Mantras and Management

By Subi Subramanian

The Sanskrit word “mantra” is increasingly being invoked in management literature and discussions. What’s the real connection between mantras and management? This enlightening book attempts to uncover the connection and explain how some of the mantra fundamentals could be effectively applied to refine management techniques in today’s troubled world of scams, schemes and shattered trust.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Subi Subramanian
• Release date: Mar 24, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458019295

Subi Subramanian

Subi Subramanian is a Chicago-based international management consultant with an array of global experiences in the energy and environmental field. His contribution to promoting energy and environmental improvements so also building US-Asia partnerships is recognized through several international awards. He has a deep interest in ancient scriptures and a flair for writing.

Book preview

The Sanskrit word mantra is being used increasingly in business and management writings. What’s the connection between mantras and management? While playing table tennis, I had casually asked this question to my son Kumaresh who is an information-technology manager. His instant answer was, Dad, It’s the first three letters M A N that connects both. Yes, indeed, man is the connection between mantras and management. Both mantras and management concern human beings; both are involved in the control of activities. While mantras are intended to control mind and steady one’s thoughts, management assumes control of an organization and the activities of its people. Efficacy of mantras is dependent on repetition and persistence. Effectiveness of management is often the result of persistent efforts to motivate people in accomplishing organizational goals. Yet, mantras and management are in no way interconnected in today’s management models.

For long, management education has pursued Western thinking and models. No doubt, formal management education has produced excellent managers in many parts of the globe. However, in recent years, the world has also witnessed many scams, schemes, and shattered trust – many caused by well-known business managers such as Bernard Madoff and supposedly management think tanks like PricewaterCoopers, Lehman Bros., Anderson and others. If Western management systems and its products are so great, why did we have such financial disasters that caused successive global impacts? Today, less people trust companies and managers thus adversely impacting communities and the economy. Restoring the lost trust lies with managers themselves.

The lures of the present day world are too many. It is not surprising that some people get distracted by the temptation of huge but illegal rewards. The white-collar crimes in recent years by many high profile managers indicate a virus that has crept into our business culture. How to eradicate this virus? Not by prison sentences and by more laws alone - it requires reformation of the mind amongst managers. Mantras precisely deal with the mind and hold the potential to reform it.

Even with tighter government regulations and threats of punishments, evil and selfishness may still invade some hearts, and we may not be able to completely cut out frauds from the world. However, concern for fellow-beings is a far more commonly found human attribute, and I believe it can be made to prevail in most people albeit gradually. Occupy Wall Street is a recent movement in the USA that expresses the frustrations of the American people with the government and society at large that are unresponsive to the impact of recent financial disasters. The members of this movement are trying to share their concern with others and invite global attention to the widening gap between the rich and the poor. It seems this movement is gathering momentum not only within the United States but also in other countries of the world.

In closing, let me assure you that this is not a book to make you weary with long and boring religious sermons. It is a book that peeps into some of the mantra fundamentals and tells how they could be used to refine management techniques in today’s troubled world of scams, schemes and shattered trust. The book presents a refreshing approach to management that may help readers to hone their personal skills to effectively meet the challenges of declining trust and increasing stress in a competitive global environment.

Enjoy reading!

Subi Subramanian

Chicago

November 2011

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Chapter 1: Introduction

India is the cradle of the human race, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend and the great grandmother of tradition. The most valuable and the most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only.

- Mark Twain (1835-1910), American writer

Most of us spend our lives wrestling with questions of right and wrong. Many of these questions are either unanswered or have no easy answer. Living in a troubled society, many seem to have lost all sense of self-control. In communities of self-indulgence and abuse of