Management
being a culturally determined discipline exhibits flavours peculiar
to the genius of the people, inspite of its universal scientific
structure. Thus we have American Management, European Management,
Japanese Management etc. The overall concern of management is creating
value for stakeholder's money and time. And of them customer is
the king. This requires technology and design innovations on an
ongoing basis. Worker motivation also is important. There has to
be an investment-capital friendly entrpreneurial environment.
India,
as it is poised on the high road to economic boom, has to learn
to integrate the modern management values and practices with its
ageold intgral worldviews and human objectives. Environment, family,
spirituality, ethics and social justice are important survival values
that humanity pursues and management science cannot and shoud not
ignore those values in its wealth creating activities. Indian Management
is in the crossroads. It can remain rooted in its present orthodox
paternalistic mode, breeding corruption and inefficiency, and perpetuating
poverty or take bold steps to open the economy to market competition,
individual enterprise and to the challenges of global standards.
No doubt it will be a painful process.
Growing
up is always a painful experience. This
does not mean that government has to go passive and remain a moot
observer. The state must play critical role in ensuring infrastrucure
building, social justice, law and order, individual freedom and
above all reaching every citizen with food, health care and education.
What is required is a partnership between government and private
initiative. Sixty percent of Indians are abjectly poor, living below
the poverty line, whose daily income will be less than fifty rupees.
Another thirty percent may be called the middle class, with a percapita
monthly income of 5000-7000 rupees. The rest ten percent of Indians
are super rich. Goverment's focus should be on the bottom sixty
percent poor. Government must ensure that the disposable income
of the middle class grows and that the rich finds it profitabe to
invest in India. This requires broad tripartisan class consensus
in India's political culture and economic thinking. Individual thinkers,
think tanks, media and grass root workers have to join hands to
create such a dialoguing and focussed society. This is what is meant
by the phrase 'Towards An Indian Management Style'.
