402 - Indian Ethos & Business Ethics
402 - Indian Ethos & Business Ethics
Business Ethics
Syllabus
• Indian Ethos and Values : Its relevance at Workplace: Indian Ethos- Meaning,
Features, Need, Evolution, Relevance, Principles Practiced by Indian
Companies, Requisites, Elements, Role of Indian Ethos in Managerial Practices,
Triguna Theory-OSHA Model. Work Ethos meaning, dimensions of Work Ethos.
Values - Concepts, Values in business, Value system in work culture, and Values
of Indian Managers, Relevance of Value Based Management in Global Change;
Impact of values on Stakeholders; Trans-Cultural Human Values, Ethics v/s
Ethos, Eastern Management v/s Western Management. (8+1)
Ethos: Definition
• According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, “Ethos are the moral ideas and
attitudes that belong to a particular group or society”.
• Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines Ethos as “the set of beliefs, ideas,
etc. about social behaviour and relationship of a person or group”
• Indian Ethos is all about what can be termed as “national ethos”. Indian ethos refers to
the principles of self-management and governance of society, entity or a system by
wisdom as revealed and brought-forth by great scriptures like Veda, Upanishads, Gita,
Mahabharata, Bible and Quran.
• This wisdom evolved through the old practices of Indian mystics, philosophers and
religious ‘gurus’, and is now found to have profound implications for self-management
and good governance of a stormy society and business environment, or even a
politically divided world.
• Formally, the body of knowledge which derives its solutions from the rich and huge
Indian system of ethics (moral philosophy) is known as Indian Ethos in Management
(IEM).
Indian Ethos- Meaning
1) Know Yourself:
Who are you? All of us are part of supreme power (GOD) & hence all of us have all
the divine qualities like integrity, patience, courage, loyalty, forgiveness, service
attitude i.e. mind so if you try to develop our self by improving our qualities we will
not only make our self happy but also the society be live in.
2) Individual development
• 3. Joy in Performing One’s Function: It was Deming who said that ’quality’
is the pride, which an artisan takes in his craft. It is the pride which an artist
takes in his art. If one is enjoying what one is doing, automatically, he is
bound to do extremely well; and while excellence becomes a by-product
or a spin of the benefit of happiness, it also leads to success. After all, every
excellent organisation has excellent morale. Excellence, in terms of
enjoyment through doing is the third aspect of Indian ethos. It is found that
this aspect is not only restricted to India, but is universally applicable
Role of Indian Ethos in Managerial Practices
Dominance of guna
determines the
individual’s personality.
1. It is the ‘spiritual quality’.
2. Steady, calm mind. Non-violent, has inherent desire
to be good & caring.
3. Capable of vast knowing & deep understanding.
4. Work done as a duty without expecting for fruits.
5. Free from attachment to objects.
6. Not affected by success or failure.
7. Non-egoistic, firm, enthusiastic.
• Clear understanding of desirable & undesirable,
dutiful & undutiful actions.
• Free from doubts. Control on self.
• Pure mind.
• Not hurting others.
• Forgiveness, wisdom & faith.
• Help needy people.
• Pays homage to divine & spiritual values.
• Pray god without expecting fruits.
• Respect elders.
• Rajas guna is nothing but the “active quality”. Rajas guna in people drives more
passion and desire in them, which may subsequently lead to greed, activity, taking
up work, and restlessness. People with rajas-dominant personality are full of
attachment and a desire to get rewarded for their actions. Due to the dominance of
self-interest in these individuals, they have a distorted picture of what’s right and
what’s wrong. These individuals refrain from detachment and abandonment.
Enthusiasm, interest, and activity are some of the attributes of this guna.
• Qualities in a Rajas personality:
• Enthusiasm
• Interest
• Activity & work driven
• Restlessness
• Desire
• Greed
It is an ‘active quality’.
Greed, restlessness.
Desire to acquire things and attachment to
acquired things.
Rajas guna binds person to bodily activities and
selfish interest.
Thrust for more and more.
Filled with joy in success and sorrows in
failures.
Do good activities for gain of respect, fame,
money, etc.
Help others for self-gains.
Full of desires, passions and attachments.
Goal oriented.
Distorted picture of right or wrong.
Bold, authoritative.
• Tamas guna is essentially the “material quality”. Tamas arises from hopes and illusions, and it makes people
prone to qualities such as ambiguity, idleness, fantasy, and persistence. Some common characteristics
of Tamas-dominant people include cautiousness, apprehensiveness, and tendency to seek
revenge. Tamasic guna also suggests disillusionment and cynicism.
• In people with tamasic guna, happiness is short-lived and usually originates and ends in self-delusion. One
positive quality of tamas personality is their willingness to work very hard. On the other hand, one limitation
of tamas personality is easy attachment to possessions and self-centred tendencies.
• Each Guna gives certain typical qualities to the person, based on which an individual can be classified as
belonging to that particular Guna type. Ayurveda describes seven classifications of human personalities based
on combinations of these Gunas and their dominance with respect to each other.
• The Trigunas are thus the foundation for all existence. They are contained in balance by Prakruti (nature).
When this balance is disturbed, there is an interaction of the gunas, which eventually endangers the evolution
of the universe.
• Qualities in a Tamas personality:
• Cautiousness
• Apprehension
• Revengeful
• Materialistic
It is the ‘material quality’.
Arises from hope and illusions.
Attachment to myth, immorality and rest.
Revengeful, win by demolishing others.
Actions are directed for their own welfare.
No consistency of purpose, brilliance of
thought, tenderness of emotions.
• Views world as if it exists for him alone.
• Narrow and limited vision.
