Book on “Corporate Leadership¾ The Vedic Way” By Prof. (Dr.) R P Banerjee Launched at the 47th International Kolkata Book Fair 2024
Kolkata, 25th January, 2024:
A Book on“Corporate Leadership¾ The Vedic Way” Routledge Publication (Taylor & Francis Group, ISBN: 978-1-032-80167-4), by Prof. (Dr.) Rama Prosad Banerjee, Chairman & Director of Eastern Institute for Integrated Learning in Management (EIILM)–Kolkata which aims to be a guide for the corporate leaders who want to assimilate the spiritual ideals of the Vedic period into their modern realities, was unveiled on today at the 47th International Kolkata Book Fair by the Dignitaries,
· Mr. Adika Ratna Sekhar, Chairman and Managing Director, Balmer Lawrie and Company Limited,
· Mr. Ayanabh Debgupta, Co-founder & Joint MD, Medica Superspecialty Hospital,
· Mr. Ajeya Bandyopadhyay, Asia-Lead of Advisory, IFC-World Bank, Ex-Partner, KPMG,
· Mr. Vinay Ranjan, Director (Personnel & IR), Coal India Limited,
· Prof. (Dr.) N Krishna Kumar, Dean, State Bank Institute of Leadership,
· Mr. S K Dutt, Head HR – GI Infotech (Macalvins Group – UK), Sr. Advisor – United Nations UNCTAD Empretec India, Sr. Advisor – IIM Mumbai,
· Ms. Payel Sarkar, Actor,
· Mr. Abir Chatterjee, Actor,
· Mr. Debraj S. Roy, Head HR, Lux Industries Limited,
· Shri Sudhangshu Sekhar Dey, Hony. General Secretary, Publishers & Booksellers Guild,
· Shri Tridib Kumar Chatterjee, President, Publishers & Booksellers Guild and
· Shri Swapan Banerjee, President, Bengal Olympic Association.
Leadership has different facets. Each person is in a way a leader of her or his life. By being a leader the person is actually making herself or himself responsible for all different dimensions and points of view or points of concern of his or her life. The same thing applies to a person who is actually having the responsibility of being a leader in a corporate context. Leaders should be in a position to visualize opportunities for the company around. These may be visible or invisible- however, the leader should be competent enough to discover it properly and then take the required action to augment the value and spirit of the organization. Vedic spirit orients the leader to the right kind of vector of the organization. For example, when the company has chosen profit maximization as the core objective, the responsibilities are now distributed on the shoulders of the leaders through the levels of hierarchy from topmost to the bottom with the possibilities and concerns evenly or through certain measures distributed across. Therefore, a grass root leader would do the cost management in such a manner that it never overshadows the flow of revenues in her or his domain of functional activities, on the other hand, the functional or divisional activities and the strategic business units of the company would design and formulate the approaches to the functions in such a way that the maintenance of the company for the current set of agenda is done properly but the initiatives do not get halted at that point at all. The company has to take a look at the possibilities of growth either in the existing dimensions and focus of the business or in a newer dimension and new perspective of business. This could be through diversification growing through mergers acquisitions, takeovers, collaborations, co-branding, creating co-possibilities, joint ventures, joint activities, partnerships in new horizons of business, or any kind of collaboration with the Governments, the Fiscal Authorities, any forum which is an association of business or a forum which does represent the social and non-governmental sectors anywhere in the world. We keep on talking about ‘corporate’. ‘Corporate’ can be defined as follows: ‘Corporate is a living entity like the ‘psycho-soma’ of the living human body having activities through systems and processes of the limbs, organs and biological systems. Corporate is a collective living entity contained in a singular identity.
Certain dominant attributes do emerge from the Vedic spirit:
1. बिधेय उत्तमम् (Most focus on corporate objective): Leaders should prioritize corporate objectives over his/her personal.
2. कर्माचरितम् समर्पणम् (Dedicate to the objective of the corporate): Dedication and sacrifice should be inbuilt in the spirit of the leader.
3. समछन्दम् समन्नितम् (Combine collectively with the same rhythm): Collaborating and cooperating should be the motive of action agenda.
The emergence of the new phase of technology imbibing human habits and functional capabilities creating artificial parallelism in the thoughts and functional processes of the world has created a major force of threat(experienced or not) to the corporates in terms of leading and managing the enterprises in any areas of functional and impactful activities. Whereas the transformations through technology have eased out the functional potentials and capabilities of enterprises on one hand, the penetrative influence of the same, on the other, has posed before the human society a major transformative dimension and potential for elevation or inviting destruction through fragmentation in the period ahead.
It is in this context that corporate Leadership― The Vedic Way, draws immensely from a proven and sustained civilization of the Vedic Period during tens of millennia ago, but having proven the functional operative and intrinsic success for a long period, offers a unique solution. The combination of twin ideas, thoughts, and practices from the Vedic period and the issues and possibilities figured out during the modern period converge into a unique solution to the post-modern problems, issues, and positions for the corporates, way ahead of the current dynamics of functional realities. The work is poised to provide unique solutions and guidance to the entities of the modern period for deterministic success, corporate sustainability, and creating a cohesive global society.
About the author:
Prof. (Dr.) R P Banerjee, Chairman & Director of EIILM-Kolkata played a key role in bringing radical change in the sector of Management Education in West Bengal in general and in EIILM-Kolkata in particular. He is a leading Professor of Management and has taught/lectured at renowned Asian, European, and American Universities/Institutions, he has been a pioneer in establishing Ethics and Values in Management Academics on one hand and bringing them into the focus of Scholars and Practitioners of Management the ‘Vedic Spiritual Thoughts’ for corporate/organizational functioning, on the other. His latest concept of Mind Engineering in managing Stress, the Art and Science of Management, and the Vedic Economy are clear pathfinders for the future of Management and Society. He believes in a value-based corporate and organizational practice for the world.
