Q.

1
Explain ‘Guna Theory’ with its relevance in moderrn
day organisations.

The theory of Gunas, the law of karma and the concept of sanskars
together offers a composite, interacting framework for understanding the
empirical individual and such understanding clearly implies an action
programme for gradual self-growth.
These three components give idea about human behavior and the result
of his action.
Now here we consider the philosophy and psychology of these three
theories.

GunaTheory

The term guna is used in various branches of Sanskrit
literature like the Upanishads, the Puranas, the
Mahabharata the Gita etc and in different systems of
Indian philosophy.

The meaning of this important term also varies in different
works.

Prakrati is equilibrium of these gunas.

The Sankhya school of Indian philosophy says that the
entire physical universe, including the human mind is a
manifestation of mula-prakriti.

This Prakrati has three constituents i.e. sattwa, rajas, and
tamas. These guna are not mechanically placed the
constitute a unity of trinity.

The formulation of these gunas in a hierarchical order
promises to be an important source of managerial
development and self growth.
CHARACTERSTICS OF SATWIK TYPE OF PEOPLE:
These people have kindness, enlightenment, forgiveness, concern, truth,
contentment, love, devotion, humility, happiness.
Actions have clear direction and purpose.

CHARACTERSTICS OF RAJASIK TYPE OF PEOPLE:

The satwik traits are over showed by cleverness of the intellect. Rajasik
people have strength, bravery, pride, jealousy, greed, anger, the urge to
rule, to dominate, to win.
It is passionate with discrimination.

CHARACTERSTICS OF TAMSIK TYPE OF PEOPLE :

People are characterized by laziness, arrogance, ignorance, violence,
deceit, theft and sinful activity.
Tamas fills the mind with mental blindness. All actions are wasteful.

THE RESOLUTION OF GUNAS:

The purpose of such an elaborate description of these three
qualities in the Bhagavad-Gita is not to encourage us to become
satwik or eliminate other qualities. Whether it is sattwa or rajas or
tamas, the gunas are part of Prakriti and responsible for our
ignorance, delusion, bondage and suffering on earth. When they
are active, we remain bound to one thing or another. We cannot be
free, until they are fully resolved.
Therefore, the Bhagavad-Gita suggests that we should try to
transcend them rather than cultivate them. By knowing the nature
of the three gunas and how they tend to keep us in bondage and
illusion, we should become wiser and strive to transcend them.
Sattwa is purity and beneficial. However, for those who strive for
liberation, even cultivation of "sattwa" should be not an end in itself
for sattwa also binds us to the duality of pleasure and pain. Satwik
people want to enjoy pleasure and avoid pain. They are pious and
knowledgeable but prefer leading a life of luxury and comfort.
Thereby, they engage in desire-ridden actions and become bound.
Even though it is pure, sattwa is but an instrument of Prakriti,
 which is meant to serve its ends by keeping us bound to the
worldly life under the sovereign control of its sovereign master.
Hence, one may cultivate purity (sattwa) to suppress the other two,
but in the end must rise above all the three and become stabilized
in equanimity, sameness, and oneness of the Self. One should go
beyond the three gunas to attain immortality and freedom from
birth, death, old age and sorrow.

Q.3
Ellaborate role of Bhagvad Gita in modern day
management.Support your answer with suitable
examples.

The modern Western management concepts of vision, leadership,

motivation, excellence in work, goal achievement, meaningful work,
decision making and planning, are all discussed in the Bhagavad Gita.
However, while Western management too often deals with problems at
the material, external and peripheral levels, the Bhagavad Gita tackles
the issues from the grass roots level of human thinking. Once the basic
thinking of humans is improved, it will automatically enhance the quality
oftheiractions.

Western management philosophy is based on materialism and on a

perennial thirst for profit, irrespective of the quality of the means adopted
to achieve that goal. This phenomenon has its source in the abundant
wealth of the West and so “management by materialism” has caught the
fancy of all the countries the world over. India has been in the forefront in
importing these ideas, mainly because of its centuries-old indoctrination
by colonial rulers, which has inculcated in its population a feeling that
anything from the Western world is good and anything Indian is inferior.
Utilization of available resource
The first lesson of management science is to choose wisely and use
scarce resources optimally. During the curtain raiser before the
Mahabharata War, Duryodhana chose Sri Krishna’s large army for his
help, while Arjuna selected Sri Krishna’s wisdom for his support. This
episode gives us a clue as to the nature of the effective manager—the
former chose numbers, the latter, wisdom.

work commitment
A popular verse of the Gita advises detachment from the consequences
or results of actions performed in the course of one’s duty. Being
dedicated to work means “working for the sake of work, generating
excellence for its own sake.” If we are always calculating the date of
promotion or the rate of commission before putting in our efforts, we
aren’t detached.We’re working only for the extrinsic reward that may or
may not result.

