Abstract
In this chapter, some indigenous Indian constructs that could enrich organizational research and management literature are reviewed. First the Indian concept of self is discussed, which has impact on most concepts and processes. Then constructs like adhyAtma or Spirituality, zraddhA, tapas, lajjA, and lokasaMgraha are reviewed. An Indian theory of creativity is also reviewed to illustrate how indigenous Indian theories could contribute to global knowledge systems. The chapter is concluded with a discussion of future research directions and implications for Indian and global psychology and management.
Harvard-Kyoto protocol for transliteration for devanagarI is used for all saMskRit and hindI words and names, and the first letters of names are not capitalized. All non-English words are italicized.
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Notes
- 1.
Industrial and organizational psychology and organizational behavior are the two disciplines that address issues pertaining to individuals, which is referred to as management of people. An analysis of the APA Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology (Zedec, 2010) shows that of the 64 chapters in the three volumes, only eight chapters have a positive focus: Creativity, Flexible Work Schedules, Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Training and Employee Development for Improved Performance, Mentoring, Executive Coaching, and Proactive Work Behavior: Forward-Thinking and Change-Oriented Action in Organizations. There are five chapters that pertain to negative topics: Conflict at Work, Managerial Derailment, Workplace Aggression and Violence, Sexual Harassment, and Organizational Downsizing. The negative topic of stress is combined with the positive construct of well-being to downplay stress in organizations. Similarly, other potential negative issues are presented as neutral topics: Work Matters: Job Design in Classic and Contemporary Perspectives (dehumanizing of work in the factory is glossed over), Workplace Safety and Accidents: An Industrial and Organizational Psychology Perspective (accidents are downplayed under safety, see Business Week that covered flagrant disregard to worker safety in the USA). Similarly, six negative topics are presented as neutral topics: Disability and Employment: New Directions for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (disability is often created by organizations through repetitive works), Nonstandard Workers: Work Arrangements and Outcomes (labels like nonstandard workers hides how organizations treat people who are on the fringes of the society), Work Team Diversity (often neglects the issues of diverse workforces and paints a positive picture of how organizations celebrate diversity), Organizational Exit (how employees are terminated unfairly is glossed over). Also, topics like leadership, motivation, and team building are presented as positive constructs and the negative issues like autocratic managers, managers who use cane rather than carrot, and negative aspects of working in teams that are cliques are glossed over. Of the 64 chapters, 43 chapters are couched as neutral topics that refer to management functions like performance appraisal, compensation, selection, and so forth. The handbook chapters support the observation that researchers and practitioners in the fields of management, industrial organizational psychology, and human resource management are known to have adopted a pro-management approach, which is reflected in the aggressive deunionization (Lawler, 1990, 1994) of the workplace globally sacrificing workplace democracy and dehumanization of work in not only manufacturing but service industry also (see Hochschild’s work on emotional labor, 1983).
- 2.
Verse 6: yastu sarvANi bhUtAnyAtmanyevAnupazyati, sarvabhUteSu cAtmAnaM tato na vbjugupsate. But that person who sees all the beings in the self and the self in all the beings, does not abhor anybody. Verse 7: Yasmin sarvANi bhUtAnyAtmaivAbhUd vijAnataH, tatra ko mohar kaH zoka ekatvamanupazyataH. In the state in which all beings become the self itself, seeing union of all, what attachment or sorrow would the knowing person experience?
- 3.
See Bhawuk (2011), Chapter 4, for a definition and discussion of manas, buddhi, ahaGkAra, and antaHkaraNa. The closest translation of ahaGkAra would be ego, which comes at the cost of much loss of meaning. People often use mind for manas, which is simply wrong, since manas is the locus of cognition, affect and behavior, whereas mind is only cognitive. And buddhi is closest to the super-ego in Freudian parlance, but without ego, which makes the similarity rather superficial. And antaHkaraNa is the composite internal organ or agent combining manas, buddhi, and ahaGkAra according to sAGkhya darzana. However, Adizankara also includes citta in the definition of antaHkaraNa (see Bhawuk, 2014 for a discussion of citta).
- 4.
bhagavadgItA Verse 7.11: balaM balavatAM cAhaM kAmarAgavivarjitaM, dharmAviruddho bhUteSu kAmo’smi bharatarSabha. I am also the strength of the strong who are without desire and attachment. I am the desire in all beings, which is not against the dharma. In this verse, first kRSNa tells arjuna that he (kRSNa himself) is strength of those who are devoid of desire and attachment, which speaks against having desires or attachment to anything. Strength lies in being without desire and attachment alludes to niSkAma karma, or performing actions without desiring the outcomes of the actions, which is the basic tenet of the bhagavadgItA. niSkAma karma is always for lokasaMgraha or common good, and, therefore, without craving for any outcome. Then he further explains that he is kAma or desire that is consistent with dharma. This indicates that desire or pleasure is to be guided by dharma. Thus, the guiding principle for leading one’s life as a gRhastha or householder is to practice niSkAma karma and to follow the dharma.
- 5.
In the Indian worldview, there are seven lokas or universes, namely, bhUH, bhuvaH, svaH, mahaH, janaH, tapaH, and satyam. Therefore, Chakraborty’s observation that lokasaMgraha pertains to the cosmic consciousness is quite consistent with the Indian knowledge systems.
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Bhawuk, D.P.S. (2022). Indian Management: Constructs, Models, and Theories. In: Pandey, A., Budhwar, P., Bhawuk, D.P.S. (eds) Indigenous Indian Management. Palgrave Studies in Indian Management. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87906-8_3
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