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A Project Report On Management Lessons from Ramayana

Submitted in partial fulfillment for the Award of degree of Master of Business Administration

Submitted To:-

Submitted By:-

JIET School of Management

(Affiliated to Rajasthan Technical University) JIET Universe, NH-65, Pali Road, Mogra, Jodhpur

2011-2013

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CONTENTS Index Page No. 1 2 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Summary of Ramayana Managnent lesson form Ramayan Shri ram as manager and leader Rama qualities Hanuman qualities SWOT Core values Ramayan tips for good governance Conclusion Bibliography Title

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Ramayana: Summary
The Ramayana is one of the two great Indian epics,the other being the Mahabharata. The Ramayana tells about life in India around 1000 BCE and offers models in dharma. The hero, Rama, lived his whole life by the rules of dharma; in fact, that was why Indian consider him heroic. When Rama was a young boy, he was the perfect son. Later he was an ideal husband to his faithful wife, Sita, and a responsible ruler of Aydohya. "Be as Rama," young Indians have been taught for 2,000 years; "Be as Sita." The original Ramayana was a 24,000 couplet-long epic poem attributed to the Sanskrit poet Valmiki. Oral versions of Rama's story circulated for centuries, and the epic was probably first written down sometime around the start of the Common Era. It has since been told, retold, translated and transcreated throughout South and Southeast Asia, and the Ramayana continues to be performed in dance, drama, puppet shows, songs and movies all across Asia. From childhood most Indians learn the characters and incidents of these epics and they furnish the ideals and wisdom of common life. The epics help to bind together the many peoples of India, transcending caste, distance and language. Two allIndian holidays celebrate events in the Ramayana. Dussehra, a fourteen-day festival in October, commemorates the siege of Lanka and Rama's victory over Ravana, the demon king of Lanka. Divali, the October-November festival of Lights, celebrates Rama and Sita's return home to their kingdom of Ayodhya Prince Rama was the eldest of four sons and was to become king when his father retired from ruling. His stepmother, however, wanted to see her son Bharata, Rama's younger brother, become king. Remembering that the king had once

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promised to grant her any two wishes she desired, she demanded that Rama be banished and Bharata be crowned. The king had to keep his word to his wife and ordered Rama's banishment. Rama accepted the decree unquestioningly. "I gladly obey father's command," he said to his stepmother. "Why, I would go even if you ordered it." When Sita, Rama's wife, heard Rama was to be banished, she begged to accompany him to his forest retreat. "As shadow to substance, so wife to husband," she reminded Rama. "Is not the wife's dharma to be at her husband's side? Let me walk ahead of you so that I may smooth the path for your feet," she pleaded. Rama agreed, and Rama, Sita and his brother Lakshmana all went to the forest. When Bharata learned what his mother had done, he sought Rama in the forest. "The eldest must rule," he reminded Rama. "Please come back and claim your rightful place as king." Rama refused to go against his father's command, so Bharata took his brother's sandals and said, "I shall place these sandals on the throne as symbols of your authority. I shall rule only as regent in your place, and each day I shall put my offerings at the feet of my Lord. When the fourteen years of banishment are over, I shall joyously return the kingdom to you." Rama was very impressed with Bharata's selflessness. As Bharata left, Rama said to him, "I should have known that you would renounce gladly what most men work lifetimes to learn to give up." Later in the story, Ravana, the evil King of Lanka, (what is probably present-day Sri Lanka) abducted Sita. Rama mustered the aid of a money army, built a causeway across to Lanka, released Sita and brought her safely back to Aydohya. In order to set a good example, however, Rama demanded that Sita prove her purity before he could take her back as his wife. Rama, Sita and Bharata are all

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examples of persons following their dharma.