Working with an eye only to the anticipated benefits means that the
quality of performance of the current job or duty suffers (through mental
agitation or anxiety for the future). Events don’t always respond
positively to our calculations, hence expected fruits may not always be
forthcoming. The Gita tells us not to mortgage present commitment to an
uncertain future.

Some people might argue that not seeking the business result of work
and actions makes one unaccountable. In fact, the Bhagavad Gita is full
of advice on the theory of cause and effect, saying that all people are
responsible for the consequences of their deeds. While advising
detachment from the avarice of selfish gains in discharging one’s
accepted duty, the Gita doesn’t absolve anybody of the consequences
arising from discharge of his or her responsibilities.

Thus, the best means of effective performance management is simply

the work itself. Attaining this state of mind, called nishkama karma, is the
right attitude for work because it prevents the ego from dissipating
attention by speculating on future gains or losses. The mind can be
one’s friend or enemy, the cause of both bondage and liberation.
Motivation and self -transcendence
It’s been presumed for many years that satisfying basic needs of
workers—adequate food, clothing and shelter, etc.—are key factors in
motivation. However, it’s a common experience that the dissatisfaction of
clerks and of directors is identical—only the levels of dissatisfaction and
composition vary. It should be true that once the basic needs are more
than satisfied, directors should have little problem in optimizing their
contribution to the organization and society. But more often than not, it
doesn’t happen that way. On the contrary, a lowly paid schoolteacher or
a self-employed artisan may demonstrate higher levels of self-
actualization despite poorer satisfaction of their basic needs.

This situation is explained by the theory of self-transcendence

propounded in the Gita. Self-transcendence involves renouncing
egoism, putting others before oneself, and emphasizing teamwork,
dignity, cooperation, harmony and trust; potentially sacrificing basic
needs for higher goals.

The ego spoils work and the ego’s the centerpiece of most theories of
motivation. People don’t need a theory of motivation, but a theory of
inspiration.

Work culture
An effective work culture is about vigorous and arduous efforts in pursuit
of given or chosen tasks. Sri Krishna elaborates on two types of work
culture—daivi sampat, or divine work culture, and asuri sampat, or
demonic work culture:

 Daivi work culture involves fearlessness, purity, self-control,

sacrifice, straightforwardness, self-denial, calmness, absence of
fault-finding, absence of greed, gentleness, modesty, and absence
of envy and pride.
 Asuri work culture involves egoism, delusion, personal desires,
improper performance, and work not oriented towards service.

A mere work ethic isn’t enough. A hardened criminal may exhibit an

excellent work ethic. What is needed is a work ethic conditioned by
ethics in work.

It’s in this light that the suggestion, yogah karmasu kausalam, should be
understood. Kausalam means skill or technique of work, which is an
indispensable component of a work ethic. Yogah is defined in the Gita
as an unchanging equipoise of mind—detachment. Bal Gangadhar Tilak,
a leader of the Indian Independence Movement and a social reformer,
said that acting with an equable mind is yoga.

Work Culture
The Gita further explains the theory of detachment from the extrinsic
rewards of work in saying:

 If the result of sincere effort is a success, the entire credit shouldn’t

be appropriated by the doer alone.
 If the result of sincere effort is a failure, then the entire blame
doesn’t accrue to the doer.

The former attitude reduces arrogance and conceit, while the latter
prevents excessive despondency, demotivation and self-pity. Thus, both
these dispositions safeguard the doer against psychological vulnerability,
the cause of the modern managers’ sicknesses such as diabetes.

Assimilating the ideas of the Gita can lead people to the wider spectrum
of lokasamgraha (general welfare), but there’s also another dimension to
the work ethic: If the karmayoga (service) is blended with bhaktiyoga
(devotion), then the work itself becomes worship, a sevayoga .

Along with bhakti yoga as a means of liberation, the Gita espouses the
doctrine of nishkamya karma (pure action) untainted by hankering after
the fruits resulting from that action. Modern scientists now understand
the intuitive wisdom of that action in a new light.

Scientists at the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda,

Maryland, have found that laboratory monkeys that started out as
procrastinators became efficient workers after they received brain
injections that suppressed a gene linked to their ability to anticipate a
reward. The scientists reported that the work ethic of those monkeys
wasn’t all that different from that of many people: “If the reward is not
immediate, you procrastinate,” an investigator told The Los Angeles
Times.

Mangers Mental Health

Sound mental health is the goal of any human activity. Sound mental
health is that state of mind that can maintain a calm, positive poise—or
regain it when unsettled—in the midst of all the external vagaries of work
life and social existence. Internal constancy and peace are the
prerequisites for a healthy, stress-free mind.

