Connecting the Individual and Cultural Level Value Analysis z 57

Management Lessons from

Indian Epics in Context to Theory Z

S.K. PANDEY
O.P. WALI

The lacunae of Theory X and Theory Y compounded with insufficient research evidence in favour of these
theories resulted in the proposition of Theory Z. It is a beautiful amalgamation of both Theory X and Y and
has enough empirical evidence to support it. It is easily deduced that most of the successful firms share
some common characteristics, which are untouched by geographical boundaries of nations. Theory Z has
great relevance in the Indian scenario, as it is a culmination of both American and Japanese cultures. India
interestingly has a national culture, which is also a blend of both types of characteristics. This study draws
from ethics related literature from ancient Indian scriptures to demonstrate the points of convergence and
divergence between Theory Z and the Indian management approach. It also tries to emphasize the applicability
of the old phenomenon in the light of new changes in the corporate world.

Keywords: ethics, Theory X, Y and Z, decision making

Introduction their Western counterparts. The information about

Competition has forced most of the organiza-
tions to analyze the critical variables of success.
American and other Western economies faced a
huge crisis in the 1980s and many of the principles
of modern management were questioned. During
this period, Japanese organizations outperformed
Japanese companies is available for the purpose
of critically evaluating their success indicators.
Thus, many scholars and interested economists
shifted their attention from an examination of the
quality of information to an examination of the
causes of that enormous success (Bank 1992).
The failure to improve productivity by American

S.K. Pandey (corresponding author) is Assistant Professor at FORE School of Management, B-18 Qutab Institutional Area, New
Delhi 110016, India. E-mail: shivendra_p@rediffmail.com; skpandey@fsm.ac.in
O.P. Wali is Professor at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi 110016, India.
JOURNAL OF HUMAN VALUES 16:1 (2010): 57–70
SAGE Publications Los Angeles/London/New Delhi/Singapore/Washington DC
DOI: 10.1177/097168581001600106

JOURNAL OF HUMAN VALUES 15:2 (2009): 107–118

58 z S.K. PANDEY AND O.P. WALI
firms during this period is attributed to the focus
on short run performance and financial controls
(Hayes and Abernathy 1980). This focus is said to
be captured by several indicators, which include
the following:
1. The decline in R&D in the US.
2. Focusing on profit centres and profit
measures to evaluate the performance of
decentralized operations.
3. Hiring top executives from outside the
company.
4. Producing products for present, not future,
markets.
5. Using resources in bidding up prices of
shares through mergers instead of making
new investments.
Banks and Wheelwright (1979) reported that
corporate executives in America devised certain
cost-cutting programmes to meet the constant
pressure to produce ever-increasing annual profits
regardless of long-term strategic implications.
Moving from a strategic to an operational analysis
to the human organization, Ouchi (1981) describes
the behaviour of American managers being con-
strained by two dilemmas.
1. The inability to cultivate trust and long-term
human relations within the organization.
2. Focusing on short-term profits instead of
encouraging long-term productivity.
Some companies tried to introduce the Japanese
management system in American factories and
were successful in increasing their productivity.
Wheelwright reported that Motorola, now a div-
ision of Mitsushita, increased productivity by
30 per cent, 3 years after it was acquired.
JOURNAL OF HUMAN VALUES 16:1 (2010): 57–70
These studies and further elaboration of the
concept of Theory Z by Ouchi and Jaegar (1978)
led a number of American companies to adapt
some, if not all, Japanese concepts. The question
is as follows: ‘Whether Indians should blindly
follow Japanese or American management styles?’
Indians have many values similar to the Japanese
but are still different from them. Similarly, we
have some things similar to the Americans yet
we are different. Hence, we can say that Indians
lie somewhere in between the two extremes, such
as Japan and America. Risely, for example, in
1891 spoke of national character. This national
character is a generalized Indian personality
(Singh and Bhandarkar 1990: 102, 104). A recent
study by Dr Jagdeep S. Chhokar, IIM Ahmedabad,
under the Globe Research project for knowing the
national character and leadership revealed that
Indian society is changing in dimensions such
as collectivism and performance orientation. We
could deduce from the study that Indians were
traditionally closer to Japanese in their national
culture but globalization and liberalization is
certainly showing the influence of American
culture on Indian mindsets. In the wake of such
revelations, this study assumes greater importance
because there is a strong need to develop and cus-
tomize management approaches according to local
requirements.
Literature Review
Many researchers and practitioners have already
undertaken considerable work of this nature.
Chakraborty (1985) propounded that just as the
Asian tigers have moved towards the Confucian
management ethos, away from the Judaeo-Christian
Protestant roots of the Western management theory,
similarly it is necessary to develop and follow an

