Better Management and Effective Leadership Through The Indian Scriptures

Management as a subject and various theories associated with it are largely considered as brainchild of the West. The moment this topic is raised, the names of western thinkers, such as F.W. Taylor, Robert Owen and Peter F, Drucker, come to our mind. However, the fact is that all the management theories and hypotheses propounded so far, draw heavily from the Indian scriptures. Indian sages and gurus, like Sukra, Kautilya and Vedvyas laid the foundation to better management through their literary works as early as in the pre- Christian era.

This book, Better Management and Effective Leadership through the Indian Scriptures, aims at discovering the treasure hidden in the Indian texts, making the management scholars all over the world feel proud of our literary heritage and appreciate the farsightedness of the Indian thinkers. It is an endeavour to reveal that, be it in any sphere of academics, Indian scholars were in no way secondary to their western counterparts; they were rather the precursors.

Narayanji Misra was born on December 25, 1929. He carried out his schooling at Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh. Having done his Post Graduation in Economics & Sociology from Christ Church College and DAV College, Kanpur, respectively, he headed the Personnel Department of Rajasthan State Electricity Board (RSEB). Later he headed Industrial Relation Department of Uttar Pradesh State Electricity Board (UPSEB). He was the visiting faculty of Officers Training Academy of RSEB and UPSEB. A renowned Management Consultant, Shri Mishra trained middle and high-level staff of various companies in the field of management. Apart from this book, he has authored several other books:

• Management Obligation Under Industrial Law

• Gunvatta Vyavastha (Quality Management)

• Management Concepts

• Department Enquiry- A Monograph

• Rajasthan Shops & Commercial Establishments Act,1959- Commentary

Contrary to the popular belief that Indian scriptures deal exclusively with philosophy, the fact is that they cover the whole gamut of human activities including politics, phonetics, economics, grammar, metallurgy, medicine, astronomy and many more. Each of these areas needs management and leadership, and Narayanji Misra has made an interesting attempt to excerpt from our scriptural heritage the teachings specifically for the manager/leader.

The author has arranged his material under various chapters as 'The Basic Managerial Functions', 'Cultivate Your Workforce', 'Manager as a Leader', 'Managing by Least Supervision', 'The Knack of Winning People', 'Crisis Management', 'Manage Your Speaking', 'Manage Your Writing', 'Discipline', 'Money Management' and so on. Each of these areas is of perennial interest to managers today, and a careful study of aphorisms contained in this book will certainly be an illuminating exercise. I am sure Misra's work will be of much interest not only to students of Management but to the general public as well.