This lesson focuses on how the Ramayana teaches Indians to perform their dharma. Encourage students to pick out examples of characters in the epic who were faithful to their dharma and those who violated their dharma. Mahatma Gandhi dreamed that one day modern India would become a Ram-rajya. Main Characters of the Ramayana Dasaratha -- King of Ayodhya (capital of Kosala), whose eldest son was Rama. Dasaratha had three wives and four sons -- Rama, Bharata, and the twins Lakshmana and Satrughna. Rama -- Dasaratha's first-born son, and the upholder of Dharma (correct conduct and duty). Rama, along with his wife Sita, have served as role models for thousands of generations in India and elsewhere. Rama is regarded by many Hindus as an incarnation of the god Vishnu. Sita -- Rama's wife, the adopted daughter of King Janak. Sita was found in the furrows of a sacred field, and was regarded by the people of Janak's kingdom as a blessed child. Bharata -- Rama's brother by Queen Kaikeyi. When Bharata learned of his mother's scheme to banish Rama and place him on the throne, he put Rama's sandals on the throne and ruled Ayodhya in his name. Hanuman -- A leader of the monkey tribe allied with Rama against Ravana. Hanuman has many magical powers because his father was the god of the wind. Hanuman's devotion to Rama, and his supernatural feats in the battle to recapture Sita, has made him one of the most popular characters in the Ramayana.

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Ravana -- The 10-headed king of Lanka who abducted Sita. Kaushlaya -- Dasaratha's first wife, and the mother of Rama. Lakshmana -- Rama's younger brother by Dasaratha's third wife, Sumitra. When Rama and Sita were exiled to the forest, Lakshmana followed in order to serve.

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Management Lessons from Ramayana

Management and Ramayana

Management of any type, whether in business or some other human activity, in simplest of words is the act of bringing people together to work for achieving the desired goal. Broadly speaking management is defined by five functions. Planning Organizing Leading Controlling Coordinating There are number of books, journals, articles etc are available, which talks about various management theories. They explain management not only as a science but also as an art. Numerous research papers and case studies provide us real life experiences and examples of using these management theories in building an organization. But way before the modern day management gurus gave their

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theories, principles and concepts of management the great writers like Tulsidas, Valmiki etc had explained them in the ancient Hindu epics. If one studies these mythological books, then one can easily make out about the various management lessons which are taught in them. Every incidence teaches us a new lesson and in itself is a classic example of putting management at its best use and getting the work done.

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Shri Ram as a Leader and as a Manager

ShriRam was Independent, Assertive but also Respectful, was firm in his decisions, was open and frank, did not misuse power, delegated power to lieutenants motivated troops honorably and led from the front. ShriRam led an inferior & less armed army against the might of the Ravanas elite army.

The Rakshasa army was very potent, having defeated the formidable devas & vanquished powerful kings

Driven by Ramas inspirational leadership, where courage & compassion

were the major virtues his army responded magnificiently & carved out victory.

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Teamwork is an important principle in management, Rama applied the same in search of Sitaji and was successful in the mission. Sri Rama exhibits inspirational motivation to the

vanaras(monkeys) in the construction of the bridge to Lanka

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Ramas Qualities
Patience Confidence Only Mercy adorns worrier Lesson Of Politics & compassion

Smartness Ramas Leadership Qualities

Dharma & Righteousness Risk Taking Humbleness

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Hanumans Qualities leadership & Initiative

Shri HANUMAN : Lead the Vanar Sena in search for Sitaji (initiative).

Chief Strategist & a true leader. Eliminating Rakshasas Exhibited his immense strength extraordinary powerso o Destroying fortress of Lanka Eliminating its resources

o Bringing Dronagiri parvat (Sanjivini Booti)

One of the most obvious incidences, in which use management principles is very clearly visible is that of Hanuman going to Lanka. His mission was to locate Sita there and give her Lord Rams message. When it became clear that Sita was in Lanka, Jamvant asked Hanuman to go there. He helped him in realising his true potential and motivated him to go in the enemys camp. Once mentally prepared for the job and reached there, first thing which Hanuman did was to completely analyse the situation in Lanka. He did a complete study about the Lankans, assessing their strengths and weaknesses, the various threats and opportunities which he had in the enemys camp. This is what management is all about Ascertaining the goals, or job to be done. Getting mentally prepared for it. Having a right plan.

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Analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the competitor and what threats and opportunities are there in the business.