authentic Indian management paradigm. Banerjee
(1998) called for the cultivation of the right-brain
and developing the feminine side of the manager
for other fostering and holistic management.
He called this the ‘Mother Leadership Style’.
Chatterjee (1995) identified the field of work as
an adventure of consciousness which he called
workship. He came up with the fourfold path of
workship: discipline, righteousness, sacrifice and
transcendence and argued that workship has the
potential to unfold man’s latent spirituality for a
sustainable world order. Aycan et al. (2000) tried
to study the impact of culture on human resource
management practices in ten cultures, including
India. Similarly, Allison and Hayes (2000) tried to
study cross-national differences in the cognitive
style and its implications for management. These
researches realized that many of the manage-
ment practices and managerial styles as applied
in the West cannot be transplanted in the same
manner in the Indian context. Sinha (1974) and
Kalra (1975) questioned the relevance of the
participative management style in the Indian con-
text. In his study, Sinha (1974) observed that in
the Indian setting participative management was
successful till the change element was heading the
organization. After the departure of the change
element there was a reversal and one of the possible
reasons for this could be the surrounding culture,
which is basically authoritarian. Hofstede (1980)
proved that cultural diversity has importance
and relevance in management. He strongly
protested against the presumed universality of
the management theory by raising the question
of whether American theories apply abroad
(Hofstede and Peterson 2000). A study done by
Cascio (1974) on managers drawn from seven
cultures showed that Indian managers were
different from Anglo-American or European
managers. Similarly, studies by Ganguli (1964),
Management Lessons from Indian Epics to Theory Z z 59
Meade (1967), Bass (1967), and Thiagrajan and
Deep (1970) also show that in the Indian context,
authoritarian leaders were preferred. A study by
Mishra (1980) also showed that a majority of the
executives reported themselves to be authoritarian.
A survey by Tayab (1988) lends further support to
these findings. The survey showed that ‘obedience
to superiors’ and ‘respect for powerful people’
came out to be the two top-most characteristics of
Indians. On the other hand, some studies showed
a preference for democratic styles of leadership
(Gupta 1985; Kakar 1971, 1974). A study by
Kumar and Singh (1976) indicated that in the
Indian context ‘authoritarian leader is no less
preferred than the participative styles’. A study
by Kalra (1988) showed that a majority of the
respondents ‘tend to be obedient to their bosses
or tend to be submissive to their authoritarian
bosses’. According to Sinha (1995), the ‘karta’ is a
father figure who is nurturant, caring, dependable,
sacrificing and yet demanding, authoritative and
a strict disciplinarian. Studies indicate that some
‘kartas’ involve family members by consulting
them but generally a large number of ‘kartas’
take unilateral decisions (Gore 1969; Kalra 1974).
Kalra (1974, 1981) observed the influence of the
‘karta’ on the attitude and behaviour of high and
low achievers. Virmani and Guptan (1991) also
observed the ‘karta’ role of top leaders in their
study. Singh and Bhandarkar (1990) in their study
on transformational leadership provide a number
of illustrations of a benevolent and kind ‘karta’
like top managers who were able to achieve
corporate success for their respective organiza-
tions. On the basis of his extensive research,
Sinha (1980) found that in the Indian context the
Nurturant Task Leadership Style (NTL) was found
to be most effective. This style is characterized
