For verification of this paper, please visit on http://www.socialresearchfoundation.com/remarking.php#8

Business is no longer confined to a national state but has become really borderless. Human values are necessary in today's management. Being a generator and facilitator of material wealth, the business of today has a wider responsibility towards promoting and protecting human values in the interest of humankind .The corporations are not material things, but they are, vibrant living entities comprising of people who observe continuous changes in themselves and in turn responsible for everlasting changes in the organizations. The purpose of this paper is to recognize the importance of Human values and Ethics highlighting role of Indian scriptures. The paper synthesizes the Human values and Ethics as answers to all the questions/challenges in globalised economy and enlighten the management team to meet the future challenges of the business world.

To study the role of Indian scriptures to inculcate values and ethical norms in Global Business Environment that may enlighten the management team to meet the future challenges of the business world.

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.

Globalization has permeated into the lives of the corporate managers and has effected their personal value system via promoted cultural multiplicity, greater corporate social responsibility, stiff competition and technological changes that require high performance standards and excellence in management, thereby drawing greater attention to the corporate culture and values. The manager significantly affects, and is affected by, the value culture of the society, through the mediating agency of organizations and other social institutions. Man is basically a plural personality - he thinks he ought to be a morally strong, ethically perfect, physically loving and socially disciplined ideal personality but in actual practice he is always a victim of his own attachments and aversions, likes and dislikes, love and hatred etc. So long as he does not realize his own duality, there cannot be any religion for him. But if he wants to make the lower in him as bright as the higher, he has to adopt the technique called Religion. The processes by which the lower is brought under control and discipline of the higher are called spiritual practices. This process of self-rehabilitation cannot be executed with any outside help but has to be done all by himself unto himself, all alone, all the way. Teachers, scriptures and temples etc. are all guides only and the actual achievement depends on the seeker's ability to come out of his misunderstandings. The relevance of a spirit-centered approach to business organization is learnt through the relationship between Bhagwad Gita and business ethics (Sharma & Monika, 2022). Additionally, ethical business earns goodwill by adding to the goodness of the society and which, in turn, creates customers / market for the business as well as sanction of the society (Khanka, 2006). Sabir, Iqbal and Rehman (2012) noted that “Corporate ethical values play a dominant role to enhance ethical leadership and to increase employee performance for the achievement of the organizational goals, which will automatically high the organizational productivity, market share and performance” (p.170). High profile failures in ethical leadership have generated considerable interest in the topic. Organizations want to know how to select, develop and retain ethical leaders. Business schools want to know how best to teach their students to become ethical leaders. Proper appreciation of this value dynamics requires understanding of the operation of human values at the societal and ecological levels of our categorization.Global competition imposes pressure on managers to go along with ethical practices especially in international transaction. To be effective player in Global economy and to sustain, it is imperative that managers follow certain practices, codes, norms as described by the Great scriptures of the world Quran Sharif, Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, Shri Guru Granth Sahib. These epics may prove as boon to the success of business.

