S.K Chakrabortyan Management Principles

Management Centre for Human Values at IIM Calcutta was established in early 1990s by Prof. S. K. Chakraborty. At this center, experiential methodologies derived from modern and ancient Indian texts, aimed at giving Indian managers a psycho-philosophy rooted in the Indian context and values. According to him, “The crisis in business is spiritual. All management ideas till now have been external-directed paradigms, developing behavior and skills, not character and values. But meaning and richness must flow from mind to work, not the other way. We need a fundamental shift from the current reductionist, fragmentized, materialistic paradigm to one which recognizes relationships, consciousness and spirit as the right approach.”

Chakraborty is pioneer in putting Indian Management on firm footing through is writings and talks.

He has authored following well known books related to Indian ethos and Management:

1. Foundations of Managerial Work
2. Ethics in Management: Vedantic Perspectives
3. Management by Values: Towards Cultural Congruence
4. Values and Ethics for Organizations: Theory and Practices
5. Leadership and Power: Ethical Explorations
6. Managerial Transformation by Values: A Corporate Pilgrimage
7. Management and Ethics Omnibus
8. Applied Ethics in Management: Towards New Perspectives
9. Spirituality in Management: Means of End?
10. Leadership & Motivation: Cultural Comparisons
11. Human Values: The Tagorean Panorama
12. Human Values and Ethics: In Search of Organizational Integrity
13. Wisdom Leadership
14. Against the Tide: The Philosophical Foundations of Modern Management

Chakraborty (1991) makes a distinction between values as means and values as ends and identified 13 basic values culled out from indigenous religious Hindu and Buddhist texts as well as the works and lives of social reformers in India like Gandhi, Tagore, Vivekanand and Aurobindo.

Management by Values concept based on 13 basic values drawn from indigenous Vedantic perspective would help executives have a refined perception of human relationships, and hence, contributing to quality decision making process and management and transformation of organizations through these values.

Chakraborty (1995, 1993, 1987, 1988, 1983, and 1999) conducted many studies which are rooted in Vedantic knowledge available in Vedas and the Upanishads, which contains abstract and universalistic ideas of the cosmos and human existence. His work on ‘Guna’ theory of ‘Samkhya’ led him to propose a ‘giving model’ of motivation rather than the ‘needing models’ suggested by many Western psychologists like Maslow and McClelland. This guided by the fundamental belief that a man is born into this world with a fivefold debt, he proposed ‘wisdom based leadership’.

Chakraborty (1995) in his book “Ethics in Management: Vedantic Perspectives” provided a conceptual and empirical framework of Vedantic and allied principles applicable to the various aspects of management. The book examined the relevance of the Vedantic system in individual motivation, leadership and the transformation of the work ethics. It suggests a set of guidelines to revive holistic consciousness for ethico-moral values. It also studies the contribution of great thinkers like Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi, Sri Aurobindo and others in the field of different management perspectives. The author also examined the Tata leadership crisis of 1991 and the securities scam of 1991-92 and asserted that the fragmental approaches to modernize organic cultures like that of India are fraught with grave danger. If it’s basic human values are restored with renewed vigour, of which the business ashram could be a modern symbol, India would be doing good, both to herself and the world. The author concludes that the integration of western technological and managerial skills with a holistic cultural ethos and system of values should be applied in management for sustaining corporate morality.

Prof. Chakraborty reasons that Indian managers have been known to adopt value systems from nations abroad which have no depth in India. Value systems that have been imported from abroad are devoid of the philosophical basis with regards to the centuries old Indian value system.

He strongly believes and advocates the Indian values and ethics system that is deep rooted in the Indian culture and draws references from the ancient texts e.g. Bhagvad Gita.

According to Chakraborty, the guna theory provides valuable insights into three core psychological elements that define the ethical or unethical tendency of human nature. Similarly, the karma theory offers a cause and effect structure as a system that explains actions propelled by guna. The desireless action theory or the nishkam karma theory provides a psychological method towards work that can thwart unethical actions.

Chakraborty developed a model of managerial effectiveness on following seven key Indian psychophilosophical

ideas:

• The concept of self and reality
• Dis-identification
• Theory of gunas
• Theory of samsakaras
• The doctrine of karma
• Theory and method of work
• Giving model of motivation

Chakraborty (1988) in reference to ethics and values that are ensconced in Indian thought, proposed various ideas which refer to:

• The concept of self in man has to embrace the spiritual dimension beyond the physical, social and economic dimensions.
• The creative energies of human beings are derived from and rooted in the supreme creative intelligence.
• Managerial decision-making requires the interplay of both analytic and holistic faculties.

According to him. Ability for developing effective leadership style requires an understanding of the three qualities of human beings viz. sattwa (righteousness), rajas (selfishness) and tamas (laziness). He advocates that guna theory can be instrumental in better elaborating, the environmental impact of industry and the escalating negative inclinations that exist in the current day society. Prof. S.K. Chakraborty has given the following ten propositions which could form the core of future management style in India:-

1. The concept of self in man has to embrace the spiritual dimension beyond his physical, social and economic dimensions.
2. Man’s creative energies are derived from and rooted in the supreme creative Intelligence.
3. Managerial decision-making required the interplay of both analytic and holistic faculties.
4. In de-egoization rests the final resolution of managerial conflict situations.
5. The key to cooperation and team work lies ultimately in the progressive assimilation of the reality that it the same Atman which dwells in each one of us.
6. A full understanding and internalization of the “doctrine of Karma” is essential to improve the quality of managerial decision- making and style.
7. Intrinsic and enduring motivational strategies need to be based on the giving model of man.
8. Conscious modulation for effective leadership style (and management style) requires the understanding of the triune guna composition of the human being-“Sattwa”, “rajas” and “tamas”.
9. All managerial decisions are subjective in the ultimate analysis and depend in a large measure on the purity of the subjective of the decision maker.
10. There is need for proper balance and harmony in the quality of domestic life and quality of work-life. Indian philosophy expounds four Purusharth: Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. There is great stress on the art of living and eternal values.
11. Spiritualism is the brand mark of Indian ethos of management.

Flow of management ideas should be from mind to work, not the other way. For this there is a need for stilling the mind. In his management development programs, he used to conduct ‘mind stilling exercises’ for practice of mind stilling by professional managers.