Innovative Approaches: Applying Ancient Indian Wisdom to Contemporary Management

Ethos is derived from the Greek language originally meaning “accustomed place” or a character that one shows while in the face of challenges. Ethos can be described as the characters, disposition, and values of a particular individual or community that drive their actions and fuel them to make the right decisions at the right time. Ethos is not peculiar to a particular style of dressing or following a religion. It is deeply rooted in a person’s psyche that empowers and motivates him to build the foundations of what he stands by in his existence. The collective spirit of a community that builds unity in them and roots into their consciousness as a guiding force is the literal meaning of the term ethos.

Indian ethos-

Indian the are beliefs and practices that are adopted by the ancient scriptures such as Bhagavat Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharata and Chanakya Neeti{Arthshashtra} India is a land of diversity, where many religions coexist across its borders, though there are differences in languages, customs, and beliefs, all religions have two aspects that are the same for all of them.

1)Divinity of all souls- This is righty expressed in the Upanishads as AHAM BRAHMASMI, which signifies that god exists in each one of us.

2)The Oneness of all minds- This states that all minds though working in different ways are rooted with similar needs of desire, ambition, success, and peace. It states that all of us are holistically connected on a deeper level.

Correlation between Indian ethos and relevant business strategies

The Indian ethos in management redefines management as a holistic approach to encouraging ordinary people to generate extraordinary results. By adhering to an Advaitic (non-dual) approach, Indian Ethos views a working professional with the various roles she/he plays at an individual level and a societal level. This approach is drawn from various scriptures and manuscripts that are tested from time to time and passed down from generation to help the reader develop a sustainable plan of action for a stress-free and productive life.

These are a few of the tactics

1)Holistic Approach – The basis of the Indian ethos is the divinity of all souls and the oneness of minds that encourages individuals and management to develop a work-life balance. It states the need to end the trade-off between sustainability and economic welfare. Both of them can be achieved, the key here is to create a balance.

2) Value-based approach -Indian ethos greatly emphasizes ethical values like honesty, morality, gratitude, humility, and compassion. Only an individual who roots within these values can create a healthy and sustained life for himself.

3) Knowledge-Driven Approach – Indian scriptures provide a framework for applying the knowledge that you learn, they are based on practical lessons which can be applied in daily life.

4) Quality-based approach – Indian ethos stresses total quality management to achieve excellence at work through discipline, hard work, and self-motivation of an individual and organization.

5)Being aware of your strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats - Indian ethos holds that you must examine or get to know yourself before you go out into the world.

The Indian culture is rich in values, in this research, we identify the relationship between the lessons of the ancient scriptures and assess their relevance in modern-day business practices. This is the summary of a project I have been working on that dives deeper into the studies of Indian Ethos and how deeply they impacts the modern-day business world. The study dives deeper into the understanding of various Indian cultures and their manuscripts, drawing conclusions that affect the due course of the research.