Essential Part of life Management is the art of getting things done

through and with people, efficiently and effectively

It involves Planning, Organising, Directing and

controlling human efforts in attaining a desired goal

 Various management theories have come up since

industrial age to have an efficient management

Case studies, Research papers, real life examples are

being used in todays corporate world.

Ages before these came up, great writers like Valmiki,

Tulsidas have taught us management in the Hindu epics and stories.

 Works and epics written in Ancient India are a store house of management knowledge and wisdom which can be utilised to tackle difficult situations in the corporate world.

Be it King Ashoka of Kanishka who built rest houses for travelers and advertised Buddhist philosophy to our father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi or understanding the characteristics of a leader from the Ramayana, Indian history is enriched with great management gurus and leaders.

 Mahabarata

Ramayana
Kautilyas Arthasastra-The Ultimate Management Guide Panchatantra

Mahatama Gandhi-The Management Guru

Numerous management lessons can be learnt from the great epic of Ramayana MOTIVATION On knowing that Sita is in Lanka, Jamvant helped him in realising his true potential and motivated him to go into the enemy's camp Jamvant motivating Hanuman is a classic example of a good Manager helping his personnel to realise their potential and acting accordingly.

 SWOT Analysis - First thing which Hanuman did, on

reaching Lanka was to completely analyse the situation in Lanka. He did a complete study about the Lankans, assessing their strengths and weaknesses, the various threats and opportunities which he had in the enemys camp.
This SWOT [strength, weakness, opportunities and

threats] analysis is one of the most important aspects of modern day management.

 Good Strategic Alliance - Sughriv as a successful

manager made a strategic alliance with Ram to work accordingly and got his kingdom back from a brother who was far mightier than him .
Raavan as a Bad Manager Ignored the suggestions of his managers and got his

kingdom in the state of war with Ram A good manager listens to what his subordinates has to say and tries to keep them together especially when the organization needs them the most. Ravanas mismanagement was responsible for Vibhishan[one of the wisest manager he should have listened to] leaving him amidst a crisis.

LEADERSHIP SKILLS OF RAM

A clear vision for yourself and for your followers:
Every leader needs to have a clear vision of what he is

aiming for and what will it bear him in future. Also he needs to think in parallel to his followers who will support him to achieve his goals. In the case of Ramayana, Rama's clear vision was to rescue his wife Sita and defeat the evil forces. This clarity about the goals as well as the process enabled the army to put its heart and soul in the battle to rescue Sita.

THE WEAPONS OF A LEADER:

Knowledge, strategy, intelligence, skills, commitment,

and a restraint of ego are very important factors for a leader to fight a mammoth battle.
In the climax of the Ramayana battle, Rama

proclaimed to his army 'Arm yourself with these and no war will be lost,' and that is what got him a jubilant win over Ravana forces.

 Leaders are visionaries - Sri Rama created future vision for Ayodhya and the vision was clearly communicated to the people of Ayodhya before leaving to the forest. Leaders are change agents - Sri Rama changed the kingship of Kiskhinda from Vali to Sugriva and the kingship of Lanka.

Leaders are courageous people. Sri Rama was firm and brave to take all the risk to protect the words his father (King Dasaratha) gave to Kaikeyi

 Leaders believe in people - Sri Rama had complete trust and belief in Sugriva to recover Sita. Leaders are value driven - Sri Rama, never deviated or deviates from the words he had and has given. Leaders are life long learners - Sri Rama, a perfect example of life of learner.

 Pandavas were on exile for 13 years , had no wealth or

power of their own but still went on to win the war

ALLIES
Made powerful alliances all over India like Panchala

through Marriage with Draupadi, Dwarka through marriage with Arjuna and Subhadra, Magadh, Chedi, Kasi which came as a winning strategy. action making mergers and acquisitions the norm of the day , be it Reliance , Tatas , Wipro , Airtel , Maruti and its likes.

No doubt our corporate leaders have swung into

 Pandavas transformed their weaknesses to strengths during

the years of exile.

Mahabarata gives many examples to highlight the

importance of utilizing time to overcoming your skills like how Arjuna went on a mission to attain the Divyastras or Yudhisthira mastered the Game of Dice.
Karna went on a country-wide military mission,

subdued different kingdoms and acquired wealth. But it meant a loss in terms of both men and money and creation of new enemies.
Managers need to have the passion to dedicate adequate

time to learn those skills that can help you overcome your weakness only by which you can be a great manager.

