review on the geeta & art of successful management

8/7/2019 Review on The Geeta & Art of successful management

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A book review on

The GEETA

And the

Art of Successful ManagementWritten by

Ajanta E Chakravarty

ByAniket Bothare

MBA B

2010-11Sinhagad Institute of Management and Computer Application

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Contents

About Author ....................................................................................................................... 3

Authors Style / Diction ........................................................................................................ 3

Synopsis ............................................................................................................................... 3

Why Manage? .................................................................................................................. 3Creating Performance ...................................................................................................... 4

Karma - WORK ............................................................................................................... 4

Vision and Leadership ..................................................................................................... 4Bhakti Devotion ...........................................................................................................5

The Self-Actualized Manager ..........................................................................................5

Value Systems ..................................................................................................................5Moksha Liberation ..................................................................................................... 5

Summary ......................................................................................................................... 6

Why do you recommend this book? .................................................................................... 6

This book will help which individuals and why? ................................................................ 6

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About AuthorAjanta E. Chakravarty is a management consultant and is the Director of the Centre forCross-Cultural Communication. Her field of interest is the exploration of modern wisdomin ancient Indian texts. She is widely traveled and has lectured extensively in India, the

US, France and Poland. She writes extensively on management issues in nationalnewspapers.Dr. Ajanta Chakravarty, is a Ph.D. in Public Administration. She is a trainer of reputewho has conducted management workshops for a number of organizations in India. Toname a few, Infosys, Cadence, Telco, ABB, Modi Xerox, Bechtel, have regularly utilizedher skill to enhance the skills of their employees Dr.Chakravarty has written severalbooks on management issues. Her book "Gita and the art of Management" has beenpublished by Harper Collins and has been rated as a "Must read" book for the manager.Besides being a management consultant, she has initiated several steps in communitydevelopment especially focusing on Slum women and street children.

Authors Style / DictionAjanta E. Chakravarty writes in very elaborative however in lucid manner. Her writing isenriched with the impact of classic English literature. Her script about the subject hascome out of contemplation and a deep research. However, the language she uses ischallenging to interpret the meaning.

Synopsis

Why Manage? Management deals with the people. Everyone is not brave, valiant, clever and

sensitive. An individual may display varying characteristics of Courage &

Cowardice, Tolerance & Intolerance, friendliness & enmity under differentcircumstances.

However no matter what the circumstance, the intellectual skill of man enableshim to justify and rationalize his actions by constructing sustentative argumentsin their favor. This is what ARJUNA does.

This is the example of mental bankruptcy to be seen in management throughages.

Managers are busy creating smokescreens of excuses for indecisiveness andnonperformance, how can an organization achieve its objectives??

The manager is a Sarathi, the chariot driver. He does not bear weapons or fightbut a great proportion of the warriors success depends on the vision, skill andability of the sarathi to maneouvre him through the battlefield and take the best

advantage of the various opportunities. The warrior is executive and the Sarathi is the manager. It is the manager who plans, guides, directs and takes the holistic view of the

arena to decide where his executives may operate and how. The executive is demoralized, dispirited and refuses to take a action. How does

the leader-manager motivate him? This is heart of Geeta, the song of the lord, the ultimate treatise on sound

management.

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Creating Performance This chapter is a lucid exposition on how the Lord moves step by step towards

creating performance orientation in a sadly dispirited Arjuna.

Arjuna has laid down his bow and Arrow. Can he brought back by a mildadmonishment?

A simple lesson in management: Can the problem be solved by the easiest method available, involving minimumtime and effort??

It becomes imperative of good management to be able to judge the magnitude ofan issue and take remedial measures.

A gap in the analysis, a shift in the evaluation of from the reality will lead to theincorrect judgment.

Arjunas duty was to fight. He is warrior of repute. If he does not fight, he will bereduced to laughing stock.

The manager is the true sthitapargya whose senses are stable, who is focusedtowards the fundamental purpose of the enterprise & proceeds towards it throughgood times and bad.

This principle the Lord explains the calm Arjuna and restore him to being arational logical warrior who will perform to the best of his ability , come what may

Karma - WORK

Without work acquisition of knowledge is not possible, relinquishing work is notthe answer.