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SWOT ANALYSIS
[strength, weakness, opportunities and threats] Analysis is one of the most important aspects of modern day management. Moreover Jamvant motivating Hanuman is a classic example of a good Manager helping his personnel to realise their potential and acting accordingly. The other example which I would like to talk about here is that of good and bad managers. A good manager is the one, who can get his work done even from the rivals. In Ramayana Sughriv has shown some of the best managerial characteristics. As a successful manager he had Ram to work accordingly and got his kingdom back from a brother who was far mightier than him.

to achieve your desired goal. Using his managerial skills he even had Angad to work for him. Angad was the son of his brother whom he got killed by Ram. Had Sughriv been a bad manager then the same Angad would have proved to be his arch nemesis. In the same Ramayana, again and again Ravana has shown the signs of a bad manager, and hence led to the demise of his kingdom. From the starting itself he ignored the suggestions of his managers and got his kingdom in the state of war with Ram. Moreover during a crisis, a company needs its best of the managers to bail it out of the same. A good manager listens to what his subordinates has to say and tries to keep them together especially when the organization needs them the most. But Ravanas mismanagement was responsible for Vibhishan[one of the wisest manager he should have listened to] leaving him amidst a crisis. It is said that businesses are run on relations. A manager who can nurture good relations with the employees, clients and anyone in whose contact the organization and the manager comes in, can do wonders for his company. Lord Ram was very good at it. He was the master of nurturing relations. His prowess at it was so great that while Ravana was lying wounded in the battle field and was about to die, he

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shared some important lessons which he had learnt in his life. The same Ravana, who at the same time had not responded to Lakshman, when he was sent to seek Ravanas wisdom by Ram, was more than happy in sharing his knowledge with Ram. All these examples and many more like this, tells us a great deal about management. For a manager there is lot to learn from our epics. Not just Ramayana, but Gita, Mahabharat and others as well have a lot to offer as management lessons.

Building Leadership Skills - Lessons from the Ramayana Provide a concrete vision to followers
Rama held forth a concrete vision of the future. The mission of the army led by him was to defeat the rakshasas and rescue Sita. To this end, a number of actions were taken such as sending out search parties, building an overseas bridge and issuing a direct challenge to Ravana. These actions flowed naturally as a result of the vision held by Rama. This clarity about the goals as well as the process enabled the army to put its heart and soul in the campaign to rescue Sita.

Believe in the ability of subordinates to achieve an aim and inspire them to do so

Rama led what was essentially a rag-tag army against the sophisticated army of Ravana. The Rakshasa army was a powerful one, which had defeated the formidable, devas and vanquished powerful kings. In contrast, the army of Rama comprised of soldiers who were perhaps aboriginal tribes who had never encountered a sophisticated army before. Not surprisingly, Ravana and his courtiers jeered at the army and laughed scornfully at Angad, Ram's messenger who had come with an offer of peace. Yet Rama maintained confidence in the ability of his army to surmount this seemingly impossible odd and enthused by his confidence his army fought to achieve victory.

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Set ambitious goals and motivate troops to meet them

Treat all people equally

Rama was a prince who interacted freely with the people. Unlike many princes of his day who disdained the common folk, Rama did not have any biases regarding developing relationships with people of a lower social status. Thus he accepted the hospitality of the chief of the fisher folk and allied with the forest tribes who were out of the pale of mainstream society. In fact, Rama gave them positions of equality. This was not only due to the war conditions since he maintained the same relationship when he won the war. Not surprisingly, he commanded great loyalty from all. Develop relationships with people regardless of social status and treat everybody with courtesy and respect.

Stand courageously in the face of great adversity

Following Sita's abduction, Rama wandered destitute and penniless in the forests searching for Sita. The Ramayana is full of poignant details of Rama's sadness and his memory of Sita. Yet this grief did not prevent him from searching for allies even when the enemy was unknown. Sugriva, a chameleon like character, would not have agreed to help them, had he not sensed that despite their misfortune, the fugitive prince was indeed a power to reckon with. And throughout the battle with Ravana, Rama maintained his courage even at the darkest hours and in doing so inspired his army to not only continue the unequal fight, but also win it. Maintain resolve during crisis and take proactive steps to meet challenges

Stand for morality but do not engage in judgmental posturing

Rama was well known for his moral conduct and his effort to stand forth as an example of his values. But nowhere does the Ramayana depict him as a blind puritan who demanded that all practices that did not conform to his code of conduct be seen as sinful and be banned. A person with a resolve of having only one wife when other kings including his own father had several, Rama did not raise any objection when Sugriva married Bali's widow even though he had a wife already.