TEAM WORK

Efficiently sharing responsibilities is the mark of a good manager . Pandavas fought the war as one team with one goal in mind while

Kauravas lacked the team spirit and they all fought individual wars.

Managers should not to make the decision-making process a

dictatorial one, rather involve everyone so that the best of ideas will pop up.

Teamwork succeeds where Individual effort fails.

 Krishna : The Greatest Crisis Manager the world has seen.

He showed how to take calculated risks at the time of crisis.

Management is all about taking calculated risks. Shying away from challenges is not a sign of management,

rather well- assessed decisions to on facing the challenges is the trademark of good management.
Know your enemies weaknesses and exploit them. Take Calculated risks. Inspire, stimulate, counsel your own team in moments of

need.

KNOW THE GROUND REALITIES

Pandavas spent one year in exile with the poor people

and the years of exile helped them to reach out to people from various strata of the society Kaurava's had no experience of the ground reality as they lived a royal life. Managers need to understand the realities to lead their team in the right direction. They need to break the barriers to get in touch with their subordinates to understand their problems and identify ways to make their work easier.

 Abhimanyu , a 16 year old kid went on a suicide mission but

took a great part of the army down with him. It took the combined effort of 7 Maharathis to take him down. army.

Ghatotkach even in death, took with him almost half the

Yudhisthira, he knew he couldnt face Karna in War, but

still went in to set an example. Yudhitshira didn't hesitate to tell a lie or a twisted truth when faced with the decision of whether to stick to his personal integrity or welfare of the team.

The interests of the Individual should never exceed the Team interest. The best man for a Job is not the one with the best capabilities but one with the greatest commitment.

 Born in 3 B.C.

Vishnugupta Kautilya Chanakya

Pulled down Nanda dynasty. King maker Chandragupta Maurya.

Responsible for defeat of Alexander in

India. Kautilyas Arthasastra and Chanakya Niti documented towards end of his life.

 Written in sanskrit

Contains 15 books,150 chapters and 6000 sutras

(shlokas) Covers over 180 topics like statecraft, management, warfare, strategy ,etc. It is called as BOOK OF TOTAL MANAGEMENT AND WARFARE

 Principles of

Management Management Education Accounting systems Corporate Governance Time Management Leadership Skills

Contracts Selectionof Employees Consulting Strategic Management Handling competition Expansion of Territory etc

 Acquire power Consolidate what has been acquired

Expand what has been acquired

Enjoy what has been acquired

 Arthashashtra has detailed policies for the society,

individual industries, labor and employment, calamities and control of vices. Major element of effective and efficient implementation of business processes is human aspect of management Two undesirable attitudes of human nature : Pramada Alasya

 Drudachitta (power of concentration)

Shilavan (character)
Pragna (thinking capability) Vangmi (communication skills)

Daksha (observation/vigilance)

Appointment of trainees

A trainable person is the one who has the following qualities 1.Desire to learn 2.Effective listening ability 3.Ability to reflect (think from all angles) 4.Ability to reject false views 5.Intentness on truth not on any person

THEORY OF MOTIVATION

Sama (counseling) Dana (offering of gifts) Danda (Punishments) Bheda (creating a split)

 Manager should run a diversified economy actively,

eficiently, profitably and prudently Efficient management means setting up of realistic targets and meeting targets without using over zealous methods. Profitability should not only mean surplus over costs. It should also mean provision of investment for future growth. An ideal Swamy is the one who has the highest qualities of leadership, intellect, energy and personal attributes.

 Arthashastra written in the 4th century before Christ,

is a work whose relevance has not faded even after 24 centuries have gone by. Arthashastra is the evidence of the intellectual capital India possessed in its glorious past. We have the tradition of the past. We need the attitude for resurrecting and recreating the intellectual capital for the future.

The strategy and tactics adopted during the Indian independence struggle were unlike any other countrys revolution. Some of the concepts were:
Non-violence A war fought on the basis of principles

without any bloodshed. Civil disobedience- Court arrest if the British officials are threatening imprisonment for demanding your rights. Non-cooperation- The message given was maintain your jobs with the British Empire, however do not support it regarding its practices against Indian people.