Some of the impediments to sound mental health are:

 Greed—for power, position, prestige and money

 Envy—regarding others’ achievements, success and rewards
 Egotism—about one’s own accomplishments
 Suspicion, anger and frustration
 Anguish through comparisons

The driving forces in today’s businesses are speed and competition.

There’s a distinct danger that these forces cause erosion of moral fiber,
that in seeking a goal, people encourage immoral means (i.e., tax
evasion, illegitimate financial holdings, hiding the truth, deliberate
oversight in an audit, etc.) This unethical behavior is what I call the
Yayati syndrome.

In the book The Mahabharata, there’s a king by the name of Yayati

who exchanges his old age with the youth of his obliging youngest
son for a thousand years to revel in the endless enjoyment of
flesh. However, he found the pursuit of sensual enjoyments
ultimately unsatisfying, and came back to his son pleading him to
take back his youth. This Yayati syndrome shows the conflict
between externally directed acquisitions (extrinsic motivation) and
inner value and conscience (intrinsic motivation).
Q.4

Explain relevance of Indian Ethos and its influence

in Indian management thought. Differentiate Indian
Management thought with Western Management
thought.

RELEVANCE OF INDIAN ETHOS

1. Maintain Holistic Universe:

Modern science has accepted that in this holistic universe, all
minds and matters are interconnected at a deeper level. The
basic unity of life cannot be broken. Love, sacrifice therefore
emerges as the only means for a meaningful living. On the
basis of this holistic vision, Indians have developed work ethos
of life. This helps in living life to the fullest.

2. Elucidate Motivation:
Concept of motivation can be explained holistically by Indian
ethos. Considering motivations as internal, every human being
has the same divine atman with immense potentialities within.
Vedanta brings infinite expansions of the mind, breaks down all
the barriers and brings out the God in man. Motivation is to be
internal and not external. Such motivation involves the inner
beauty and does not promote any greed in an individual to have
more and more in return for his work.

3. Welfare:
Indian ethos teaches welfare of all (yagna spirit). “Atmano
Mokharth Jagat Hitay Cha” (serve your personal interest but do
not forget others). This philosophy is needed in modern times.

4. Unique Work Culture:

 Indian ethos helps in development of unique work culture.
Work is considered as duty or Sadhana and there is no
difference between Karma(work) and Dharma(religion). The
term Dharma does not indicate any particular religion. Dharma
is a duty to be performed in a given situation. Thus, Dharma is
possible through Karma only.

5. Evenness of Mind:
Indian ethos helps in evenness of mind. Means are equally
important as the ends. Thus, society acceptable values are to
be followed in determining the objectives as well as in the
process of achieving these objectives.

6. Self-development:
Integrated human personality of self-developed manager can
assure best and competent management of any enterprise,
involving collective works and efforts. The refined or higher
consciousness will adopt holistic attitude. It will bring out the
divine in man. It will achieve perfection or excellence in
whatsoever sector of work. One shall achieve peace, harmony
and prosperity within and without, i.e., in the internal world and
in the external world simultaneously.

7. Provides Concentration:
Vedanta provides the ways and means of controlling the mind.
It helps to concentrate, increase efficiency, productivity and
prosperity. It is not religion of resignation and retirement. One
cannot renounce their action. As the Gita says “You have to be
a man of action, do not run away from your action or Karma but
the same should be according to your Dharma”. The second
aspect, is while doing the Karma; do not be tempted by worldly
pleasures, materialism and the results. One has to be man of
action, working in a 4 Indian Ethos in Management spirit of
renunciation. Renunciation does not mean living a life of
isolation or living in a forest. One has to face the world and
should not run away from your action. Do not get attached to
anything.

8. Establishes Value System:

 Many of the present ills are the results of decline in our value
system and loss of character. Forces of fierce competition in the
technology driven era of globalisation have taken a heavy toll of
traditional values. People need to re-imbibe the sanatan values
of honesty, integrity, compassion, care and cooperation. There
is again a need to establish conduct, based on truth and non-
violence, peace, and harmony. One needs to promote a secular
ethos that entails ‘sarva-dharm-sambhav’. That alone will
promote enshrined in our ancient maxim of ‘Vasudhaiv
Kutumbakam’. That will be India’s unique contribution towards
enrichment of content of globalisation which today has its focus
only on trade and commerce.

Difference of Indian Management thought with Western

Management thought.