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Consult subordinates on important matters and allow them to give their opinions freely
When Vibhishan defected, Rama took him under his protection. He then had a talk with the various army chiefs some of whom disagreed with Rama. Instead of punishing them, Rama assuaged their suspicions and got them to accept his decision. Everybody felt that their opinions had been heard and that their objections had been clarified. Empowerment of subordinates to question his decisions was a key and unique quality of Rama which one cannot but help comparing with Ravana who never allowed anybody to contradict him. Empower subordinates

Follow a code of ethics and be ready to sacrifice to follow it

Rama brought ethical decision making in all areas of his life. There are many leaders who make a sacrifice once in order to build credibility and then use it to make unethical decisions later relying on the knowledge that their initial sacrifice would make them immune to attacks. The generation that fought for India's independence degenerated into wheelers and dealers after assuming power. Yet the same leaders would refer to their past sacrifices while seeking votes intending that their current unethical conduct be tolerated. Rama did not do so. Thus, when Ravana swaggered to battle on the first day without adequate preparations and was rendered weaponless by Rama, he was allowed to return to his citadel because the code of chivalry followed by Rama stipulated that an unarmed enemy not be attacked. Build credibility by living according to cherished values.

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Ramayana - Core Value Proposition Transcript

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Ramayana Core Value Proposition and Synergy Positioning deck PS: Ramayana is RSS-enabled (and enabling) 2. Dasaratha -and-play, but non-valueadding relationships 3. As-is Family Architecture Kausalya Dasaratha Sumitra Kaikeyi 4. Children children by touching base and leveraging those relationships - of-breed

5. To-be Family Architecture Kausalya Kaikeyi Sumitra Rama Bharatha Lakshmana Shatrughana 6. Training methodologies Lakshmanas core competencies of efficient risk management against demonic showstoppers 7. Elevate and Pitch impressing key stakeholders with leading edge bow-lifting skills 8. Knowledge Management ed her knowledge base of lessons learnt, best practices and boons to initiate a paradigm shift in the legacy inheritance architecture by demanding Ramas proactive, seamless migration out of the loop 9. Two Tier Boon Model Leadership position for Boon1 Bharatha Rama to transition to Forest Boon2 Effort = 14 person years 10. Surpanakha Offering -win, value-added partnership with Rama as she considered him to be a strategic fit, but Rama recontextualized that relationship with his cutting-edge action item to deliver a loosely coupled architecture involving her body and her nose

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11. Status Report to Ravana B2B features and robust back-end to her brother thus incubating an impactful desire to seamlessly migrate Sita across silos 12. Ravanas project plan -end deer covering a back-end demon to entice Sita to go across organizational boundaries 13. Three Tier Kidnap architecture Deer UI Rich Experience High Desirability Asura Middleware Flexibility Customizability Lanka Backend Ashokavana Storage High security 14. Proposal presentation core value proposition and positioned his rich, compelling ROI in order to gain Sitas mindshare 15. Targeted Search reusable components to build a chair for himself, then harnessed long-tail effects to use a distributed architecture to efficiently transition fire across Lanka 16. Offshore development -based social network of robust primate resources and leveraged Jataayus knowledgebase to conduct a gap analysis prior to initiating a project to build components to close those gaps. 17. Case Study of collective intelligence and large scale, emergent, collaborative, network effects to use small, loosely coupled reusable components to bridge key requirement gaps. 18. Case Study-Bridge project Lanka Bid Daddies Junior Simians Squirrel Monkey Strength India Lots of Rocks Leadership 19. 20. Bridge Process Pick Chant Search Drop Float Case Study-Bridge Project Reality Rama

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21. Kumbhakarna Design Ravana attempted to harness his legacy, large, monolithic, inflexible sibling to unleash radical change but with severe time-tomarket challenges, this strategy did not scale well 22. Defect Management Causal analysis of Lakshmanas showstopper revealed the need to harness H(an)uman capital to deliver rapid defect fixes using the Sanjeevani framework 23. Sanjeevani Framework Buy one, get mountain free Multi-purpose drugs Himalayan purity 24. End-to-End B2C B2C (Brahmastra To Ceylonese) components to deliver killer performance 25. Risk Mitigation avoidance strategies, Sita underwent extensive end-to-end firecall testing and assessment to uncover potential, mission-critical infidelities 26. Closing the feedback loop and ballpark image metrics revealed a potential risk in the maintenance of Indian Male Ego, thereby leading Rama to envisioneer a separation of concerns for both of them.

