A STUDY OF ORGANIZATIONAL EVIDENCES OF GANDHIAN MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO BHEL

Abstract

This research underpins the importance of establishing Public Sector Undertakings (PSU) in India with special reference to one of the key industrial organizations, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL), which focuses on elements which inculcate the Gandhian management perspective. The contemporary competitive world is taking BHEL and other industrial PSUs through a transitional phase of enhancing their productive competitiveness, both through the process and product innovation for sustainable growth. This requires introduction and adaption of nonconventional or modern modes of management based on the principles of Mahatma Gandhi. Mahatma Gandhi’s fundamental philosophical approach might not be radically different from that of others but it exists in the form of an approach that structurally recommends a pathway of wealth generation, productivity, wealth distribution, and economic prosperity for all. If one observes closely, one can find out the traces of Gandhian principles of trusteeship, truth and nonviolence, self-reliance, and participation in the working style of PSU management but these principles have not been seen or observed with the lenses of Gandhian principles and perspective. The financial crisis of 2008 has also given important insights on how businesses get affected if organizational values are not created and propelled within the structure and functioning of the business organizations and this being done deliberately by business leaders to satiate their “greed” which results into financial crisis (The perils of fragmentation, 2012; Dallas, 2012). The most important aspect subsequent to global financial crisis and in today’s business era comes with the frequent intervention of words like sustainability, ethics, trust, transparency, truthfulness and morals in the organizational values throughout the globe. Customers and shareholders have started compelling business organizations to be ethical and transparent while doing business otherwise disassociating themselves, if finding any mismatch in organizational values. Drucker (2001) also iterates that “organization, to be effective, needs individual values to be compatible and aligned with the organization’s value and these values are to be valued by all the associated stakeholders, may it be customer, shareholders and employees”. This is where iv the principles, thoughts and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi plays an important role and finds a connect with the development of leadership in a large manufacturing industrial organization. Leaders in an organization, taking reflection from philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi can ensure that one’s values and beliefs along with expectations are in concert with the value of the organization for focused vision and goal (Hallinger, 2011). Key principles which have been underlined by Mahatma Gandhi’s life are ‘truth’, ‘non-violence’, ‘self-reliance and participation’, ‘welfare of all’, ‘humility’, ‘moral and ethics’, ‘knowledge of working environment and culture’, ‘building of character’, ‘discipline and establishment of self-power’, ‘devotion towards own words’ and ‘positive attitude’. This research thoughtfully observed the traces of Gandhian management perspective. The research also tries to emphasize the modes of strengthening the Gandhian elements of industrial organization management. This study identifies and addresses the important factors that underpin the Gandhian management perspective in business organization with respect to following:  Factors of organizational management closely associated with Gandhian philosophy and principles and with which organizational leadership can be developed are needed to be studied (Kumarappa, 1951; Prahalad and Mashelkar, 2010).  Organizational profitability and productivity is interrelated with the relationship between the ethical and sustainable leadership (McCann and Sweet, 2014).  Understanding leadership, ethics and identity as intrinsically dynamic and connected with leaders at different stages in their careers, and with different frames of reference in an organization (Koning and Waistell, 2012).  Relevant principles of Gandhian philosophy which are most relevant in business world and framework are needed to be underlined accordingly (Bhole, 2001; Bansal and Srivastava, 2008; Bansal and Bajpai, 2011). v Research objectives of this research were as follows:  To observe and find the awareness level about Mahatma Gandhi’s principles among corporates and employees and other eminent personalities with special reference to BHEL. For achieving this objective, the reflection of Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy and his key principles were observed.  To identify factors related to Gandhian Leadership which relate to their work life as a leader and a manager and how they foresee themselves in future while executing their responsibilities. This objective enabled the research in finding the relevance of Gandhian principles and philosophy in organizational management perspective and for the identification of key elements of Gandhian management perspective.  