Management and Thirukkural
M. S. S. VARADAN
NEW AGE MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY FROM ANCIENT INDIAN WISDOM:
V. Srinivasan; Roli Books Pvt. Ltd., M-75, G.K. II Market,
New Delhi-110048. Rs. 295.
The author has drawn extensively from one of the greatest classics in Tamil, the Thirukkural, which is a treatise par excellence on the art of living. He has deftly interwoven into a tapestry the thoughts from this ancient Indian wisdom with that of the current day management gurus like Peter Drucker and Stephen Covey illustrating with practical examples drawn from his own experience. The book starts with a crisp introduction of the Thirukkural. Endless meetings are commonplace in organisations for various purposes. A Kural is quoted in this connection. The author has imaginatively compared the sales and marketing executives to ambassadors of a kingdom as mentioned in the Kural.
Insights
Corporate governance and ethics are much talked about these days. The author mentions that many scandals result from not following the dictum of Thiruvalluvar. He says once we substitute the references to king and prince with CEO, the reference to kingdom with company and enemy with competitor, the Kural provides very interesting management insights.
In the chapter on `The Thirukkural and I' the author recounts his personal experiences. He has also drawn from the Mahabharata when he states that he has observed that in spite of knowledgeable people on the board, the managing director mismanaged a company. He likens it to Duryodhana's court wherein well-respected seniors looked on helplessly when Draupadi was disrobed.
Management
The book is divided into two broad sections: management and leadership. The management section has the functional aspects of planning, organising, conduct of affairs and control. In planning a new venture, the Kural has been quoted. Interestingly, this is linked to Peter Drucker's statement: "Profit is needed to pay for attainment of the objectives of the business. Profit is a condition of survival. It is the cost of the future, the cost of staying in business."
Jack Welch attached a lot of importance to identification of competent managers and his mantra to his managers was "If you cannot compete at this level, you do not belong here." In this context the apt Kural is quoted: "Never trust men without testing them, give each one of them the work for which they are fit."
On creating alliances, the author has improvised a Kural, "When a person's territory/market share gets threatened and he gets jitters in his inner heart about his dwindling territory/market share, he should submit to an alliance with the powerful." Communication skill has been much emphasised in the leader's armoury.
The author must be congratulated on this admirable book, which is eminently readable and a handy one for managers. One however wishes he could have drawn from Rajaji's highly insightful comments in his book on the Kural with English translation, which could have enriched this book.
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