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Peace of Mind: Ramayana's Tips for Good Governance

The Ramayana, the saga of Rama's life written by Valmiki, is widely acclaimed as among the greatest of all Indian epics. The narrative is regarded as a veritable treatise on social sciences, offering lessons that transcend both time and space. In fact, this famous Grantha carries useful tips on ethics and values, statecraft and politics, and even general and human resources management. The Ramayana can serve as a useful reference book for those willing to learn. With Rama Rajya as a model for good governance, the Ramayana is a must read for practitioners of statecraft. More so, because much fuss is being made today over Ayodhya being the birthplace of Rama and the controversy over the building of a Ram temple at the Ramjanmabhoomi. The Ayodhya Kanda, the second chapter, contains comprehensive lessons on good governance. When Bharata, the younger brother of Rama, goes to meet the latter in the forest to request him to return to Ayodhya and rule, the two brothers enter into a long and instructive dialogue. Rama counsels Bharata on governance. From quality of ministers and the importance of strategy sessions, to temperance in administration to justice, Rama expounds on all the subtleties of statecraft in a lucid manner. Apparently, Rama seems to be inquiring of Bharata his well-being, whether all is well at Ayodhya - in fact, however, in the process, the lessons on effective governance are offered in a powerful manner. Though the dialogue between the two brothers runs into several pages and a thorough reading is required to understand the intricacies, some important lessons are obvious, particularly the ones given on pages 441-449 of the Valmiki Ramayana.

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A critical factor in good governance is the quality of ministers. Rama asks Bharata whether he has appointed courageous, knowledgeable, strong-willed men with a high emotional quotient as his ministers, because quality advice is the key to effective governance. The emphasis is on competence and confidentiality. Rama's advice to Bharata is to take a decision on a complex issue neither unilaterally nor in consultation with too many people. There should be an efficient core group. A good administrator can ensure high returns from minimuminvestments. Lord Ram had asked Bharat nearly 400 questions on governance when the younger brother requested him not to go into exile Rama tells Bharata to prefer one wise man to a thousand fools as it is the wise who can ensure prosperity during an economic crisis. Even if there is one minister who is really effective, the king will gain immensely. Appointing tested men of noble lineage and integrity for strategic positions is the key to successful government. Moderate taxes should be levied on the people, lest they revolt. Rama wants Bharata to treat his soldiers well and pay their legitimate wages on time. Delays in payment of wages and other allowances can lead to dangerous consequences. Trade and agriculture are important and Rama wants Bharata to ensure good irrigation facilities rather than being overly dependent on rains. Traders need to be ensured of a fear-free environment and their grievances should be redressed promptly. Protecting the forests and maintaining livestock have also been dealt with as important aspects of effective governance. In fact, the vision of the Ramayana has eternal relevance. Law and justice, finance and business, corruption framing of innocents for monetary gains, injustice to the poor are all mentioned. Rama's words of advice to Bharata are as relevant today as they were in the Treta period, the time when Rama is believed to have lived. It is worthwhile to ponder over the thoughts and deeds of Rama rather than expend valuable time and energy fighting over his birthplace and whether a temple should be constructed there. For

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the benefit of present and future generations, Rama gave valuable tips to Bharata on good governance. We should focus on this aspect rather than on outward worship.

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Conclusion Ramayan Lessons Leadership(renouncing egoism, equanimity, teamwork, harmony, trust), communication power(clear, complete, courteous), Team work(search of Sita), Innovation(bridge building, motivated & encouraged sita by hanuman, burnt lanka), devotion(building bridge, fighting rakshas,fetching sanjivani mountains), loyalty(agni pariksha) Mahabharata Lessons Decission making & judgement(arjun & duryodhan asking Krishna for help), Getting work done(dhronacharya asking eklavyas thumb), impediments to sound mental health(greed, envy, egotism) Corporate Governance (TATA Group Ratan Tata) Hard Work (Reliance The Guru) Team Work (Infosys & ITC e Chaupal) One Man/Woman can make a difference (Sunil Mittal, Kiran Mazumdar, Dhirubai Ambani, Indra Nooyi)

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Bibliography

https://sites.google.com/site/riteshseth/Home/general-reads/management-lessonsfrom-ramayana
http://www.citehr.com/350021-leadership-lessons-ramayana.html http://www.helium.com/items/1173599-lessons-found-in-the-ramayana-dharma-in-ramayanamorals-in-ramayana-dasaratha-sita-sugriva