International Indexed & Referred Research Journal, November, 2012, ISSN 0975-3486, RNI-RAJBIL-2009/30097; VOL IV,* ISSUE- 38

Research PaperManagement

Business Ethics and Management by Gandhian Values

November,2012 * Research Scholar(VMOU) & Social Activist & works with Sughosh India. A B S T R A C T
The term Ethics and Morals are often used interchangeably but ethics and Gandhian values are broader than morals. Ethics is the study of what we understand to be good and the right behavior and how people make those judgments. Business Ethics aims at integrating core values like trust, honesty, fairness, social responsibility in the way entrepreneurs and business houses in making and evaluating business decisions. This research paper examines the applicability of the ethos as well as the practices for fair marketing and a business is a long run perspective. Key Words : Business ethics, Indian values, management, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, moral behavior, Ulrich & Thielemann, social responsibility, US, maximizing profits, education, Gandhian Values, marketing.

* Ankit Bhatnagar

Introduction:Today many businesses are involved in the social action. Adecision as to whether companies should extend their social involvement requires a careful examination of the arguments for and against such actions. Certainly societys expectations are changing and the trend seems to be lesser social responsiveness. In a public survey of Harvard Business Review, most respondents considered social responsibility a legitimate aim for the business. In Websters Dictionary, Ethics is defined as the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with the moral duty and obligations. Corporate governance must take consideration of ethical values and social responsibility in Gandhian way. Importance of Ethics:There are several factors which are essential for the business in a long run like employees welfare, environmental concern, success and career of managers, decision making, personal and social values of entrepreneur and country, avoiding penalties. The West has reached extreme stage of development, progress and over indulgence. Now they are trying to back simplicity. As the SocietalMarketingConcept (Philosophy) gains more widespread acceptance in the academic and business world you will see the teachings of great men like Mahatma Gandhi, along with many others be applied to highereducationcurricula. Just like the Art of War was applied to business during the 80s, we will have the teachings of other more socially responsive philosophies applied in the 2000s. Professional responsibility and ethical behavior are in conflict with maximizing profits. In this mission, they are looking for the route in Gandhism. Gandhiji was one ofthe best managersof all times. He knew the importance of management. We can see his management skills, whether its man management, organization

management, time management and especially ethical aspect, in all his acts. He managed them all very well and these skills led him to achieve his targets. He is an emblem of management. The economic thought expounded by him was moral and humanistic. For Gandhiji, the only sensible economics was the one that holds human dignity and also a quality of life necessary to promote it. He wanted economics to focus not just on how an individual is likely to behave but also how he ought to behave. Management & Gandhism:Gandhis attack on industrialization is even more scathing than that on machinery. For him: industrialism depends entirely on your capacity to exploit, on foreign markets being open to you, and on the absence of competitors it is this Western path that Gandhi does not want India to follow because if an entire nation of 300 million took to similar economic exploitation, it would strip the world bare like locusts. Gandhi pleaded for the humanization of business for immunization against the ideas of distrust among the communities of the nations and the nationalities of the world. He wanted to take the country from areas of hostility into areas of harmony of faiths through ethics, so that we could work towards understanding each other. His mass contact programme was specifically aimed at generating a climate of confidence and competition and eliminating misgiving and misconceptions, conflicts and confrontation. Gandhi ji argued that true economics never militates against the highest ethical standard just as all true ethics, to be worth its name, must at the same time be also good economics, true economics stands for social justice; it promotes the good of all equally, including the weakest and is indispensable for decent life.

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International Indexed & Referred Research Journal, November, 2012, ISSN 0975-3486, RNI-RAJBIL-2009/30097; VOL IV,* ISSUE- 38

Related Gandhian ideologies on Ethics:Ulrich & Thielemann says that 85% to 90% of managers generally subscribes to the statement that sound ethics is good business in the long run whereas Bird and Waters(Moral muteness of managers 1989) insists on the Moral muteness where there is threat to harmony, efficiency and power effectiveness which is devastating for the business in long run. Swami Vivekanand said, If wealth is lost nothing is lost, if health is lost something is lost, but if the character is lost everything is lost. W. M. Hoffman emphasizes on moral corporate culture and moral autonomy of individual. Phronesis echoed practical objectiveness, either private or communal eudemonia. Every religion in India like Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Jain and Buddhism had its own impact in several ways and Gandhi ji learned all good things from all the religions and propounded his own theories of social and business ethics which were derived word by word from religious texts and philosophies. Jainism and Buddhism emphasizes on the minimization of the wealth and striving life on the minimal conditions. Even Gita(holy book) explains the driving forces in todays rat race are speed and greed as well as ambition and competition. The natural fallout from these forces is erosion of ones ethico-moral fiber. Findings:According to more than three-fourths of the respondents according to a survey, the incidence of fraud has increased in the country in this last one year. But the fact that around two-thirds of the respondents said that scams and corporate frauds were unearthed because of legislations such as the Right to Information Act (RTI) and Public Interest Litigation (PIL) speaks volumes about public awareness in India. According to more than three-fourths of the respondents, the incidence of fraud has increased in the country in this last one year. But the fact that around two-thirds of the respondents said that scams and corporate frauds were

unearthed because of legislations such as the Right to Information Act (RTI) and Public Interest Litigation (PIL) speaks volumes about public awareness in India. Nearly 40% of the respondents indicated that the inherent nature of the industries in which their companies operated was responsible for facilitating corruption; 34% respondents said that it was due to the weak tone at the top. Major frauds 1. Data or information theft and IP infringement 2. Bribery and corruption 3. Fraud by senior management and conflict of interest 4. Vendor fraud or kickbacks 5. Regulatory non-compliance Conclusion:Thus the scenario is becoming worse day by day and the tools to stop these unethical issues are not working because the conditions and top management is much responsible for unbalancing the gap between profit maximization and ethical practices. Suggestions:Managers do have a responsibility to create an organizational environment that fosters ethical decisions making by institutionalizing ethics. Theodore Purcell and James Weber suggest that this can be achieved in three ways: appropriate code of ethics, appointing ethic committee and teaching ethics in developmental programs. Management development programs are very seldom used, although companies like TATA, Allied Chemicals, General Electric, IBM, Nokia, Apple Inc. have instituted such programs and achieved great moral success and spotless business reputation. Mahatma Gandhi had established the credibility by his actions through examples of good governance and the world followed his ideology. Mahatma Gandhi was someone who was stubborn and has strong principles of righteousness.

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R E F E R E N C E

Harold Koontz & Heinz Weihrich, Essentials of management Fifth edition, Tata McGraw-Hill Saul W. Gellerman, Why Good Managers Make Bad Ethical Choices Havard Business Review(July-Aug1986), p85-90 Howard R. Bowen, Social Responsibilities Of The Businessman , New York:Harper & Brothers 1953 Waber, Institutionalizing Ethics 1981 Stephen R. Covey, Principle Centered Leadership, Simon & Schuster Ltd., West Garden Place, Kendal Street, London Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Harijan, 9 October 1937 Fraud and Corporate Governance: Changing Paradigm In India , Ernst & Young 2012

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