Management lessons from srimad bhagavadgita: Views of present managers in ‘IT’ industry

Srimad Bhagavad Gita has been a source of inspiration and enlightenment for generations. The message of the Gita is not merely a general spiritual philosophy or ethical doctrine but it has a bearing upon the practical aspects in the application of such principles in our day-to-day lives.

The modern man, like Arjuna, is at the crossroads where the focus is more on improving the Standard of Living rather than the Standard of Life, more on the Stock Exchange Index than on the Human Development Quotient, more on the Cost of Living than on the Quality of Life. This has resulted in his disorientation and imbalance in an environment of shifting values. While science aims to enhance the comfort of human life, spirituality teaches us how to be comfortable with what we have. That is the difference.

The study focuses on exploring the managerial concepts from the perspectives of the Bhagavadgita, which presents one of the Indian (Vedic) views on managerial effectiveness and to analyze whether the Present Managers are aware about Bhagavadgita as a book for management and managers. It also establishes a link between Management concepts from Sri Bhagavadgita with that of Management practices.

There are specific ideas for management that address issues pertaining to self, self mastery and self-assessment, motivation, discipline. There are also specific suggestions on the leadership traits in Bhagavadgita Gita and several other ancient Indian texts which offer a unique value proposition. We can have spiritual progress; we can have material progress too in a very balanced way. We can have happiness, not only success. This could be one of the good reasons for the researcher to look at some of these and make this work successful.