Three-day conference on Spirituality and Management wraps up with special sessions on good governance and citizen participation
JANUARY 7, 2016: The International Conference on Spirituality and Management, titled ‘Indigenous Models of Sustainability, Good Governance and Spiritual Transformation’, which commenced at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore on January 4, 2016, drew to a close on January 6, 2016.
Mohandas Pai, CEO, Manipal Global Education Services, who spoke on ‘The Case for Sustainability, Good Governance and Spirituality’, observed that good management meant following duty, ‘dharma’, inclusiveness and participation. “We need to have truth, justice and moderation. In that moderation lies our future and sustainability. For that, spiritual questions need to be faced.”
Addressing the participants, he said: “We, as leaders, have an obligation to society to develop models of growth that are based on sustainability; and those models have to become more inclusive. We have to focus on self-realisation and moderating the individualistic journey.”
On Day 3, after the keynote address by Mr Pai, Session 1, chaired by IIMB faculty member Dr Srinivasan Rangan, focussed on ‘Inner Development’; Session 2, chaired by Professor Sari Mattila, Visiting Faculty at IIMB, described the ‘Guru-shishya parampara’; Session 3, chaired by Ajeet N. Mathur, Professor in Strategy and International Business at IIMA, highlighted ‘Interfaith Perspectives’; and Session 4, chaired by Dr Abha Chatterjee, IIM Indore, focussed on ‘Insights on Sustainability’.
The conference, which studied the interface between spirituality and management, was organised by IIMB in collaboration with the Vedic Foundations of Indian Management (VFIM), New Delhi and supported by several institutions, such as the Sahaj Marg Spirituality Foundation.
On Day 1 and Day 2, the conference covered topics such as The Importance of Meditation in the Modern World, Workplace Spirituality, Spirituality and Management, Good Governance, Spirituality and Leadership, Benefits of the Vedic Way of Life, Ethics and Sustainable Banking in Spirituality, Spirituality and Entrepreneurship, Sustainable Development, and Developing Meditating Power.
In his closing address, Ashwin Mahesh, technologist, urbanist, journalist and scientist, spoke on ‘The Meaning of Good Governance’.
Offering examples of “bad” governance, he held wrong structuring (of central, state government and local municipal corporation functions) to be the root cause. “Deficit in governance arises as local issues are not solved at a local level. There is a disconnect between what needs to be done and what actually is done.” According to him, deficits in governance led to silos in public administration, talent and training deficits in departments, weak planning and implementations and lack of funds. “Another big problem is that the government is expected to solve all problems – even the government thinks the same,” he quipped.
Listing possible solutions, Ashwin Mahesh said integration of department silos, building of internal capacity in government through technology and building a collaborative approach could be the way forward. “Citizens created government and not vice-versa, so there is a need to self-organize and create government. This is our moral and economic obligation.” Suggesting that citizens could become partners in nation-building, if they were empowered to do similar work at the local level, he called for an army of problem solvers. “There should be greater emphasis on data and measurement, to switch from guessing to knowing problems. There has been a historical confusion about who should do what. We are so married to the old form of doing things that each one should perform exclusive functions. For better outcomes, public should donate knowledge capital and volunteerism, and public officials should do their job. And getting involved is the thing that makes the problem stop,” he explained.
He also had some advice about what the government should do. “Focus on problem solving, think of citizens as co-managers of the city with officials, encourage local solutions and tolerate diversity of choices, foster a sense of place, bring knowledge capital into the mix and dream publicly.” He also listed what citizens should do. “Stop externalizing the problem, believe that doing just a little bit also helps, connect to the lives of others, focus on problem solving, engage with politics and also have fun in the process.”
The conference closed with an awards ceremony. The Sri Suresh Jeevraji Chowhan Most Innovative Doctoral Paper Award went to Shefali Pinto. The Sri Misrimal Lalesara Best Doctoral Paper Award went to Gopalan Oppiliappan. The Most Creative Paper Award was given to Arvind Ram Kumar. The Nancy Raina Best Research Paper Award went to Swami Viswanathan for his paper, ‘An Inner Source for Leadership Decision Making: A Yogic Perspective’.
According to Dr Ramnath Narayanswamy, one of the objectives of the conference was to select a set of 25 papers and publish a volume on spirituality and management for management schools in the country. “All the conference participants should take a relook at their papers, revise manuscripts in the light of the comments received during the conference, bring the papers up to publishable standards, follow the Academy of Management guidelines and then send them for the projected volume,” he said.
