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.