• Careless and irresponsible actions because of
some delusory misconception of the goal.
• E.g. smoking, drinking, etc.
• No self control, stubborn, arrogant.
• Creates disputes and quarrels.
• Wrong judgment of ethical and non-ethical.
These three types of personalities are
explained in bhagvadgeeta.
Apart from these we see combination of
these gunas in people.
A careful study of guna provides the
capacity of detecting within ourselves the
most powerful tendency that rises up to rule
our mental life at any given moment. A true
knowledge of gunas helps to meet subjective
problems more effectively.
Characteristics and effects of Gunas
Values
Values - Meaning
• ‘Value’ evolved from the Latin word valere, which means to be strong or to be of worth. So our
values are what we hold to be ‘of strong worth’ to us, what is most important to us.
• From a sociological perspective, Dictionary.com refers to values as ‘the ideals, customs,
institutions, etc. of a society toward which the people of the group have an affective regard’.
• The American Heritage Dictionary refers to values as ‘A principle, standard, or quality considered
worthwhile or desirable’.
• A broad definition of values, derived from an insight into ancient India’s psycho-philosophical
wisdom literature is: “Values are states of feelings/emotions that underpin the content of a
choice/decision and determine the manner of using the intellect/reason for justifying and
implementing that choice/decision”
• Human Values is the sum total of qualities like truthfulness, integrity, gratitude, humbleness,
forgiveness, patience, transparence, charitableness, simplicity, etc.
• Human Values make a person Antarmukhi (interiorized) while skills will make him more and more
Bahirmukhi (exteriorized). Human values transcend moral, ethical and spiritual values.
• Character is the foundation of values. The sequence being:
Character -> Values -> Attitudes -> Behaviour
Thoughts on values
• “Certainly we should take care not to make intellect our God. Intellect has,
of course, powerful muscles but no personality. It cannot lead. It can only
serve. It is not fastidious about its choice of leaders (Mind or Soul). The
intellect has a sharp eye for tools and methods but is blind to Ends and
Values”. – Albert Einstein
• “It is already becoming clear that a chapter which had a western beginning
in business management will have to have an Indian ending, when the world
adopts rich thoughts of Indian ethos and wisdom, if it is not to end in the
self-destruction of the human race”. – Arnold Toynbee, Nobel Laureate
Values-Concepts
• Milton Rokeach, a social psychologist, is one of the researchers often quoted in
literature related to values. Rokeach spoke about terminal values and instrumental
values.
• Terminal values refer to desirable end-states of existence; these are the goals that
an individual would like to achieve in his/her lifetime.
• Terminal values vary among different groups of people in different cultures. Some
examples of terminal values include true friendship, mature love, self-respect,
happiness, inner harmony, equality, freedom, pleasure, social recognition, wisdom,
salvation, family security, national security, a sense of accomplishment, a world of
beauty, a world at peace, a comfortable life and an exciting life.
• Instrumental values refer to preferable modes of behavior. Examples of
instrumental values include being cheerful, ambitious, loving, clean, self-controlled,
capable, courageous, polite, honest, imaginative, independent, intellectual, broad-
minded, logical, obedient, helpful, responsible and forgiving.
Values
• Values, that people ascribe to, can be universal. Their manifestation may
be in various forms and rituals. In Japan, humility is expressed by bowing to
others. In India, it may be expressed by touching the feet of elders and the
respected.
• Gratitude to a higher power is a value seen across cultures. Many people in
India partake of their food as a sacred ritual, by chanting the
Brahmaarpanam mantra and offering the food to the Divine.
• In western countries, the same value may be expressed in the ritual of
thanking the Lord before the meal (saying ‘grace’). There can also be rituals
associated with a specific locality – desacharam lokacharam. It is said that
human values can be grouped in three aspects: pure thoughts, pure
words and pure deeds – all three being in harmony with one another.
• a Samskara, a certain discipline, is a pre-requisite to higher knowledge.
Thus, anyone seeking to move towards higher levels of knowledge has to
cultivate samskara, a certain discipline. Seers of this land say that only
discovery and assimilation of values prepare the mind for the higher truths.
Values in Business
• There can be numerous reasons why value-based life/business is necessary.
Business organisations like Bajaj, Bengal Chemicals, Godrej, Shri Ram
Group, Tata, and Walchand Hirachand among others, which were
established during the pre-independent era, went beyond the value of profit
motive and focused on values like national self-respect.
• Legend has it that the patriotic fervor of Jamshetji Nusserwanji Tata, on
being denied entry to the Watson’s Hotel (Indians were not allowed in the
hotel), resulted in the creation of the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai in 1903.
• In the epic Ramayana, Lord Rama says, ‘Janani janmabhoomischa
swargaadapi gareeyasi’ (Mother and Motherland are greater than heaven).
Values
Values
• It was found that greater the experience of personal purpose and meaning
in one’s work, the greater the organization commitment of the individual
the lesser the intention of the individual to quit the organization the greater
the intrinsic work satisfaction of the individual the greater the job
involvement of the individual the greater the organization-based self-
esteem of the individual
Values of Indian Managers
Relevance of Value Based Management in
Global Change
Change: an inevitable process
Impact of values on Stakeholders
• Investors prefer to invest in credible organizations, and they would like to
work with people who are trustworthy. Some investors would not like to be
in the realm of uncertainty. An organization that provides regular
operational feedback and honest reporting of its financials is more
appreciated by investors than an organization that does not follow such
practices.
• Trust among partners leading to quick business decisions and easier
implementation of those decisions;
• Governmental assistance;
• Increase in the employee morale;
• Consumer support;
• and Media goodwill.
Trans-Cultural Human Values