Three-day conference on Spirituality and Management wraps up with special sessions on good governance and citizen participation
JANUARY 7, 2016: The International Conference on Spirituality and Management, titled ‘Indigenous Models of Sustainability, Good Governance and Spiritual Transformation’, which commenced at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore on January 4, 2016, drew to a close on January 6, 2016.
Mohandas Pai, CEO, Manipal Global Education Services, who spoke on ‘The Case for Sustainability, Good Governance and Spirituality’, observed that good management meant following duty, ‘dharma’, inclusiveness and participation. “We need to have truth, justice and moderation. In that moderation lies our future and sustainability. For that, spiritual questions need to be faced.”
Addressing the participants, he said: “We, as leaders, have an obligation to society to develop models of growth that are based on sustainability; and those models have to become more inclusive. We have to focus on self-realisation and moderating the individualistic journey.”
On Day 3, after the keynote address by Mr Pai, Session 1, chaired by IIMB faculty member Dr Srinivasan Rangan, focussed on ‘Inner Development’; Session 2, chaired by Professor Sari Mattila, Visiting Faculty at IIMB, described the ‘Guru-shishya parampara’; Session 3, chaired by Ajeet N. Mathur, Professor in Strategy and International Business at IIMA, highlighted ‘Interfaith Perspectives’; and Session 4, chaired by Dr Abha Chatterjee, IIM Indore, focussed on ‘Insights on Sustainability’.
The conference, which studied the interface between spirituality and management, was organised by IIMB in collaboration with the Vedic Foundations of Indian Management (VFIM), New Delhi and supported by several institutions, such as the Sahaj Marg Spirituality Foundation.
On Day 1 and Day 2, the conference covered topics such as The Importance of Meditation in the Modern World, Workplace Spirituality, Spirituality and Management, Good Governance, Spirituality and Leadership, Benefits of the Vedic Way of Life, Ethics and Sustainable Banking in Spirituality, Spirituality and Entrepreneurship, Sustainable Development, and Developing Meditating Power.
In his closing address, Ashwin Mahesh, technologist, urbanist, journalist and scientist, spoke on ‘The Meaning of Good Governance’.
Offering examples of “bad” governance, he held wrong structuring (of central, state government and local municipal corporation functions) to be the root cause. “Deficit in governance arises as local issues are not solved at a local level. There is a disconnect between what needs to be done and what actually is done.” According to him, deficits in governance led to silos in public administration, talent and training deficits in departments, weak planning and implementations and lack of funds. “Another big problem is that the government is expected to solve all problems – even the government thinks the same,” he quipped.
Listing possible solutions, Ashwin Mahesh said integration of department silos, building of internal capacity in government through technology and building a collaborative approach could be the way forward. “Citizens created government and not vice-versa, so there is a need to self-organize and create government. This is our moral and economic obligation.” Suggesting that citizens could become partners in nation-building, if they were empowered to do similar work at the local level, he called for an army of problem solvers. “There should be greater emphasis on data and measurement, to switch from guessing to knowing problems. There has been a historical confusion about who should do what. We are so married to the old form of doing things that each one should perform exclusive functions. For better outcomes, public should donate knowledge capital and volunteerism, and public officials should do their job. And getting involved is the thing that makes the problem stop,” he explained.
He also had some advice about what the government should do. “Focus on problem solving, think of citizens as co-managers of the city with officials, encourage local solutions and tolerate diversity of choices, foster a sense of place, bring knowledge capital into the mix and dream publicly.” He also listed what citizens should do. “Stop externalizing the problem, believe that doing just a little bit also helps, connect to the lives of others, focus on problem solving, engage with politics and also have fun in the process.”
The conference closed with an awards ceremony. The Sri Suresh Jeevraji Chowhan Most Innovative Doctoral Paper Award went to Shefali Pinto. The Sri Misrimal Lalesara Best Doctoral Paper Award went to Gopalan Oppiliappan. The Most Creative Paper Award was given to Arvind Ram Kumar. The Nancy Raina Best Research Paper Award went to Swami Viswanathan for his paper, ‘An Inner Source for Leadership Decision Making: A Yogic Perspective’.
According to Dr Ramnath Narayanswamy, one of the objectives of the conference was to select a set of 25 papers and publish a volume on spirituality and management for management schools in the country. “All the conference participants should take a relook at their papers, revise manuscripts in the light of the comments received during the conference, bring the papers up to publishable standards, follow the Academy of Management guidelines and then send them for the projected volume,” he said.