Principles of Management from Manusmrti

                        Principles of Management from Manusmrti


   
                         Principles of Management from Manusmrti


Manusmrti is a famous text on Dharma shastra and an authority on the topics dealing with society and politics and judiciary.

Many principles of effective management found in it are still valid.

Universal policy frame work for good management

The king ( CEO) should seek to acquire what he has not acquired, preserve diligently what he has acquired, augment what he has preserved, and distribute what he has augmented among worthy recipients.
These he should recognize as the four means of securing the goals of man and he should execute them properly and tirelessly every day.

Knowledge about other things in the world

He ( king, CEO) should be knowledgeable about the desirable and undesirable properties of goods ( things), the good and bad aspects of regions, the probable profit and loss of merchandise, and how best to raise farm animals. He should be well informed about the wages to be paid to employees, the different languages of people, the manner of storing goods, and the procedure of buying and selling.
Thus , he should make the utmost effort at making his assets grow in accordance with the law and diligently distribute profit to all.

Learning for CEO never stops
Learning and humility--for success
After getting up in the morning, the king should pay respects to learned brahmins who are experts in the triple veda and follow their advice. Even if he is a learned and disciplined man, he should always learn the rules of discipline fro them, for a disciplined king ( CEO) never comes to ruin.
Note- morning indicates regularity of learning from the experts- a key to success.

Management requires expertise in other subjects also
From experts in the three vedas, he should learn the triple veda, the timeless science of government, logical reasoning and philosophy of self and from the common people, commercial enterprises.
Note- Philosophy for peace or for maintaining a balanced  mind, commercial enterprises means Economics and Commerce.
Note-Triple Veda refers to Rigveda, Yajurveda and Samaveda as they deal with sacrifices and moral codes to be followed here.The Vedas are authority as they are not the creations of human beings.They are called 'Apaurusheya ' not from a man. They are the words of Almighty revealed through the sages in their deep meditation for the benefit of mankind. Having created the world and men, the Almighty gave the Vedas to follow the virtuous path leading to the highest goal in life. The dharma revealed in the Vedas is of two kinds- one characterized by action ( rites and duties ), and the other by renunciation and distinguished by knowledge and detachment. That dharma, which is meant for the stability of the world and is the direct means to both secular and spiritual welfare of living beings is the guiding light and continues to be followed by all, who aspire after the highest.
The fourth Veda Atharva Veda is different in contents.It deals with incantations of magic spells and peace. So it is not included in the trayi.


Work is worship- The only way to prosperity, new endeavours should be tried.
Indead, he (CEO) must embark on his operations repeatedly, though repeatedly exhausted; for fortune devotes herself to a man who embarks on his operations.
He must not hold himself in contempt for his past failures. He should pursue prosperity till the end, never deeming it too difficult to achieve.
All activities here depend on on divine and human dispensations. Of these, however, the divine is inscrutable. Action is possible only with respect to the human.

Need of assistants as a company is too big to be managed by a single person

Even an easy task becomes difficult when undertaken by a single person especially if he has no associates. How much harder will be a kingdom ( company ) yielding great revenue.
Qualifications of assistants or counsellors
The king should appoint seven or eight counsellors. They must be individuals who are natives of the land, well-versed in the Treatises, brave, well-accomplished and coming from illustrious families, individuals who have been thoroughly investigated.

Appointment of executives
He should also appoint officials. They must be individuals who are honest, intelligent, steadfast, and able to collect revenues properly, individuals who have been thoroughly investigated.
Note- So two types of officials- one set exclusively in the advisory capacity and the other set for executing the works.
Optimal number of persons required for the completion of the work
He should appoint as many tireless, clever and wise men as are required to carry out the works.