Everyone needs to work. Working judiciously, honestly, sincerely andcompassionately creates a thriving economy. This results into prosperity.

Karma is not the detractor; it raises man towards self actualization, if performedselflessly.

Leaders should try to create an environment of understanding mission by

communicating, motivating, and setting personal examples The organizations and individuals with selfish motives suffer the agonies of

failure at every turn, and are consigned to the dungeons of tension anduncertainty, the well known toils of Karma.

Division of task: Brahma, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra The Management performs the functions of conceptualization while executives

operationalise the plan.

Karma : Right kind of work suited to ones aptitude,skills, learning &predespositions

Akarma: Non performance, inaction The Way to God is through the best performance of work but without attachment

to short-term results for self

Vision and Leadership The leader guides, motivates. By following robust management principles

himself, he inspires the subordinates as does the Lord. The leadership must retain its balance, its ability to think clearly and take far-

seeing action to achieve near-at-hand goals. Vision is a distinguishing feature of effective leadership.

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Vision is actualized through insight, delving deep into human consciousness intrue search of understanding.

Three majors: Insight to realize Examples to motivate Flexibility to provide different styles of leadership according to the needs

of people

Bhakti Devotion Who is a true devotee? What are the qualities seen in him?

1. He is who is content and keeping his faith steadfast strives ceaselessly toachieve perfection.

2. He who is impartial clean in body and mind beyond mortal feelings of painand pleasure who has abjured all endeavors.

An effective manager performs, follows his duties wherever he be, in whatever

role he is designated to playIf he practices the virtues of selflessness, devotion and impartiality, he is truly thebeloved of God ( a true devotee).

The Self-Actualized Manager It refers to the desire for self-fulfillment, namely, to the tendency for him to

become actualized in what he is potentially. This tendency might be phrased asthe desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that oneis capable of becoming.

The essence of sound management lies in presenting ideas and concepts

concisely and simply to create immediate understanding The hallmark of true self-actualized one is who has overcome all basermotivations and stands on the pinnacle of consciousness

Value Systems Three qualities are present in every human being:

Saatvik: Without a trace of individual interest, selfish gain Rajasik: work that brings recognition, praise, benefits to individual alone

(expectations in return)

Tamasik: No goal, direction, meaning, wrong person without grace anddignity.

Different kind of working reflects varied value system.

Flexibility is the core of sound management

Moksha Liberation

All work that one does is good and leads to perfect peace that is heaven, that isGod, that is Moksha

A good manager prepares his subordinate well to perform on his own the tasksassigned to him. Otherwise, he will have to constantly intervene and even

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perform subordinates task for him. But the innovative communication skillscreate greater understanding, & this is the acid test of a good leader.

Everything has both the elements of good and bad. Looking for the former andstriving for betterment selflessly brings moksha

Summary Successful manager needs knowledge of all factors that he has to manage and

all that is beyond, which directly or indirectly impinge on his microenvironment. The larger vision encompasses good of mankind and the welfare of the society. The real manager in impartial Knowledge comes through contemplation and genuine altruism Knowledge is not enough. One has to overcome desire and anger. It needs a visionary manager to take a dream and convert it into reality.

The Geeta, the divine song of the Lord, encapsulates the ground truth of managementon which thrives the development and prosperity of social structures.It is eternally relevant, eternally true. Eternally it removes doubts and inspires individuals

to tread steadyfastly the path of duty.

Nasto mohah smritir labdhaTvatprasadan mayacyuta |Sthito smi gatasandenah

Karishye vachanam tava ||

Why do you recommend this book?I believe this book is excellent manifestation of spirituality associated with Managementgamut. While learning advances management techniques, we must remember that the

battle of Mahabharata fought about three thousand years ago has sown the principles ofmanagement. Reading this book provides certainly a new facet to look at Bhagwad-Geeta.

This book will help which individuals and why?This book is an attempt to interpret some of the many splendoured glories of theBhagwad-Geeta, the context being the realistic management of modern enterprise.I trust that this book will provide better insight about Bhagwad-Geeta. The principlesstated herein are eternal and immortal. Therefore, this book is useful for every individual.

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review on the geeta & art of successful management

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