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The Epic management

The Epic management

Author: Renu Rattan
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: September 25, 2000

What is it that makes this young management guru who is in his late 20s click and why is it that corporate heads of leading Indian and MNCs flock to his workshops to take a relook at contemporary management styles?

Prof Arindam Chaudhuri, founder of Planman Consulting and Honorary Dean, Center for Economic Research and Advanced Studies at the Indian Institute of Planning and Management, New Delhi, has expounded new management theories on leadership and management styles better suited to the industrial marketplace and local conditions.

These theories are covered in his exposition the Theory i Management Workshop (Theory Indian Management), per se the interpretation of management theories and practices in the Indian context.

The theory emphasises that MNCs operating in India, or typically Indian companies, cannot succeed by blindly applying management solutions practised in the West.  The critical success factors for them lie in the fact that they conform to the culture and values of the people.  The values of the Indian workers are completely different and, therefore, of critical importance for companies to respect if they want to succeed in the long run.  The attention of CEOs was also drawn to formulating a strategic vision that would harness their organisation's economic potential to emerge as significant players in the marketplace and sustain themselves.  For this, they should adopt effective management styles which could enhance the growth of their industries.  It calls for abandoning alien management practices based on the hire and fire style to those which will lead to bonding relationships which are closer to our culture.

It gives a totally Indian interpretation and remoulds current management practices and theories into the desired management style of leadership which suit our cultural ethos and psyche.  Local firms as well as MNCs can not succeed by blindly following borrowed management stereotypes, but only by developing their own styles which are based on commitment.  The hire and fire policy results in a mismatch and could lead to corporate instability resulting in poor efficiency and performance of the workers and the corporation as a whole.

The Theory i Management thus has its basis in the India centric management policies which according to Prof Chaudhuri could form the basis, and contribute to India achieving a growth rate that can outstrip China s, and that of other affluent nations.

The Professor makes ample contextual references to Indian [history], the Mahabharat, Ramayan, Gita and Arthashastr from which analogies are drawn to compare the leadership qualities of the Indian corporate leadership at different rungs.  The exposition comes up with panaceas for overcoming the inertia, rising unemployment, as well as suggests strategic interventions to counter the same.

Abundant similies are drawn from the Gita where Lord Krishna's leadership qualities were highlighted in relation to the the modern day management theories which should be incorporated and emulated in our current management practices.  Which if implemented would lead to better leadership styles and consequently, result in better productivity and standard of living.

The Cow Theory has also beenpropounded by the Professor, and its interpretation vis-a-vis the Indian psyche and behavioural patterns is interesting.  The workshop provides unique economic perspectives, and interpretations to the oft-repeated western concepts which are being taught in management schools verbatim.

The Professor has the foresight to visualise the Great Indian Dream, whereof he states that the Indian economy can compete with the American economy as well as overtake it.  The solutions and theories are based on indigenous concepts, which he says are more realistic and applicable to the Indian environment per se.

In this regard, interesting analogies have been drawn from the Gita and the Mahabharat which have been interpreted to depict real-life contemporary management models and styles of management.

Prof Chaudhuri asserts that foreign management styles are not suited to the Indian situation and culture.  Specific styles and management practices are required to deal with the psyche and ideologies of the people in order to lead and motivate them to attain higher productivity or the desired industrial goals.

These have been propounded by him based on the research carried out at the Indian Institute of Planning and Management.  His lectures are replete with living examples from every continent as well as from our scriptures that try to prove his point.

The Workshop brings out the significant link between, A new perspective to management in India, comments Mr Daljit Singh, Executive Director, ICI India Ltd.  The event was attended by 35 corporate heads of Indian organisations like Ranbaxy, Kodak India, Bausch & Lomb, Hughes Software, O & M, McCann Erickson, Gas Authority of India Ltd, Duncans, Xerox, DCM Shriram, Pepsi Co, HUDCO etc.  Theory i Management, has thus been described as the guide to today's manager by Mr, Sandeep Soni, Head - Corporate Affairs, Duncans Industries Ltd.

Prof Chaudhuri shared with the participants the Cow Theory developed by him to emphasise the complacency of Indians, its roots, and its consequences on the efficiency and performance in macro-economic terms.  The analogy drawn is related to the apparent complacency of cows with that of the people, their indifference to significant happenings within and outside the country, due to a high level of tolerance - they generally do not react unless something significant happens that shakes them out of their inertia.  One solution to deal with this in the industrial context is to elicit more commitment and get the corresponding output.  Mr.  SC Mathur, President & CEO, Triune Projects Pvt Ltd., points out that this was an excellent concept of management which could be easily put in practice.

Prof Chaudhuri also shared with the participants his Great Indian Dream and emphasised the need for strategic leadership in developing the vision that is required to lead the nation to economic prosperity.  He talked about the possibilities of an accelerated growth rate that would result in a higher living standard and betterment of socio-economic conditions for every Indian.  The presentation made an exhilarating exposition on Theory i Leadership styles, wherein Prof Chaudhuri brought out contextual references from Indian mythology (the Mahabharata and the Ramayana) to expound the qualities of the true Indian leader.

Through various examples and illustrations, he made the participants rediscover Lord Krishna's leadership style as ideal, being- the karmayogi which could be followed in the work place.

The interesting part was the step-by-step development of the Theory i Model, through the Krishna -leadership analysis.

Instances were quoted from the scriptures and the Holy epic- The Gita - which illustrated the situational adaptability and flexibility of Krishna and the resulting effectiveness of this innovative leadership style.  It was illustrated how different approaches of Saam, Daam, Dand and Bhed were used by him to motivate and deal with different personalities like Arjuna, Bhima, Duryodhana and Bhishma.

Prof Chaudhuri also discussed an important and yet oft- neglected issue of the need for building a following, to complement effective leadership.  He took the example of the Indian Army as a model organisation with the junior, middle and senior levels following and related it to Bhaktiyog, Karmayog and Gyanyog respectively.  The participants showed interest to harness these forces that could augment productivity and growth in industry.
 


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