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In the present era of chaos and turbulences, the expectations with regard to the standards, values, morals and ethics have become increasingly complex as a result of drying up of compassion and sympathy in human behavior. The role of human values and ethics in business practices appears most desirable because of ongoing scandals and scams that have brought the business world to near collapse. To boost the confidence of investor and faith of the society in the commercial transactions, is the need of hour. Ethical leadership is particularly important in this day and age when the public trust has been almost eroded by the actions of some of the people in both the non-profit and for-profit organizations. According to Sharma and Monika (2022), ethical practices at the workplace lead to long-term business sustainability. It is irony that in spite of our pride in our rich culture and heritage, values and ethics, India is losing its value due to certain aspects. A large number of our products are of dubious and unreliable quality. But India has produced some of the most brilliant people, who have proved their mettle in the developed countries. The American software industry has about 30% Indians. Some of the best software developers, scientists, doctors and business professionals are Indians. This is an example of Indian people’s contribution to the development of other countries. One of the important reasons for this is our values, attitude and actions. According to Tripathi and Cervone (2008) , Indian people do not value their work so much in this country. Further they opined that, in this "lawless land" the responsibility of the executive depend upon values one promote in his or her actions and decisions, the responsibility one takes towards the bottom line or also towards the growth of mankind.

Ethics and values were major concerns in every walk of human life, even in the ancient times, dating back to Mahabharta times, about 5000 years ago. Lord Krishna delivered ethical sermons to Arjuna as a prelude to the great Mahabharta  war. Sharma and Monika (2022) explored the ethical principles found in Bhagwad Gita and tried to incorporate them into business organizations. According to this study, ethical practices at the workplace lead to long-term business sustainability. Beyond doubt, the ethical behavior of mankind was passed on from generation to generation, however with erosion. The post industrial revaluation years, saw a great erosion of values and ethics all over the world, in spite of the growth of science and technology. The growing importance of Ramayan and Shrimad Bhagwad Gita’s philosophy in resolving contemporary business problems emphasize a  need to establish spiritual work atmosphere. The values imbibed in these holy scriptures may also help to enhance organizations’ strength and loyalty (Gupta & Soni, 2022).

Values

‘Values’ is derived from the word ‘Velere’  which means to be worth. Values are concerned with what is good and desirable. Our idea of what is ‘right thing to do’ in a situation comes from our values. ‘Values’ are a set of principles or standards of human behavior that are desirable by a society in which a person lives and failure to follow them will result in condemnation. Values reflect one’s personal attitude and judgment, one’s decisions and choices.

Values represent basic convictions that “a specific mode of conduct or end state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence”.  They embodied a judgmental element as they carry an individual’s ideas as to what is right, good, or desirable. Values comprised both content and intensity attributes. According to the content attribute, a mode of conduct or end –state of existence is important. Whereas, the intensity attribute specifies how important it is. By ranking an individual’s values in terms of their intensity, we obtain the values system of that person’s. Every human being  imbibes  a hierarchy of values that forms the values system. This system is recognized by the relative importance one assign to the values such as freedom, pleasure, self respect, honesty, obedience, and equality.

Values and Organizational Behavior

Values are important to the study of organizational behavior because they lay foundation for the understanding of  people’s attitudes and motivation and because they influence our perceptions. Individuals enter an organization with their perception of what is “right” and what is “wrong”, of course, these notion are not value free. Human values are necessary in today's management.

Values generally influence attitude and behavior. Suppose that you enter an organization with the view that allocating pay on the basis of performance is right, while allocating pay on the basis of seniority is wrong. If values can not be perceived at the workplace, one would be disappointed and this can lead to job dissatisfaction  and the decision not to exert a high level of effort  . So attitudes and behavior can be different if the values align with the organization’s pay policies.  Business is no longer confined to a national state but is really borderless nowadays. In a globalized economy, we do believe that the manager of today has a wider responsibility than earlier times. It is in the interest of the managers themselves to have a heightened awareness of the values of humankind and also to promote them. Kaur (2011) opined that the  values are like vehicles, modes of our being and forms of behaviour which makes us supremely human, not just an ordinary human. It is supreme essence of civilized society, which distinguish men from animals. The same author suggested that value oriented education may foster universal and eternal values. 

