MANAGEMENT LESSONS FROM RAMAYANA – PART 2

Here, I am going to discuss about some of the management lessons which was taken from the Great Indian Scripture Ramayana.

1. ENSURE EQUAL RIGHTS:

Lord Rama took charge as prince (next king after his father King Dasaratha) of Ayodhya Kingdom after his completion of stay at forest for 14 years. He always try to ensure that there is a justice prevailing in his kingdom. At this point of time, one day an interesting incident has happened. One of the ordinary citizen from his ruling area approached Rama and told that Sita Devi has to leave our kingdom because of her stay at Lanka.

Rama has a rule that all the citizens are equal before law. Immediately, Lord Rama took the same decision as conveyed by the ordinary citizen. Hence Sita has to leave the kingdom.

Like this, all the top management executives must treat each and every people equally in order to ensure justice among the employees working in the organization.

2. ETHICAL VALUES

Lord Rama is a symbol of good moral and high ethical values. He set an example to all the human beings who were born in this planet called Earth. He always respects and give equal value to both younger and older generation of people whoever he meets. He ensured Dharma (Justice) with his countrymen.

Today, one of the most big and successful traditional business in India is Tata Group of companies. They are donating more than 60% of their profits to the charity. That’s the main reason Tata Group of companies is not appearing in the World’s Top 10 Billionaires list. Even in this Covid – 19, they have donated ventilators and some other equipments to many States and Union Territories in India. 

(Disclaimer: I am no way associated with Tata Group of Companies).

3. MUTUAL CO-OPERATION

Because of the artificial situation created by Kakaiyee, the Step-mother of Lord Rama, he has to leave the kingdom and need to stay in the forest for the next 14 years, Sita Devi accompanied him without any hesitation. Before he left the kingdom, Rama asked his younger brothers to take care of the kingdom and his family.

Like this, all the employees working in the organization must co-operate with each other for the smooth flow of business.

4. EFFECT OF SACRIFICE:

During the 14 years of forest life, Lord Rama, Sita Devi and Laxmana has sacrificed many things in order to lead that life successfully. One major sacrifice was the Royal life and because of the situation they considered themselves as a normal citizen. This situation has led them to understood the ground realities of an ordinary citizen

Like this, the management need to sacrifice certain things for their stakeholders. The top management executives need to come out of their comfort zone in order to do certain things for the benefit of firm and employees.

One good example is Infosys. In 2008, financial crisis has happened and United States of America got affected in a large scale. Because of the crisis, the entry of new projects was stopped. In order to ensure the business continuity, Shri N.R. Narayanamurthy, CEO and Founder of Infosys, has took the decision of pay-cut for all the levels of employees. But in that decision, he announced that the major pay-cut will be among the top management executives and only the certain part from the other levels of the employees. Everyone accepted CEO’s decision and started working with the same enthusiasm.

5. WILLINGNESS TO ACCEPT GOOD ADVICE:

Ravan never accept advice from his wife Mandodari, brother Vibhishanan and other family members. Instead, he accepts advice from the people who has arrogance mindset. But Ravan is known for high knowledge and power. Because of the wrong guidance, he lost his life for not releasing Sita to his husband Rama.

But on the other hand, Lord Rama has the willingness to accept the good advice from the people whoever he meets in his life.

The same scenario is applicable to the top management executives in the organization. Though they are seeking advice from the knowledgeable persons, they must also have the tendency of accepting some advice from their employees for the better business continuity. 

Thank you so much for reading my article. Share your views / suggestions / comments in the comment box.