Management Education Lessons From the Bhagavad Gita

As a discipline of higher education for business leaders, managers, and administrators, management education aims to develop knowledge, improve communication skills to influence team members and key decision-makers, coordinate and implement organizational goals, evolve in an ever-changing environment, and make decisions effectively and efficiently—good management results in greater satisfaction for all stakeholders. Modern Management education was established in the West way back in the early 1800s and gained popularity. However, even after several years of management training, many issues still need to be addressed, including effectively dealing with people around us, motivating the workforce, working efficiently, building leadership qualities, and creating organizations that live long. Organizations experience conflict while trying to achieve the overall objectives and ensure the quality of life and work-life balance for employees working in these organizations. Larger issues are facing the world today like climate change, environmental degradation, and the sustenance of firms. The Bhagavad Gita is a universal scripture and a comprehensive philosophical thought for all humankind. Bhagavad Gita’s teachings give different paths of self-realization, which lead to the spiritual goal of liberation of the soul. It provides two types of knowledge-physical: arts, science, Management, and the other spiritual-of mind, body, and soul. Bhagavad Gita highlights managerial techniques that resolve conflicts, increase productivity, build motivation and work ethics. The management concepts of vision, planning, leadership, motivation, achieving excellence, attaining goals are taken up at the foundation of human intellect. Bhagavad Gita provides a holistic understanding of man-material life, principles of Management, and core management practices. The core lessons of the Bhagavad Gita include action, renunciation, love, worship, wisdom, and knowledge. Bhagavad Gita, with a universal appeal, serves as a guide to questions raised by Management, especially in today’s rapidly challenging environment fraught with uncertainty, obstacles, the need for diversity and inclusion, along with a need to bridge the skill gap. Management education lessons and management principles based on the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita have been analyzed and interpreted in detail using the theoretical perspective of hermeneutical interpretation of historical scripture to develop an insight into the philosophy of Bhagavad Gita.