1. Ali,A.(1988). Scaling an Islamic work Ethic. Journal of Social psychology. 128 (5), 575-83. 2. Bhattathiri, M.P.(n.d.). Bhagavad Gita and Management. Retrieved at http://www.cincinnatitemple.com/articles/BhagavadGitaManagement.pdf 3. Brown, L.C. (2008). Role of Spirituality in Adult Learning Contexts (Doctoral dissertation). The Graduate Faculty, The University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia. 4. Dhiman, S. (2015). Bhagavad Gitā & the Art of Leadership: Old Text, New Context!. The Journal of Values-Based Leadership, 8(1), Article 7. Retrieved from http://scholar.valpo.edu/jvbl/vol8/iss1/7 5. Drucker, P.(1983), Management in Turbulent Times, London: Pan Books. 6. Gupta, R. & Soni H. (2022). Role of Ramayana and Shrimad Bhagavad Gita in Changing Business Environment. International Journal for Research Trends and Innovation, 7(12), 714-717. 7. Hongal, P. & Kshirsagar, Y. (2023). Management Lessons from Indian Ethos: Evidence from Ramayana. International Journal of Management and Humanities, 9(9). doi:10.35940/ijmh.I1603.059923 8. Kaur, R. D. (2011). Pedagogical Implications of Axiology Propounded in the Adi Granth and the Bhagvad Gita for Value Oriented Education (Doctoral dissertation). The faculty of education, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. 9. Khanka, S. S. (2005). How Being Good is Good for Business?. Asia-pacific journal of management research and innovation,1(2),83-90. Retrieved from . http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/097324700500100210 10. Madan, G. (2013). Spirituality and its psychosocial impact on youth (Doctoral dissertation). Department of psychology, University of Delhi, Delhi. 11. Mahadevan, B. (2012). Leadership lessons from Bhagavad Gita. Impact, 13–16. Retrieved from http://www.iimb.ac.in/sites/default/files/Leadership%20Lessons%20from%20Gita.pdf 12. Maharana, N. (2022). Entrepreneurial Lessons from the Bhagavad Gita. Purushartha, 13(2), 74-86. 13. Meglino, B.M. & Ravlin, E.C. (1998). Individual values in organizations: concepts, controversies, and research, Journal of Management, 24 (3), 351-389. 14. Parekh, S. (2005). The crisis and emancipation of the modern corporate executive: How the Bhagavad Gita reinforces Edward freeman’s stakeholder theory. The Michigan Journal of Business, 9-33.Retrieved from www.michiganjb.org/issues/1/article1.pdf 15. Ramaswami, N.S. (2001). Indian Heritage and Culture. Banglore, India: Indian Hertiage Academy. 16. Ramsukhdas, S. (2012), Srimad Bhagavadgita: Sadhaka-Sanjvani (with Appendix) Vol. II. Gita Press, Gorakhpur. 17. Ranganathanand, S. (1991). Human Values in Management. Delhi, India: Bharati Vidya Bhavan 18. Robbins, S.P.(2001).Organizational Behaviour(Ed. 9th ), NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. 19. Rokeach, M. (1973). The Nature of Human Values. New York: Free Press. 20. Rokeach, M. and Ball, S.J. (1989). Stability and change in Amercian value Priorities 1968-1981. Amercian psychologist, 44( 5), 775-84. 21. Rose, A. (2007). Ethics and Human Resource Management. 27-40. Retrieved Dated september19, 2016 from https://www.scribd.com/doc/168112366/Ethics-in-Hr 22. Sabir, M.S., Iqbal, J.J.& Rehman, K.U.(2012 ). Impact of Corporate Ethical Values on Ethical leadership and Employee Performance. International Journal of Business and Social Science 3(2) 163-171. 24. Satija, S. (2011). Vision and leadership in organizations: an insight with Indian perspective. SMS Varanasi, 4(1), 63-73. 25. Satpathy, B., & Muniapan, B. (2008). The knowledge of “Self” from the Bhagwad-Gita and its Significance for Human Capital Development. Asian Social Sciences, 4(10), 143-150. 26. Sharma, K. & Monika (2022). The Bhagavad Gita and Business Ethics. International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts, 10(7), 395-401. Singh, A.S. (2008). Excellence of Sikhism. Ludhiana,India: Alag Shabad Yug. 27. Sundari, U. & Rao Karanam, N. (2014). Leadership lessons from Bhagavad Gita. Interdisciplinary International Journal, 03, 19-24. 28. Taylor, P.W. (1975). Principles of Ethics: An Introduction. Encino, California: Dickerson . 29. Thakur, M. (2010). Indian Cultural Analysis Using Hofstede’s Cultural Dimension Analysis and Schein Modelling. Toronto: Schulich School of Business – York University 30. Tripathi, R., and Cervone, D. (2008). Cultural variations in achievement motivation despite equivalent motivational strength: Motivational concerns among Indian and American corporate professionals. Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 456-464 WEB- LINKS 1. www.globaldharma.org/hvew.htm Retrieved dated May 20, 2023 2. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s44163-022-00028-2 Retrieved dated May 20, 2023