Decision making
After ascertining their views in the matter, first from each individually and then from all of them collectively as a group, he should do what is in his country's ( company's) best interest.
From the most distinguished and sagacious learned among them, however, the king ( CEO ) should seek the most important counsel.
Trusting him completely, he should always entrust all is affairs to him and proceed with any task only after reaching a decision jointly with him.
Ultimate authority is the contentment of mind in deciding any matter or work to be executed.
He ( CEO) should diligently engage in those activities that give him inner joy and avoid those that do not.This rule is applicable to employees also.
The ultimate root of law ( right decision in undertaking ) is the contentment of one self.


Identification with company leads to success
Company is not different from CEO
Company is the body and employees are the soul. By torturing them, CEO destroys himself .
As living beings destroy their lives by oppressing their bodies, so kings ( CEO ) too destroy their lives by oppressing their realms.
He should observe this rule always in managing his realm, for when his realm is well managed, the king ( CEO ) prospers with ease.

Self- discipline expected from CEO
He should always strive vigorously to subdue his senses.For when he has subdued his own senses, he is able to bring his people under his control.
Discipline in the company
Discipline can be maintained by someone ( CEO ) who is honest and true to his word, who acts in conformity with the rules, who has good assistants and who is wise.
Behaviour towards the staff
He ( CEO ) should always act without guile and never with guile.
He should never start a senseless fued or an argument with any one.

Campus recruitment
He ( CEO ) should pay honour to learned ones who have returned from their institution after finishing their studies, for this is the inexhaustible treasure of knowledge decreed for the kings. This is the real investment for future prosperity.
Appointment in tune with scholarship and conduct and providing facilities for retainment
After ascertaining the man's learning and conduct, he should provide him with a means of subsistence consistent with the law and protect him every way, as a father his own son.
This ensures the prosperity of the company
When such a person ( recruit ) practises the Law ( righteous work ) every day under the protection of the king ( CEO ). it augments the king's life span ( it reduces the tension of CEO ), wealth and realm.

Works and wages
Even men living far away endear themselves to the world when they stick to the activity specific to each and carry out their activities.
Non-payment of wages
When an employee who is not sick fails to perform his stipulated work out of pride, he should be fined and should not be paid his wages.
If he was sick, he should perform the work stipulated at the outset after he has recovered his health and he should receive his wages even if a very long time has elapsed.
Whether he is sick or well, if he does not have the stipulated work carried out, he should not be paid his wages, even if only a small portion of the work remains undone.
Breach of contract
When a man belonging to a village, region or corporate entity enters into a contract truthfully and then breaks it out of greed, the king ( CEO ) should banish that man from his realm.

Sales representative and his qualities
He ( King or CEO ) should also appoint an envoy. The representative must be an expert in all the treatises, able to grasp a hint, gesture meaning expert in soft skills, be honest and clever and from an illustrious family ( proper or good back ground ).A man who is loyal, honest and clever. One, who has a sharp memory and knows the right time and place and who is handsome, fearless and eloquent. Such a man is recommended as a king's envoy.

Organization of the state
Governance of villages and towns
He should station well - supervised constabularies in the middle of two, three and five villages, as also in the middle of one hundred villages for the protection of his realm.
He should appoint superintendents responsible for one village, for one hundred villages, and for one thousand villages.
Note- village symbozises departments in the company.

Problem solving method-
When troubles arise in a village, if the superintendent of that village is not able to solve them, he should , in due course, report them personally to the superintendent of ten villages, and he in turn, to the superintendent of twenty villages.
The superintendent of twenty villages should report to the superintendent of a hundred villages, and he in turn, should report them personally to the superintendent of a thousand villages If unsolved, the matter should be brought to the king.

Supervision of officials-
 Their activities pertaining to the villages, as well as those undertaken by each individually should be supervised vigilantly by another loyal officer of the king.
In each city, he should appoint a general manager of all affairs, a man of high stature and endowing him with powers like a planet among the stars. the king should always supervise himself those officials personally.

The king has to follow a planned schedule from morning to night, for carrying out the works efficiently.
He should get up early in the morning and sleep on time.
He should go to bed at proper time and rise up next day morning refreshed.