Items (Management Management

(Oriented by Science and (Oriented by Values and
Technology, Western adopting holistic
Approach) approach,
Indian and Eastern)

Belief Production, Productivity, Material gain with belief in

Profit at achieving human and
any cost social
welfare in unison

Guidance Management guided by Management by

mind only, consciousness,
led away by ego and power beyond mind i.e.,
desire. Soulless soul.
management Interiorized management
Emphasis Worker development, Development of man,
management integrated
of others, profit growth harmony,
maximization, happiness and
human being only given lip health, management of
sympathy self

Tools 5 Ms as Resources – men, Men, machines, materials

money, and
materials, machines and methods as conscious
markets. partners –
Science & Technology, all having consciousness
information whether
for decision making manifested or dormant.
Information and intuition
for
decisions. Ethics and
values
combined with skills

Problem Conflict resolution by Conflicts resolution

solving negotiation, through
compromise, arbitration. integration and synthesis
Liquidation of differences on
only for a stressing super ordinate
temporary period. No common
reference to goals so that enduring
higher consciousness harmony
and unity is assured. Self
introspection, stepping
back aids
for solution

Decision Brain storming Brain stilling

making

Developmen Physical, Vital and Mental Integrated development.

t only. Whole
process Soul or spirit ignored. man approach, breath-
Material control
development only even at and meditation
the cost of emphasized.
man and nature Human enrichment and
 total
quality

Approach External behaviour. Mental, Noble attitudes, inner

material, selfish only. guidance,
Soulless team spirit, total harmony,
global
good

Q.5

Explain in detail ‘Gandhian Trusteeship

Principle’.Dsicuss its role in today’s Organisation

The Gandhian Principle of Trusteeship is closely related to the

“Social Responsibility of Business”.

According to the Gandhian Concept of Trusteeship “All business

firms must work like a trust.”

All assets of the firm must be held by a ‘trust’ and must be used for
the welfare of the social .The firm must keep only a small part of its
profits for the honorable livelihood of its owners .The remaining
part of the profit must be distributed equitably to all sections of
society

Principle of Trusteeship

Reduce Inequalities:
  This concept tries to reduce inequalities.

 It tries to reduce the gap between the rich and poor.

 It tries to reduce exploitation.

Change of Attitude of Businessmen :

According to Mahatma Gandhi, businessmen should change their

attitude.

 They have no morale right to accumulate unlimited wealth

while most of their countrymen live in poverty and misery.

 Each businessman should take enough wealth to live

honorably.

 He should distribute the remaining wealth back to the

society. Gandhiji
 advised the rich businessmen to voluntarily surrender their
surplus wealth.

 If not done so, the poor masses may revolt (fight) one day
and plunder their entire wealth by force.

Social Pressure :

People must put social pressure on businessmen to follow

the principle of trusteeship. They should boycott (not
purchase) the products of those who do not practice
trusteeship.

Legal Pressure :

If voluntary measures and social pressure do not work, legal

pressure must be put on the businessmen to follow the
principle of trusteeship
Socialism :

This concept gives more importance to socialism. That is,

the society is given much more importance than an
individual. So, the wealth of the society should be
distributed equitably to all its members.

Consider Social Needs :

Businessmen should produce only those goods and services

which are useful for all members of the society. They should
not produce goods and services, which are used only by few
individuals

Equal distribution of wealth :

According to Gandhiji, all the wealth of the society should

be distributed equitably. There should not be concentration
of wealth in few hands.

Earn money by Hard work :

A person should earn his living by doing hard work. Earning

money without doing hard work is just like stealing

No Right to Private Ownership :

This concept does not give the right to private

ownership except when it is necessary.

Government Regulation :

The Government should regulate trusteeship.

No Individual should be allowed to use his
wealth for selfish satisfaction or against the
interest of society.
Q.6
Expalin key types of Unethical Financial practices
prevalent in India.support your answer with valid
examples

Finance refers to a broad range of activities. It includes the financial

markets, such as stock exchanges and the financial service industry,
which includes commercial banks, investment banks, mutual fund
companies, pension funds, both private and public as well as insurance

Unethical Practices in Finance

The unethical practices in accounting are more in proprietary,

partnership and private limited companies. It is at lower levels in public
limited companies and MNCs.

Some of the unethical practices in financing and

accounting are as under:

i. Deliberate abnormal delays in payments to (a) Vendors, (b) Dealers

commissions and promotion costs.

ii. Delays in paying wages, interest to financiers, incentive, bonus to

employees.
iii. Holding up bills of vendors on silly reasons and ultimately buying from
others to avoid payment to earlier vendors.

iv. Not prompt in statutory payments of ESI, PF, Sales Tax and Excise
Duties.

v. Cheating employees of their dues towards medical expenses, leave

travel assistance, children education fees etc.,

vi. Opening of current accounts in different banks to avoid adjustments

against loans by earlier banker.

vii. Creating bogus bills of purchase to show higher costs and hence
losses to avoid bonus payment to employees.

viii. Collecting loans from private financiers at higher rate of interest to

help kith and kin and to get kick-backs.

ix. Quick release of payments to known or adjustment parties and

delaying payment to others.

x. Taking private finance only from those who are ready to do personal
favours to the finance department head.