“You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can't possibly live long enough to make them all yourself”. Modern businesses can learn various management principles from the historical information available with us. After all, what is the use in studying history if we do not learn from the mistakes of past generations?
India has a long history. There have been several rulers and there are several success stories and failures. However the two great epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata stand apart from the rest. (Well…these two cannot be strictly considered as history, as these are referred to as a part of Hindu mythology. But for the purpose of this post we would assume that it is a part of our history).
Of the two epics, Mahabharata in particular, can be taken up by various management institutes to study the management philosophies. For example if Kauravas (read Kaurava Inc) had taken up lean management seriously they would not have ended up in a disaster. Had Dhritarashtra (read “The Chairman”) taken up production planning seriously, he could have had control over his family. How can a person manage 100 kids (read “Employees”) when people cannot manage 1 or 2? If you have 100 kids you would feel like kicking all of them out instead of disciplining them. Moreover top management needs to have some vision. Dhritarashtra naturally did not have vision. Gandhari, wife of Dhritarashtra (read Managing Director) had vision but decided not to use it. On top of all this, Shakuni is the advisor (read consultant……..he is a bad consultant unlike me…OK) for Kauravas. On the contrary Pandavas (I don’t understand how can they be called Pandavas considering the fact that Kunthi used the Mantra with the help of so many gods to get herself pregnant!!!) were small in number (5 in number is quite manageable right). And they had a right person like Krishna (He is the real consultant like me) who helped in their strategy.
Drawing analogy to the current business scenario based on the mythical masterpiece, General Motors (like Kauravas), and other car manufacturers in US, has grown in its size without adding any value. They have been begging to various governments (this is heights of begging….call it the transatlantic begging) without any success. Their downfall seems to be quite imminent unless the various governments decide to use the tax payer’s money to save these behemoths. On the contrary, smaller automobile manufacturing companies like, Suzuki and Honda though affected by the recession severely need not beg for their survival…hopefully.
The last thing, which the Big three beggars of the automobile industry could do, is to get the funds infusion from various governments and then request me (just like how Pandavas requested Krishna) to help them in their revival strategy. I know you guys are up in arms now…..or may be not. Appreciate or abuse by giving your comments.
1 comment:
well.. indian mythologies have a lot to offer.. if only people bother to listen..
take for instance the bhagwaad gita says to do the right thing which mite sound like a philosophical concept however the same is confirmed by game theory that for maximum profit c-c behaviour (e.g. prioner's dilemma) is desirable..!
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