Oh! For an Indian Management System

India has a culture that goes back more than 5000 years. The country has weathered many a storm, whether it be invasions, alien rule, colonial ambitions and a post independance chaos. The Indus valley civilization, along with the Nile Valley and Mesapatomia civilazations, were far ahead of their time in the areas of management, planning and organization.

The problem with Indian Management Education and the Management style is that it do not take into account the Indian ethos. Traditional wisdom says that Asians in general, and Indians in particular are driven by emotions than by reason, but the corollary is true for Westerners, basically the Amercans who have developed the current management system.

Indians attach importance to 'Karma' rather than 'Karmabhala'. For me personally, it is doing a thing correctly that matters, and what I get out of it materialistically is secondary. Doesnt mean that the rewards are not important, but just that rewards are not THE MOST IMPORTANT. In short we are not work machines, but people with more emotions than a normal western professional. So any management theory has to take this into account for it to be successful.

To illustrate it further one doesnt have to look beyond the sports field. Morten Frost Hansen of Denmark, the World Badminton Champion in 1980's was in awe of the things Prakash Padukkone can do on a Cricket Field. Normal coaching techniques cannot explain the sublime artistry of VVS Laxmans batting. Though we have slid down the slope, Western hockey teams never tire of eulogising the wizardry of Indian hockey players and have failed to replicate them. This wrist work and self expression in the sports field is indicative of the Indian psyche that is creative, artistic, emotional. Contrast VVS Laxmans batting with that of Mathey Hayden or Andrew Strauss, and you know what I am talking about.

Westerners tries to find a logical reason for everything. If things are not logical, then it is not acceptable to them. While Indians understand and accept that there are many things which cannot be logically and rationally explained. The irrational plays an important part in our life.

This is the reason for so much strife and acrimony in our organizations and why they are not as effective as they should be. It is a tragedy that a land reknowned for great thinkers, cannot find a few who can develop a management style that takes into account the values, ethos, attitudes, aptitudes and culture of Indians.