by the leader’s concern for task and nurturing
orientation.
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60 z S.K. PANDEY AND O.P. WALI
Problem Statement
The two dominant management styles taught to
management graduates in India are that of West
(mostly American and European) and Japanese.
However, in Geert Hofstede’s analysis of national
character, India differs significantly from both
these countries. India has a power distance score
of 77, which is higher than the US (40) and Japan
(54). It shows that the caste system still affects
the attitude of people and society is fragmented.
Individualism is significantly low (48), that is very
close to Japan (46) but very significantly different
from the US (91). This implies that individuals
get less importance over groups and family. This
also explains the phenomenon of ‘social loafing’
by individuals, where they do not perform well
in groups. However, Indian managers perform
exceedingly well in Western countries because
they get an atmosphere where they have to take
responsibility for their actions. In the uncertainty
avoidance dimension, India (40) is very close to
the US (46) but very far from Japan (92). This is an
indication of unplanned leadership styles and less
methodical approaches. Indian managers perform
well in unstructured situations, where there is
greater freedom of choice. However, the Japanese
have a knack of preparing minute details about
everything, thereby reducing the inconsistency of
subjectivity. In masculinity, India is again close to
the US and very distant from Japan. This shows
that there is gap between the values of males and
females in both India and the US. However, there
seems to be very less demarcation between the
values of males and females in Japan. In long-term
orientation, India lies midway between the US and
Japan. Long-term orientation indicates that the
Indian culture is perseverant and parsimonious
JOURNAL OF HUMAN VALUES 16:1 (2010): 57–70
but less than Japan and way ahead of the US.
This analysis shows that the three countries differ
significantly on various dimensions; therefore, it is
most likely that a style that is successful in Japan
or the US will not be successful in India and vice
versa. People are different, their cultures are dif-
ferent and so are their lifestyles. People in the West
mostly grow up with very less emotional security
due to factors like high divorce rates and single
parent families. As they grow up they tend to find
a sense of stability in this seemingly unstable and
insecure atmosphere. Thus, when they enter their
job lives and see a management culture which is
contractual in nature with a hire-and-fire style of
management, they do not feel disturbed. Fine-
tuning between the cultures at home and at the job
enhances productivity and motivation.
Looking at the Japanese companies one finds
concepts of lifetime employment working won-
ders. The Japanese grow up in a bonded culture.
They feel at home when they see a bonded style
of management on the job.
Like Theory X, which tried to define a worker
in its own manner as a mindless lazy person who
loves shirking responsibilities, Theory Y defined
a worker as an ambitious responsible citizen
looking for the right environment to contribute
constructively. The Indian management approach
is an attempt to understand and define the Indian
worker just like the Japanese had tried to do with
their Theory Z.
One of the most important reasons for the
failure of Indian management has been our
failure to develop an indigenous management
style, which revolves around our cultural roots
and upbringing. An Indian grows up in a system
where family ties and a sense of belonging get top
priority. The situation in India therefore appears
to be one of ‘sharing of environment and ethos

