want to transform the world by leveraging business organisations, better it is that they are firm and fast in their engagement with ideals.

The book, which contains 10 chapters, begins with a presentation of an ethical vision of management from the Vedantic point of view. Then comes the Indian response to the managerial and corporate dimensions in respect of ethics and morality. The role for leadership in the context of this transformation comes in for a critique. Much emphasis is given to character development, charisma and mentoring. Then, comes a detailed exposition of Manusmriti, and the seven major Upanishads.

This is followed by the concept of work for its own sake, without any expectation. Finally, the paradigm that every manager is an "energy-processor'' that his productivity is related to his propensity for spiritual energy, that the basic human values must be restored with renewed vigour - all these are explained and elucidated.

The third book is sourced on the premise that "ethics-in- practice'' derives and flows from "values-in-the-being.'' The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 has six chapters, part 2 five chapters, and the last part has 18 case studies. The first deals with the theoretical aspects of values. It starts with a critical analysis of change and its implications on ethics and morals. Then, there is an attempt to reconcile economic prosperity and human values; it is clear that they can coexist, that they are complementary and not contradictory to each other.

This is followed by a discussion differentiating knowledge with wisdom, leading to the tenet that wisdom-oriented leadership can be built upon a foundation based on values.

Then, comes the postulate that total quality management (which pertains to goods and services) is a consequence to total quality mind. TQ mind is the cause, and TQ management is the effect.

This is followed by an exposition connecting the self, with the ethical and moral aspects of choice and behaviour.

The second part begins with an analysis of the fast moving technology in relation to the slow moving human consciousness. This is followed by a focus on the Indian cooperative movement, and its interface with ethical and moral forces.

The rest of the second part deals with the findings in two workshops on human values, and the diary entries of two sets of post-graduate students in management, both in India and Europe. The concluding part of the book contains 18 case studies.

The author has made a lasting contribution to the subject of ethics and management, from the platform of Indian ethos.

R.DEVARAJAN

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