INTRODUCTION

There are number of books, journals and articles available, which talks about various management theories. They focussed management as a ‘Science’ and an ‘Art’ of life.

But the way before modern days management gurus gave their theories, principles and concepts of management the great writers like Tulsidas, Valmiki had explained them in the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana.

Now, as a management students can we apply morals of great epic Ramayana to the management….???

The answer is yes…..

then, lets see how Ramayana helps us in getting things done!!!!!!!

APPLICATION OF RAMAYANA TO MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES

Morals to Principles

Problem:• At the time when Rama, Lakshman & Sita

banished to forest unfortunately Sita was kidnapped by Ravana.

Objective:• The challenge for Lord Rama is how he defeats

Ravana & gets back his wife Sita with the help of Vanar sena.

This is what ‘Management’ is all about…..

• Ascertaining the goals, or job to be done.• Getting mentally prepared for it.• Having a right plan.• SWOT Analysis [strength, weakness,

opportunities and threats] of your business.• Leading a team- ‘Leadership’.• Organizing the resources required. • Coordinating with the people.• Controlling : checking things are happening as

per the plan.

The scenario in Ramayana

• In Ramayana when Rama, Lakshmana & Sita were banished to forest unfortunately Sita was kidnapped by Ravana.

• Ravana was a very strong man he had lot of powers.• It was a great challenge for Rama to face Ravana and

rescue Sita from Lanka.

LORD RAMA’S QUALITIES- The ‘Good Leader’ in the epic

•Ambitious.•Patience.•Confidence.•Visionary .•Good Organiser.•Compassion.•Smartness. •Positive view.

Traits of a Leader- Lord Sri RamaRamayana

• Sri Rama was firm and brave to take all the risk to protect the words of his father (King Dasharatha) gave to Kaikeyi

• The mission of the army led by him was to defeat the Rakshasas and rescue Sita.

• The Ravana’s army was a powerful one, which had defeated the formidable, devas and vanquished powerful kings -Rama led what was essentially a rag-tag army against the sophisticated army of Ravana

Management• Change management.

• Clarity in vision.

• Believe in your abilities strengthen them as per the objective.

Traits of a Leader- Lord Sri RamaRamayana

• Rama was a prince who interacted freely with the people, He Developed good relations with people regardless of social status and treat everybody with courtesy and respect.

• When Vibhishan was defected, Rama took him under his protection. He then had a talk with the various army chiefs some of whom disagreed with Rama. Instead of punishing them, Rama assuaged their suspicions and got them to accept his decision.

Management• Interaction and building

good relations.

• Consulting subordinates for their opinion.

Ramayana• Rama was a prince who

interacted freely with the people, He Developed good relations with people regardless of social status and treat everybody with courtesy and respect.

• When Vibhishan was defected, Rama took him under his protection. He then had a talk with the various army chiefs some of whom disagreed with Rama. Instead of punishing them, Rama assuaged their suspicions and got them to accept his decision.

Traits of a Leader- lord Sri RamaRamayana Management

• Following a code of conduct and ethics.

Ramayana• When Ravana swaggered to

battle on the first day without adequate preparations and was rendered weaponless by Rama, he was allowed to return to his citadel because the code of chivalry followed by Rama stipulated that an unarmed enemy not be attacked.

The story Ramayana Management

• Planning as per the objective

Ramayana• To rescue Sita from Lanka

-The number of actions were taken such as sending out search parties, building an overseas bridge and issuing a direct challenge to Ravana.

The story Ramayana Management

• Organizing resources which are required.

Ramayana• Lord Sri Rama took the

army of vanara king Sugriva teached them the skills of facing the enemy, motivated and inspired them for the mission of war.

The story Ramayana Management

• Coordinating with people to know their abilities & strengths, guiding them to over come the areas of improvement as per the objective.

Ramayana• Lord Sri Rama had good

relations with the people even though he was a king, his actions and thoughts were like a common man, he analyzed the ability of each individual and gave opportunity to all….. Hanuman the best example.

The story Ramayana Management

• Directing as per the plans and policies.

Ramayana• Rama divided Vanaras into

4 groups, to search Sita and one of the group was headed by Jambavanta in which ‘Hanuman’ was a team player. After which Rama directed the ways to become proficient in Gadayudda to strengthen the team- and the group of Jambavanta were successful – Hanuman discovered Sita in Lanka.

The story RAMAYANA• Lord Rama insisted his team

of Vanaras to construct a Ram Setuve over the sea to connect the Lanka. This helped Rama & Vanaras to defeat his opponent Ravana & rescue Sita with less life risk of Vanaras.

MANAGEMENT• Management control-

motivation & energizing of the team, communication & risk management, planning & scheduling, execution, allocation of the appropriate resources for a particular task, decision-making, out-of-box thinking to solve problems, winning strategy, rewards.

Hanuman- An overview as per management perspective.

• He was very strong man physically and also with his moral thoughts.

• When he got an information that Sita was in Lanka, Jambvant motivated Hanuman to go there.- Hanauman took ‘initiative and got ready for the challenge’.

• He might have killed Ravana the day he discovered Lanka. He had all the abilities to kill Ravana, but he waited for the Sri Ram’s directions - ‘abiding for rules regulations as directed by management’

TEAM WORK:

Team work is an important principle in management.Rama with Lakshmana, Hanuman, vanar sena & with squirrel applied the same in search of Sitaji & was successful in the mission.

TEAM PLAYERA squirrel was picking up a little pebble in her mouth and putting it alongside the boulders. She was repeating this continuously and effortlessly. She was found by a monkey who started making mockery of her and told to stay away as she will die if she comes under the boulder or the leg of any army.“No work is big or small. It’s not the stature of work that matters, but what you learn from working that counts. Never listen to people who tell you that the work you are doing is demeaning or would undermine your prestige. Remember, work doesn’t undermine prestige, it is absence of work that does.”

Courage & Compassion:Shri Rama led an inferior & less armed army against the might of the Ravana’s elite army.The Rakshasas army was very potent, having defeated the formidable devas & vanquished powerful kings.Driven by Rama’s inspirational leadership , where courage& compassion were the major virtues his army responded magnificiently & carved out victory.

Leadership and Initiative

• Chief strategist & a true leader.

• Eliminating Rakshasas.• Exhibited his immense

strength extraordinary powers-

Destroying fortress of Lanka.

Bringing Dronagiri Parvat (Sanjivini Booti)

• Shri Hanuman lead the vanar sen in search for Sitaji (Initiation)

EXAMPLES FROM RAMAYANAMotivation & SWOT Analysis – One of the most obvious incidences, in which

management were used is very clearly visible is that of Hanuman going to Lanka. His mission was to locate Sita there and give her Lord Ram’s message. When it became clear that Sita was in Lanka, Jambvant asked Hanuman to go there. He helped him in realising his true potential and motivated him to go in the enemy’s camp.

Once mentally prepared for the job and reached there, first thing which Hanuman did was to completely analyse the situation in Lanka. He did a complete study about the Lankan’s, assessing their strengths and weaknesses, the various threats and opportunities which he had in the enemy’s camp.

As a good leaders in future we should do