by communities’ (Singh 1992). Coming from this
environment, he receives a jolt when he sees the
job environment. The service sector is very fond of
adapting American concepts of management, and
the manufacturing industries are obsessed with
Japanese concepts. It is this mismatch between
the ethos and environment that often results in
lesser productivity. Many Indian organizations
have been very successful by adapting an approach
that is consistent with the Indian culture. Although
considerable work has been undertaken by re-
searchers on the effective style of leadership in the
Indian context but most of the studies have been
on the overall leadership style and not on micro
philosophies like Theory Z.
There is another reason for choosing Theory
Z. The comparison of Indian national char-
acter by Geert Hofstede showed that Indians had
some characteristics which were very close to the
Japanese and some to the Americans, but there
were a few dimensions where Indians differed
markedly from both. Since Theory Z is also a
combination of both Japanese and Western philo-
sophy, it was interesting to see how well it suited
the Indian psyche.
Research Methods
Judgmental content analysis was the method
adapted. Under this, various sacred texts were
studied and statements/verses having some con-
textual similarity with Theory Z were found.
These verses were together named as the Indian
approach and then compared with Theory Z.
Then a subjective analysis was carried out to find
agreement or disagreement between Theory Z and
the Indian management approach. Also, examples
and excerpts from industry are quoted to show the
modern-day relevance of these concepts.
Management Lessons from Indian Epics to Theory Z z 61
Comparison of Theory Z with the
Indian Management Approach
Ouchi and Jaegar (1978) studied Japanese and
American management practices and classified
them under three headings:
1. Type J firms, which use typical Japanese
management practices.
2. Type A firms, which use typical American
management techniques.
3. Type Z firms, which are those highly suc-
cessful American firms that use many of the
Japanese management practices.
Type Z (Modified American)
Long-term employment—Japanese have a firm
belief in lifelong employment. It results in provid-
ing the safety need of the worker. Type Z firms also
believe in long-term employment and the Indian
approach also emphasizes the same aspect.
Kuten vyavharam tu vrittilopam na kasyachit.
[Do not behave deceitfully with anyone and
do not hurt anyone’s occupation. Never even
think of harming someone from heart, what to
talk of doing it.] (Swami Vidyanand Saraswati
1978: 123)
This verse says that no one should do anything
which results in the loss of job for anyone. At
the same time, one should not act in a cunning
way and one should not even think of hurting
someone as ‘[p]roductivity and trust go hand in
hand, strange as it may seem (Ouchi 1979: 5).
If this verse is followed in letter and spirit then
there will be trust between the employees and the
management in the organization and there will be
long-term employment of the person.
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62 z S.K. PANDEY AND O.P. WALI
The concept of long-term employment has
changed dramatically over the last few years.
Indian organizations are experiencing a trend of
knowledge workers leaving jobs very frequently.
Attrition rates in the IT and ITES industries are
alarming. Even the word long has new connota-
tions than it had 10 years ago. In an interview
to The Week magazine, Ramadorai, TCS CEO,
said, ‘The main difference from 10 years ago and
now is that today young people no longer see
this as a life long employment. Their expectation
is what can I get out of the system in a couple of
years. So with this expectation, we say if you are
going to stay with us for only three years that is
acceptable to us, but the challenge is can I stretch
the three years to five years and more, where he
gets a lot of value out of us, we get a lot of value
out of him and the customer gets a lot value out of
both; then the chances are that he will stay back’
(Ramadorai 2000).
We can say that although there should be
protection of workers in blue-collar jobs but the
change in the attitude of knowledge workers
indicates that retention is indicative of a good
organization and not an expectation of the
employee.
Consensual decision making—It gives
every employee an opportunity of being heard
and increases the acceptance of decisions taken.
‘What is important is not the decision itself, but
rather how committed and informed people are’
(Ouchi 1979: 44). Consensual decision-making
is advocated in many Indian scriptures like
Manusmriti and Kautilya’s Arthashastra.
Both Manu (Buhler 1886: 89) and Kautilya
(Gairola 1962: 46) agree on this that the king
should first consult all the ministers separately.
Then he should sit together with all of them and
deliberate.
Two of the greatest thinkers of the Indian
approach, Manu and Kautilya, agree that the king
JOURNAL OF HUMAN VALUES 16:1 (2010): 57–70
should not decide anything arbitrarily. He should
first talk to ministers separately to know their
views. Then, he should ponder at the problem with
all of them together to bring about a consensus.
Brihaspati goes, as far as to say that each
work, even which is lawful and sacred, should
be done after proper consensus and approval of
the ministers.
In type Z organizations,
[w]hen a decision is to be made, a written
proposal lays out one ‘best’ alternative for
consideration. The task of writing the proposal
goes to the youngest and newest member
of the department involved...He talks to
everyone, soliciting their opinions...In doing
so, he is seeking a common ground...and adds
his own thoughts. This is how variety enters
the decision process in a Japanese company.
The company relies so heavily on socializing
employees with a common set of values and
beliefs that all experienced employees would be
likely to come up with similar ideas. Too much
homogeneity would lead to a loss of vitality
and change, so the youngest person gets the
assignment. (Ouchi 1981: 44–46)
The Indian approach also directs seniors to give
attention to each and every person while consult-
ing and not to ignore anyone, however young or
inexperienced.
Kanchidavmanyet sarvasya shrinuyanmatam.
Balasyapyaarthavad vakyamupyunjeet
panditah.
[The king should not disregard the opinion of
anyone while taking suggestions. He should
listen to everyone carefully. He should grasp
the sensible advise of even a child.] (Gairola
1962: 67)