Implementation and percolation of Gandhian philosophy in an organization. Researcher, during his working experience of 7 years with BHEL in industrial relations and HR department, has come across several issues of production and productivity. And because it has been one of the initial most assignments of the researcher, the concern has always been related to optimism. The researcher wanted to initially look for fundamentally strong solutions, because problem identification through observation justifiably revealed that an exploratory study for radical change proposition has to be done, which should bring the recommendations for leadership rather than functionaries. The literature reviews also justifiably suggested, as also projected in the thesis, that Gandhian philosophy holds the key. Researcher used qualitative research following reflexivity (Harley et.al, 2004) and reflexive methodology for deep understanding through experiences, learning, attitude, assumptions and perspective of respondents. This study characteristically used ‘Reflexivity’ (Alvesson, 2003) as a methodology for conducting primary research. The increasingly popular concept of reflexivity is used in variety of ways (Brewer, 2000; Brewer, 2003) and emphasizes that “the researcher is part of the social world that is studied, and this calls for exploration and self-examination” (Alvesson, 2003) and thus this study also has made an extensive usage of ‘a reflexive pragmatist approach’ vi (Alvesson, 2003). Researcher made an attempt to understand the information that emerged from the data using qualitative methods which allowed him to study the selected issues in depth and openness. Researcher’s focus was on to understand the unique and personal experiences of the participants through discussion or personal interviews. Purposive or judgmental sampling was used which is in synchronization with the goal and logic of qualitative research (Frankel and Devers, 2000) where the purpose is to reach the information rich respondents. Thirteen interviews of BHEL Senior officials were conducted in BHEL Haridwar plant location. Eleven interviews of industry experts other than BHEL holding the position either of HR Head or Plant Head were conducted in cities like Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Haridwar. Five Gandhian Scholars and followers associated with Sabarmati Ashram were interviewed. Three FGDs were also designed and conducted in order to allow gaining more insight, from a middle level manager’s and even trade union’s perspective, into the various factors those emerged from earlier phases of the study and review of the literature. The data was audio and video recorded using Sony make handycam and transcribed verbatim in MS word resulted in 410 double space pages with times new roman font format and font size of 12. Content of transcripts were critically approached and analysed through method of reflexivity (Alvesson and Skoldberg, 2000). During discussion some key elements were identified which are required to implement a philosophy like that of Mahatma Gandhi in organizations which includes top management’s commitment and leadership, employee’s participation, Management’s perspective towards stakeholders, organizational culture, transparency, discipline, vision and goals, training and development, evaluation of employees, and individual alignment with organization’s vision and goals. Following was concluded: Awareness level of Gandhian management perspective in general and with reference to an industrial organization and work philosophy in particular is primitive and substantially low and respondents have acknowledged during discussion and interviews that Gandhian philosophy exist only in nomenclature. Therefore, a prime conclusion is that the modes of generating vii awareness about Gandhian philosophy for industrial segments have to be developed either through course structure, or through practices and even through Gandhian philosophy based audits. It has to be concluded that though the research did not attempt to compare philosophers/philosophies in particular but still during discussions and as also substantiated by literature review, it emerged that Mahatma Gandhi’s fundamental philosophical approach might not be radically different from that of others but exist in the form of an approach, which structurally recommends a pathway of wealth generation, productivity, wealth distribution, and economic prosperity for all. Gandhian principles were found to be unknowingly followed and acknowledged as identified during the discussion and interviews of the top management of BHEL and many other contemporary organizations taken as respondents. Gandhian principles are the benchmark of stature which has the capability and capacity to pull and steer an organization out of or through recessionary phases without degenerative repercussions and subsequently make them move towards growth. For example, it has been observed that organizations like BHEL have not only moved out of recession but have excelled towards achieving Maharatna status aided by fundamental principles given by Mahatma Gandhiji, fundamentally imbibed in its character. Following recommendations were made: 1. Recommendations for generating fundamental awareness about Gandhian principles. 2. Recommendations for associating the generated awareness with relevance to the objectives of organizations like BHEL. 3. Association of generated awareness with life in BHEL. 4. Association of Gandhian principles with the productivity of BHEL. 5. Structural adoption of Gandhian principles by the leadership of BHEL for achieving growth and potential. 6. Percolation of preceding adoption of leadership levels to the levels of functions.