Managements today are advocating out of the box thinking and competing strategically. The organization which implements a unique strategy generally wins the market.

 Mahatma Gandhis personal brand has lasted years after his

death without any investment. He created a brand of a simple moral man living life on the principle of Ahimsa (non-violence). slippers, vegetarian meals and home at the ashram all embodied his personal brand which still remains today. Gandhi.

Khadi - Home spun cotton clothes, wooden shaft, leather

Very few leaders in history have as strong a brand image as

The corporate world is spending huge sums on advertising to build the corporate brand.

 The Indian freedom struggle was against a mighty

British Empire who had the resources, funds, weapons and management capability. The Indian leadership team acknowledged the strengths of the British Empire and devised a strategy which minimized those strengths. They built a strategy on the following: Non-violence which required no weapons; Asked masses to contribute for the independence and live frugally, hence survived on minimal resources; Developed local leadership across all regions under Congress banner.

 Indian Congress Party besides Gandhi had a number of

other accomplished leaders - C. Rajagopalachari, Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose and others. All had different personalities and ideologies, however worked for a common cause Senior leaders acted as mentors for the younger generation. The party had leaders at grass root level, and people were encouraged to develop leadership traits. Business world is focusing on building dream teams with leadership at all levels. The Human resource Departments are focused on concepts of two in a box, alternate leaders, chief mentors and succession planning.

 Mahatma Gandhi preached the concept of simple

living and high thinking, although he came from an affluent Indian family. Irrespective of the difficulty involved, he always was able to take the high moral ground and never compromised on his personal values.
In the present corporate world we respect the leaders who are able to walk the talk, demonstrate ethical and principled behavior and lead by example.

 Mahatma Gandhi in his struggle for independence

attempted to unify the country. He encouraged the princely states to join hands, brought Hindus and Muslims on the same platform and removed caste barriers for joining the freedom moment.
actively participate in the movement.

He supported gender equality and encouraged women to

With less than 10% women in senior management positions in the corporate world, the mantra today is to bring more women on board. With globalization the concept of accepting and encouraging diversity has taken hold.

 Encouraged common man to show leadership and

commitment .He united the people by specifying the mission, vision and code of conduct. The masses were committed to the cause and in all his symbolic protests he involved people participation. The corporate worlds biggest challenge is of disengaged employees due to actual or perceived lack of empowerment. It is becoming apparent that success or failure of the organization is increasingly dependent on a healthy organization culture which encourages employee participation.

Originally composed in second century BC by Vishnu Sharma. Initial purpose: to implant moral values and governing skills in three sons of a king of a kingdom of Mahilaropya. Written in five parts ( panch = five , tantra = strategies): Loss of friends Gaining friends Of crows and owls Loss of gains Imprudence

Learning with the help of stories helped the princes to gain skills in less time than those who read the scriptures.

The king who reads a servants mind Dull, faithless, faithful, wise May servants find of every kind For every enterprise.

DIVISION OF LABOR Every quality of work requires different kinds of people . This technique is used to maximise production by minimising time

A king, though proud and pure of birth, Will see his servants flee A court where no rewards are won, As birds a withered tree.

REWARDS Giving monetary rewards for outstanding performance motivates the employees and increase employee retention in an organisation

A servant suffering from a king Dishonor after honoring, Though born and trained to service, will Be eager to destroy him still.
HONOUR THE EMPLOYEES Low level managers can face serious problems on dishonouring any worker

By a certain lake in the world lived birds called bharunda birds. They had one belly and two necks apiece. One day the first neck of a bird found some nectar. Then the second said: Give me half. And when the first refused, the second neck angrily picked up poison somewhere and ate it. As they had one belly, they died

 when the two heads of the same body are in conflict,

they loose sight of the very objective of survival and act foolishly; conflicts arise if there are two heads (necks) within the organization, i.e. internal conflict;

Moral of the story UNITY OF COMMAND is necessary in an organisation to avoid conflicts.

 All these examples and many more like this, tells us a

great deal about management.

For a manager there is lot to learn from our epics. They

have a lot to offer as management lessons.