This shloka is clearly recommending that the king
should be accommodative to others’ viewpoints.
Hence, consensual decision making is the right
type of decision making according to the Indian
approach of management. Consensus, in practical
situations, is very difficult to achieve; however, the
best and closest substitute to it is majority. Since
India follows a democratic system, the decisions
by Parliament are taken by majority votes. In
any legitimate meeting, all decisions are taken
by majority vote. General resolutions require
simple majority but special resolutions require
two-third majority. In a corporate perspective,
not only should individual voices be heard but
they should also be encouraged to speak. Many
organizations solicit certain minimum number
of suggestions from each employee in a certain
time period. In Maruti Udyog Limited, over 50,000
suggestions are received every year. It received
52,054 suggestions in 1999–2000, resulting in the
cost savings worth Rs 131.69 crore.
Individual responsibility—Japanese com-
panies emphasize on collective responsibility,
as against individual responsibility advocated
in Theory Z. Indians are a bit different from
Japanese in this concept (Choudhuri 2001). Due
to extraordinary high group cohesiveness and
patriotism, the Japanese perform exceedingly well
in collective responsibility. On the other hand,
Indians have a tendency for social loafing and be-
come complacent when the responsibility is not
individual. The Indian approach in the Mahabharata
also emphasizes individual responsibility as the
following:
Yadrisham kurutey karmah tadrisham
falamashnutey. Swakritasya falam bhunkatey
nanyastad bhoktumarhati.
[Whatever a person does he gets results ac-
cordingly. He alone faces the consequences of
Management Lessons from Indian Epics to Theory Z z 63
his actions and no one else is eligible to face
those consequences.] (Roy 1891: 34)
This shloka puts the responsibility on the indi-
vidual for all his actions. It says that one gets the
results undoubtedly whether the deeds are good
or bad. The second line of the shloka brings out
the individual’s responsibility for his actions even
more clearly by saying that the person alone bears
the fruit of his actions and nobody else can do so
in his place. Hence, an individual has the entire
responsibility of his actions and he alone faces the
consequences of his actions.
Individual responsibility is also very well
brought about in the famous story of sage Valmiki.
Valmiki was a dreaded dacoit till one day he met
a sage and Valmiki was about to murder him. The
seer asked Valmiki the reason for such ruthless
killing. Valmiki replied that it was for his family.
The sage again asked him that when he will have
to face consequences of his actions in hell, would
his family share that pain? Valmiki went home
to find an answer to the sage’s question and to
his utter dismay found that none of his family
members agreed to share the consequences of
his actions. He learned a great lesson and got
transformed into a sage from a bandit. Individual
responsibility also features as an important dimen-
sion of culture in Indian organizations. Also,
CII with the cooperation of the Planning Com-
mission organized ‘The Employment Summit’ on
13 November 2006 in New Delhi. The objective
of the summit was to assist the Commission to
ascertain the levels of growth and employment that
