There has been a flurry of activity in management literature for developing management theories for the last one and half century. People, in general, tend to assume that globally renowned companies adopt the best managerial practices and the management theories of the West are the best worthy of emulation by the Eastern counterparts. In the backdrop of crumbling communist concepts and the near failure of capitalistic models, especially after the fall of Lehman Brothers in USA, scholars have begun to perceive the hollowness of those models and turned their attention to the ancient wisdom of oriental countries. Leadership is having greater significance in managing an organization. Leaders are the persons who motivate and build the morale of the followers in achieving organizational goals to newer heights. Notwithstanding the prevalence of plethora of literature on leadership from the Western management perspective, scholars have begun to take a relook at ancient Indian scriptures which have valuable lessons in the area of leadership. In Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna acted as a role model and imparted great lessons of leadership to Arjuna. An attempt is made in this article to draw leadership lessons from Gita which inspired the people from time immemorial.
Advancement in telecommunication and networking, especially the mobile-based communication systems, has contributed enormously towards the integration of nations and societies in the form of a ‘global village’. While the technological advancements have made connectivity across the globe so much easier, they have also raised concerns of comprising our privacy and security in the process. The case illustrates the conflict between a technology giant (Apple) versus a superpower country (United States) on sensitive issues of terrorism and national security. The business firm in the case decides to put its commitment to customers ahead of the government’s demands of unlocking the phone of a terrorist in question. The conflicting stands of the two parties highlight the issues of privacy (of a customer—who happens to be a terrorist in this case) versus national security. The government was of the opinion that the security of the nation is paramount and must be given precedence over anything else. Apple viewed the demand from the government as a breach of security assurances given to its customers at the time of product sale. The case raises sensitive issues like responsibility of a business firm to various stakeholders, the obligations of a firm to the customers, the obligations of the democratic government to its citizens, the value systems of a company, the privacy concerns of the citizens and so on. The case raises pertinent questions as to which concern is most urgent and paramount or which one should get preference—privacy of individuals, promises made by the companies or security of the nation? It also makes us ponder regarding the issues we may confront in future—Will incidents like these be more frequent in future? Can we sacrifice freedom of the citizens in the name of security? Can a government sneak into anyone’s private life at will? Are citizens being over-cautious and finicky? Do companies need to join the fight against terrorism rather than worrying about their company policies, protocols or impact on profits? The case provides a context for raising diverse perspectives on these issues and helps facilitate deliberations in focused manner.
Corporations are legal entities operating within the boundaries of society. They have social responsibility both for business and moral reasons. The responsibility encompasses economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic aspects and in the context of deterritorialised global business environment, the responsibility assumes wider ramifications especially in the context of diminishing role of governments and ascending role of corporations. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is now an offshoot of the realization that corporation is answerable for the consequences of its operations. Ethical way of doing business for social and economic sustainability is inherent in the thinking of seers of ancient India who proclaimed for universal peace and happiness. The essence of CSR can be traced to Rig Veda which pronounced that a person who enjoys himself being totally oblivious of society is taken over by sin. The sense of charity, sacrifice, dharmic way of doing business and the ideas of live and let live permeate throughout the literature of ancient India. The search for spiritual routes strengthens the convictions towards CSR and for preserving the planet for future generations. An attempt is made in this article to discuss the nature of CSR in the global perspective and try to search for the roots in the cultural milieu of ancient India and trying to integrate the ancient Indian spiritual thoughts for the modern arguments favoring corporate responsibility. The intention here is to strengthen the theoretical thought structure with spiritual inputs for better appreciation and promotion of CSR. The aim of the article is to get insights in to ancient wisdom for connecting spiritual linkage to the theoretical edifice of the CSR and hence the methodology is exploratory in nature aiming to understand the concepts in a better way.
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