Relationship of Indian Philosophical Thought on Business Decisions

Abstract

Prominent western theories of business are based on the foundation of concepts borrowed in no small measure from western schools of philosophy. The influence of Indian schools of philosophy on the development of modern theory of business has been largely muted till a few decades ago. However, with India emerging as an economic powerhouse in the Global economy after liberalisation and consistently delivering high economic growth rates, the age old philosophical traditions of the country have received renewed attention from scholars for useful insights relevant to businesses. Various concepts from the Indian philosophical schools have been studied. However, a lot of this literature lacks empirical demonstration of the tangible benefits accruing to organisations from a belief in or practice of these principles. The studies that do employ quantitative methods for demonstrating relevance typically use survey questionnaires based on self-reported attitudinal or belief scales that suffer from social desirability and self-image biases and are poor indicators of actual behaviour. This thesis aims to bridge these gaps by suggesting a methodological tool (use of behavioural games) for empirically testing the relevance of Indian philosophical constructs to individual performance and to group/ team performance in organisations. The study uses experimental games for testing relevance of three important constructs of Indian philosophy, viz. Karma Vada, Karma Yoga and Non Materialism (that has commonalities with the concept of Aparigraha) to individual and group/ team performance and finds that all the three constructs hold relevance for present day businesses. The study also interviews prominent practitioners of Yoga school of philosophy and Business leaders and Owners to understand their perspectives on the relevance and implementability of these philosophical constructs in organisations.