may be feasible in various sectors of the economy
during the Eleventh Five Year Plan. It was empha-
sized that in the past, the policies had been mainly
dominated by a concern for the welfare, especially
of labour. Today, competitiveness has become
the major policy objective. Neither should be
JOURNAL OF HUMAN VALUES 16:1 (2010): 57–70
64 z S.K. PANDEY AND O.P. WALI
pursued in isolation of the other. In the ‘concluding
thoughts’ section of the summit, the fifth point
reads as:
Individuals have a claim on opportunities
offered to them. They must also combine these
with an individual responsibility: a willingness
to adapt, to respond to incentives and to seek
and master new capacities and skills.
In short, we can say that the importance of indi-
vidual responsibility cannot be underestimated
and is in consonance with Indian scriptures.
Slow evaluation and promotion—Every
decision taken in the company should be thor-
oughly evaluated and implemented only after
proper thinking about its pros and cons. Instant
gratification has always been looked down upon
in Indian epics. In fact, the ‘nishkama karma’
theory advocated in the Mahabharata talks about
not considering results at all in performing tasks.
Hence, managers should not take decisions in
haste and employees should be given the time
and atmosphere of trust to perform because of
the following:
Shubham vapyashubam karmah
falakalamapekshatey.
[Whether auspicious or inauspicious, work
takes time to produce results.] (Dwivedi Shastri
1985: 67)
This shloka favours the slow evaluation criteria
by saying that every work takes some time to give
results. Seen from the point of view of the em-
ployees, it means that the employees should wait
for the results of their deeds and should not get
anxious very quickly. This is in consonance with
Japanese strategic orientation and is against short-
term profit orientation of American managers,
JOURNAL OF HUMAN VALUES 16:1 (2010): 57–70
which was one of the major reasons of failure
of American firms in the 1980s (Wheelwright
1981).
Chirnirupniyo hi vyaktiswabhavah.
[It takes considerable time to judge a person’s
behaviour.] (Jha 1911: 47)
This shloka further consolidates the view of the
earlier one. It says that a lot of time is required
to really understand the behaviour of a person.
Therefore, the managers should promote a person
slowly, so that they are able to determine the true
nature of the person.
However, what we see in corporate life today
is different from the Shrutis. In a study titled
‘Modernizing the Indian Armed Forces’, Timothy
D. Hoyt says the following:
There is an exodus of mid-level officers. The
major reasons cited are that the relative benefits
for company and battalion level officers fell
60–70 per cent from 1947 to 1982 and slow
promotion rates and the relatively mature age
of mid level officers. (Hoyt 2000: 17–22)
Implicit, informal control with explicit,
formalized measures—The Indian management
approach has given a lot of emphasis to leading
by example.
In keeping with the traditional nature of the
society and in spite of being in transition,
people of higher age and status are still often
treated with respect and deference. Seniority
continues to have value in almost all types
of organizations. It is common for seniors
to be addressed formally by their last name.
(Chhokar et al. 2007: 21)