Ethics and Values In Business

Ethics is a key branch of philosophy, concerned with analyzing what is right or wrong in people’s behaviour or conduct. Ethics and morality are terms that are often used interchangably in discussions of good and evil. The term ‘ethics’ is usually applied to persons (ethics comes from the Greek ethos, meaning character) – and ‘morality’ to acts and behaviour (moral comes from the Latin moralis, meaning customs or manners). Rose

According to Taylor (1975), Ethics would necessarily mean an inquiry into the nature and background of morality. In this definition, the term ‘morality’   is taken to mean moral judgments, standards and rules and conduct. Ethics involves fundamental human relationships which deals with the internal evaluation of action by persons and communities who are  themselves involved in social interaction. Ethics therefore reflects the character of individuals and collectively the business organization.    

Ethics has been derived from the Greek word ‘Ethos’ which means character and collectively represent an organization. Rational decision making process is always influenced by the moral values or codes. So ‘Ethics’ is commonly defined as a set of principles prescribing a behavior that can explain what is good or bad. It may even out line moral duty and obligations.

 

Ethics is the application of moral values or codes to complex problems using a rational decision making process. The outcome of the process is normally a behavior or a set of behavior. So these three terms are embedded with each other. 

Business Ethics are rules, standards or principles that provide guidelines for morally appropriate behaviour for business. According to Thakur (2010), Ethics reside within individuals. Generally a person’s ethics are formulated through operating key forces viz. family influence, experiences, one’s own values and situational factors. Organizations are bound by law to treat the people they employ fairly and not to discriminate against identified groups. Legislation is a codification of accepted moral principles, and acts to moderate standards within a community–‘the greatest good of the greatest number’ But, conformity to all legal requirements does not necessarily ensure the best treatment of employees. The law itself may not be fair; it may not cover all eventualities; and it may not always offer a clear guide to action (Amanda rose).

Ethics constitutes an essential aspect of man´s intrinsic nature: it is part of his ontological substance. The sense of right and wrong fulfils a psychical demand emanating from a man´s inner being, just as water and air fulfill our basic needs for physical existence. The inner non-corporeal component of man the spiritual core or soul requires nourishment through gratification of its moral demands. In this sense, some conception of moral righteousness or piety is inalienable from human life. On deeper analysis it would become clear that even socially undesirable elements have a sense of righteousness and observe a code of ethics to gratify it. As Brown and Linda (2006) states that, “Ethical leaders also frequently communicate with their followers about ethics, set clear ethical standards and use rewards and punishments to see that those standards are followed” (p.597).Further, the same authors believed that ethical leaders do not just talk but on the contrary, they practice what they preach and stood as role models for ethical conduct.

A person learn and develop values from his family, society, interaction with teacher, classmates while during the study, personal traits such as intelligence, ability, educational level, cultural factors life experience. Some values are inculcated in the individual from the childhood and remain in his mind through his life. Now it becomes important to know about the most effecting source of values that is religion. 

Role of  Indian  Scriptures to Inculcate Values and Ethical Norms 

There is no denying the fact that all the great scriptures of the world offer immense wisdom or inculcating values and ethical norms in the business world. Hongal and Kshirsagar (2023) reported the relevance of integrity, accountability, empathy, respect, and fairness as fundamental principles of management. By incorporating these principles, modern-day managers can lead their organizations up to their fullest potential. In India there is a great treasure of Scriptures inculcating an ocean of values.

Shrimad Bhagwad Gita is not only a book of religion on one hand but also a manifestation of Indian values system that recommends, selfless work, i.e. detachment from fruit or result of the work performed. The Holy Gita mainly deal with man at work  and presents worship, prayer, meditation as means for  man’s spiritual growth on one hand  and for increasing his work efficiency  to social welfare on the other. It has become a secret driving force behind the advancement of one's life. It is believed that in during the days of doubt, this divine book will support all spiritual search. The  teachings of Bhagavad Gita direct an entrepreneurial mind to get rid of all fears and confusion. Furthermore, a spiritual mindset among employees leads to charismatic organizational development too (Maharana, 2022). This divine book contribute to self reflection, finer feeling and deepen one's inner process.

uddharedaatmanaatmaanam naatmaanamavasaadayet
atmaiva hyaatmano bandhuraatmaiva ripuraatmanah // 6.5 //

In  Bhagwad  Gita ,the realization of self- worth is described as above in chapter 6, v.5. Sri Krishna declares that `man should lift himself by himself'. Man, if he wants to raise himself from an animal existence to a noble life with all cultural and spiritual possibilities hidden in him, has to convert the lower instincts in him to a higher level of perfection which is his essential nature. 