There has been extensive research in India on
leadership. In India a business leader needed to
do the following:
Inspire highly-empowered employees to
greater heights…Set organizational goals
more audacious than ever thought possible…
Lead his people to fulfilling those ambitions
by convincing them of the need for doing so.
Greatness, not efficiency, is his guiding pas-
sion. (Jayakar 1996: 82)
In short we can say that in India the control or
power exercised by the leader is because of his
personality and traits, whereas meticulous pro-
cedures are also laid down for the employees to
follow. Indian epics have glorified leaders with
extraordinary qualities like the following:
Na ramasadrisho raja prithivyam
nitimanabhut.
[A righteous king like Rama has never been nor
will be.] (quoted in Verma 1997: 44)
Lord Rama has all the 13 characteristics of a
great person, whereas Sri Krishna has 16 qualities
including three negative ones. It’s because of
this, Lord Rama is called Maryadapurushottam
whereas Lord Krishna is called Purnapurush. The
informal control exercised by the leader is brought
about in this verse:
Sunahu sakal purjan mam bani. Kahaun na
kachu mamta ur aani.
Nahin aniti nahin kachu prabhutai. Sunahu
kahahu jo tumahi sohai.
Soi sevaka priyatam mam soi. Mam anushashan
manai joi.
Joun aniti kachu bhashoun bhai. Tou mohi
barjahu bhay bisrai. (Goswami Tulsidas 1989:
7/43/3-6)
Management Lessons from Indian Epics to Theory Z z 65
[Listen all my countrymen these words, I do
not say anything with deep love (as it may
prevent one from giving the right advice). I am
not doing anything immoral or for show off.
Listen to me and then do whatever you like.
That servant is my beloved who follows my
disciplined approach. If I say something wrong
(immoral) then refute me without fear.]
This is taken from Ramacharitamanas, in which
Lord Rama gives scope of discretion to people
along with his code of conduct. He uses his
image to bring home the point to his beloved
people to follow explicit measures. Theory Z
here is in consonance with the Indian approach
to management emphasized in the greatest Indian
epic, Ramayana.
Moderately Specialized
Career Path
In the Vedic era, the entire society was divided
into four classes—Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya
and Shudra. The careers for these classes were
determined accordingly and most of the people
specialized in their respective careers:
Caste groups tended to pursue a relatively
specialized and hereditary mode of subsist-
ence. With their overlapping distributions
and occupational specializations, the different
caste groups were linked together in a web of
mutually supportive relationships... (Gadgil
and Guha 1992: 93)
However, this specialization was not very rigid
and a person was allowed to switch over to another
career depending upon his qualities and abilities
as the following shloka says:
JOURNAL OF HUMAN VALUES 16:1 (2010): 57–70
66 z S.K. PANDEY AND O.P. WALI
Na jatyabrahminascha na kshatriyo vaishyoeva
na
Na shudro na cha vey malechho bhedita
gunakarmabhih.
[In this world, no one is a brahmin, kshatriya
(a warrior caste), vaishya (caste doing trading/
business), shudra (low caste) or malecha
(untouchable) by birth but this distinction is
based on qualities (gunaa) and deeds only.]
(quoted in Verma 1997: 85)
The same sentiments echo in TheAnthropological
Survey of India’s findings, which say:
Caste has weakened to some extent in recent
years in terms of its adherence to hereditary
occupation and norms of purity and popula-
tion. (Singh 1992: 24)
Hence, we can say that the career path should
be specialized but also moderately, so that a person
has requisite flexibility to change according to
the situation.
Holistic concern, including family—Quality
of work life and maintaining a balance between
work and life is very important in the Indian scen-
ario. Indians are brought up in an atmosphere
where family comes first. The Western culture
has influenced Indians and nuclear families are in-
creasing but still the family ties are pretty strong.
The Globe Research Survey conducted in India
reports that the highest ranking obtained by India
is on collectivism and humane orientation. At the
same time, the generation next is facing a dilemma
because of the influx of new culture:
The conflict is between two approaches to
the problem of social organization, which
are diametrically opposed to each other: The
old Hindu conception of the group being the
JOURNAL OF HUMAN VALUES 16:1 (2010): 57–70
basic unit of organization, and the excessive
individualism of the west, emphasizing the
individual above the group. (Nehru 1985: 246)
In this dilemma, the Indian approach to man-
agement advocates the wider view of considering
the entire world as one family:
Ayam nijah paroveti gadna laghu chetsam. Udar
charitanam tu vasudhaiva kutumbakam.
[This belongs to me and them—it is the thought
of narrow-minded people. For a broad-minded
person the entire world is like a clan.] (Pandit
2004: 84)
The Indian approach to management empha-
sizes the oneness of the entire mankind. A manager
following this principle will see that his act is for
the benefit of society as a whole and will not be
motivated by narrow self-interest:
Sarvey bhavantu sukhinah sarvey santu
niramayah
Sarvey bhadrani pashyantu ma kaschid
dukhbhagbhavet.
[May everyone in this world be happy, may
everyone be healthy, may all be blessed and
no body should have any sort of sorrow or
suffering.] (quoted in Verma 1997: 94)
This shloka again emphasizes the holistic approach
of consideration of everyone in the world.
Sheelvrittvineetasya nigriheetendriyasya cha.
Aarjavey vartamanasya sarvabhuthitayshinah.
Priyatithescha Kshantasya dharmarjitdhanasya
cha. Grihashramapadasthasya kimanyaih
krityamashramaih.
[One who is humble and modest in behaviour,
who has control over his senses, who is simple

in his behaviour and is a well-wisher of all
beings, who likes guests, who is forgiving, who
has earned wealth by rightful means—what is
the requirement of other social orders for such
a householder?] (Nitisar-Ank 2002: 45)
This shloka is very apt from the point of view of
the employees. It almost sets the responsibilities
for an ideal householder. He should earn wealth
but by ethical means and he should be a well-
wisher of all. Hence, the holistic approach has
been recommended to the householder whereby
he should take care of his family along with the
welfare of all.
Kushalann pramaditavyam. Bhutayai na
pramaditavyam. Devapitrikaryabham na
pramaditavyam.
[One should always be ready for auspicious
acts. One should never leave any opportunity
of profitability from sources of development.
God and ancestral acts should never be missed.]
(Nitisar-Ank 2002: 46)
This shloka reiterates the earlier view of holism
by stating that both profitability and progress
should be taken care of. At the same time, duties
towards gods and ancestors should also be done
with full devotion. Hence, we can say that the
Indian approach to management is full of holistic
concerns and concepts with due importance to
development. The Western philosophy of indi-
vidualism is strongly condemned in the Indian
epics like this shloka:
Yo n a t m a j e y n a c h a g u ro u , n a c h a
brityavargey. Deeney dayam na kurutey, na
cha bandhuvargey.
Kim tasya jivitphalen manusyalokey. Kakopi
jivati chiraya balim cha bhunkatey.
Management Lessons from Indian Epics to Theory Z z 67
[A person who does not take care of his children,
doesn’t respects his teachers, doesn’t love his
brothers and relatives, doesn’t sympathize
with servants, he is not worth living. Even a
crow lives long feeding itself only.] (quoted in
Verma 1997: 12)
The crux is that family, friends, relatives and
teachers have a very important place in Indian
people’s lives. Humane orientation and collectiv-
ism are no doubt very high in the Globe Research
findings. Therefore, Indian management strongly
supports Theory Z in holistic thinking.
Implications for
Indian Managers
Today, most American managers who are draw-
ing on Theory Z and Japanese management ap-
proaches to change their organizational culture are
doing so on a selective basis. They are choosing
those ideas which, when appropriately modified,
will result in higher productivity and efficiency.
In addition, many successful American firms have
really been using the so-called ‘Japanese’ concepts
for decades. IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Merck, Delta
Airlines and Johnson & Johnson, to name a few,
have long been outstanding companies because
they have encouraged employee participation,
rewarded teamwork and ensured employment
to their people. The ‘best’ American firms have
always been concerned with developing the right
culture for their social and economic environ-
ments. In the same analogy, we can say that Indian
managers also need to implement Theory Z but
only after customizing it to the Indian culture.
Conclusion
An Indian worker is perhaps looking at a sys-
tem without ruthless management practices and
JOURNAL OF HUMAN VALUES 16:1 (2010): 57–70
68 z S.K. PANDEY AND O.P. WALI
inhuman work pressure even if the job security is
a little less. Instead of the system (especially in
PSUs) giving them near 100 per cent job security,
it could give them some fear of job security,
since Indians culturally like to take life easy and
tend to become complacent. The human touch in
managing could be increased by making them feel
that the company cares for them through regular
training programmes, family welfare schemes,
etc., which involve them directly or indirectly
in various decision-making processes. In fact,
professional studies could be made a part of on-
the-job training.
The idea is that it is high time Indian com-
panies thought sincerely about their people and
developed ‘Indian-friendly management’ prac-
tices. They might have some American touch or
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