 According to the news going on these days, the Indian government has made efforts to include this scripture in the school curriculum in various states. Believing that life in the world can become a real education—dynamic, full and joyful—no matter what the circumstance. May the wisdom of loving consciousness ever guide us on our journey, as it is comprised of the intellectual knowledge of the playing field (jnana yoga), emotional devotion to the ideal (bhakti yoga) and right action that includes both feeling and knowledge (karma yoga). The driving forces in today's businesses are speed and competition. There is a distinct danger that these forces may cause erosion of the moral fiber by being involved oneself to  the immoral means i.e. tax evasion, illegitimate financial holdings, deliberate oversight in the audit, too-clever financial reporting etc. This phenomenon may be called as “yayati syndrome”.  In the book, the Mahabharata, we come across a king by the name of Yayati who, in order to revel in the endless enjoyment of flesh exchanged his old age with the youth of his obliging youngest son for a thousand years. However, came back to his son pleading him to take back his youth as he found the experience of sensual enjoyments ultimately unsatisfying. This “yayati syndrome” shows the conflict of externally directed values with  the inner values. A large and growing body of evidence accumulated from studies of effective leadership reported that the Bhagavad-Gita embodies the teachings of  Sri Krishna to Arjuna in the battlefield which are the greatest source to resolve various issues at workplace and bring harmony (e.g., Dhiman, 2015; Mahadevan, 2012; Parekh, 2005; Satija, 2011; Satpathy & Muniapan, 2008; Sundari & Rao, 2014).

The wisdom enshrined in ‘Sri Guru Granth Sahib’ imbibes the virtues of wisdom, truthfulness, justice, courage, contentment and love for humanity, which are now the cherished fundamentals of ethical Business conduct. Furthermore, vices of lust, greed, pride, which are roots of unethical business, are termed as worst sins in Sikhism. There is a wealth of management wisdom in Sri Guru Granth Sahib that can lead the whole of business world. The wisdom of Sri Guru Granth Sahib if practiced with spirit, may lead to ethical managerial behaviour and when manifested in thoughts, speech and actions may also enlighten the people. The message of Sri Guru Granth Sahib is universal, seeking the welfare of all human beings of the globe promoting  integration, co-existence and feeling of fraternity and amity as it fully recognize the human values (Singh, 2008).

The ‘Quran’ Sharif is the holy book of Islam (not an Indian scripture but a final revelation from God delivered to Islamic Prophet Muhammad) that instructs people to honor and fulfill their obligations. Hence, violation of an agreement or contract would not only have legal but also moral implications, it would be a sin Contracts are often not, then in writing: A Muslim would expect another Muslim to fulfill the spirit of verbal agreement. In Islam, business cannot be separated from religious domain and the laws of Islam apply to business, as to every other sphere of life. In terms of performance appraisal the West has developed objective impersonal system, that focuses on specific aspect of performance. But for Islamic manager, he is led to consider the employee as a whole person on the basis of overall evaluation of whether the person is good and a proper Muslim. The employee’s loyalty and seniority is more important than job performance criteria.

Islamic psychologist like Ali (1988) made an attempt to translate the Western Christian ideas for use in Arabic countries and also tried to define the Islamic work ethic. The same author opined  that  the work is an obligatory activity and a virtue is the necessity to establish  equilibrium in every sphere of  one’s individual and social life. According to the same author, the work enables man to be independent and as a source of self-respect, fulfillment and satisfaction. Success and progress on the job depend on hard work commitment to one’s job that involves desire to improve the community and societal welfare. Society would have fewer problems if each person were committed to his work and avoided unethical methods of wealth accumulation. Creative work cooperation is not only a source of happiness but is considered noble deeds too. He later found in a study of 117 Saudi Arabian Managers that they were all highly committed to the Islamic work ethic (IWE).  In Islam, the first and foremost goal is the inner, moral progress of man, and therefore the ethical considerations overrule the purely utilitarian. In the contemporary world the situation is unfortunately just the opposite. Presently, the consideration of material utility and physical comfort dominates all manifestations of human activity and ethics are missing somewhere in the obscure background of life and occupied merely a theoretical position influencing very slightly to the human community.

From the perspective of Kaur (2011), the teachings imbibed in the epics; Adi Granth and Bhagwad Gita contains the values that must be incorporated in the education system to produce holistically empowered youth. Madan (2013) suggested the Art of Living (AOL) course in this regard, the basic philosophy of which has been taken from various disciplines and perspectives of spirituality.  The Art of Living is an organization being founded by Sri Sri Ravishankar in 1982 that derives its teaching from ancient Upanishads and Vedas as well as various ancient epics like Bhagawad Gita, Narada Bhakti Sutras, Ashtavakra Gita, Patanjali Yog Sutras, Shiva Sutras and other texts of wisdom.

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