corporate chanakya

Power in the corporate world

About the Author

Radhakrishnan Pillai and expert on Chanakya’s teachings, is well known for spreading the knowledge of Kautilya’s Arthashastra in today’s era. He studied this ancient text from the Chinmaya International Foundation, Kerala under the guidance of Dr Gangadharan Nair one of best scholars of Sanskrit language.

Educated in the field of management and qualified as an international management consultant, he later turned to discover management from Indian roots and proceed to do an MA in Sanskrit and Phd. He started a company Atma Darshan in field of spiritual tourism and has over 17 years of industry experience.

He has been instrumental in reaching the knowledge of Arthashastra to millions of people across the globe through his lectures, workshops, training programs, radio shows and articles contributed in various newspapers, magazines journals and journals.

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About The book

The book Corporate Chanakya is written by a well known author Mr. Radhkrishnan Pillai. He is pioneer in bringing the learning’s of Chanakya and relating it to the modern corporate culture and business dynamics.

The experience curve states that the organizations today face varied business, people and resource challenges. There is absolutely no reason to disbelief that these challenges cut across varied business verticals. Thought the magnitude and intensity may vary.

Business today faces healthy and unhealthy competition with dynamic changes in business environment. Research has proved that value of the product has no correlation with the expectation of the customer. Augmenting every effort in today’s business is key to success. The business potentials in today’s era can be unlocked thru skill v/s will. The book on Corporate Chanakya highlights through the intelligent combination of Leadership, Management and Training.

Organization’s goals are derived from eight different areas. Revenue from customer, profits associated with costs, technology with investment, and employee with productivity.

It is said to achieve the dream work it required the team work. On the launch day, August 15, 2010 at University of Mumbai, Vidyanagari campus, excerpts was brought to the notice of people from various walks of life. It is a matter of great honor to recommend this book to internalize the findings and discover the Chanakya in you

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Staying at top

To achieve position is not big thing,to sustain that position is important.

A leaders success is maintained by controlling the senses.for this six negative behaviours that need to be avoided:

1. lust (kaam)

2. anger (krodha)

3. greed (lobha)

4. pride (mana)

5. arrogance (madh)

6. overexcitement (harsha)

1. lust

Lust is the deep hunger for any object which results from over attachment.

2. anger

Maintaining cool head is very important.

A short tempered leader is neither appreciated nor liked by team members.

3. greed

Gandhiji had rightly said there is enough in this world for every person’s need but not enough for every person’s need but not enough for man’s greed

4. pride

A feeling that,I am the doer should not be entertained.one shoud understand that after all his success is because of team work.

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5. Arrogance

Arrogant leader will always take credit for every success while he blames failers for athers. Once motto should be , “It is ‘we’ who have successded not ‘I”.

6. Over Excitement

A leader should never get over excited . Expressing extreme happiness or sadness has to be avoided.

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Create Your Own Law

In Sanskrit , ‘law’ is called Dharma meaning that ‘which holds ‘.So if you are the leader of an organization, you have to take the lead in laying down the rules too.But, before you do that keep the following is mind:

A law for what

Benefit for all

Fit for all

Control Your Office

The Office is an integral part of any organization even in past it was compared to a fort or durga in Sanskrit .This was from where the King would ruled.Aspects of this office in detail:

treasury

Army

Trustworthy men

So in above verse, the strategy according to Chanakya is that the leader should control treasury (Finiance) and the army (People) from one place –the fortified city (the office/plant)and let the trustworthy man (manger) run the show.

As the former india army chief General JJ Singh puts it “Finaly it is the man behind the machine who makes you win the war.

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Leaders have the Edge

Leader has to ensure that the organization has to grow strong not only finically but also in term of foundation and the value system set in place by the founders and visionaries .

Being energetic is most important Quality of a leader . All great leaders who have set a treand in an corporate world were highly motivated and inspired .The best eg. From recent times is J.R.D Tata , he was largely responsible for making TATA a trusted household name in the country.

A Slack leader will also cause the company he heads to become finically weak.A leader should be physically active , mentally alert and intealcualy convinced

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Chanakya also known as Vishnugupta and Kautilya was born in 3rd century BC in india.

He was a rear mastermind who became an expert in varied and specialised fields like management, economics, politics, law,leadership, governance,welfare,military tactics, accounting systems n several others.

Chanakya is also called as the king maker as he was responsible for bringing down the nanda dynasty and establishing his able student chandragupta maurya on the throne as the emperor.

He is also credited with mastermind the defeat of Alexander in India who was on his march to conquer the world.

He was responsible for creating a nation called as Aryavartha which later became India.

He documented his life long work in his book Kautilya Arthashastra and Chanakya Niti.

Arthashastra when literally translated means “scripture of wealth” but it contains knowledge about every subject under the sun. It is the knowledge of wealth and a wealth of knowledge.


The corporate worlds search for supremacy over competitors and players from other industries can be summed up in one phrase-

“ the search for power”

No wonder then that the book THE ART OF WAR by Sun Tzu is often quated by various Ceo’s in their strategy plans.

Intellectual power :

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The power of kwoledge is an intangible asset of any organization.the corporate world is today lead by knwoledge workers.

The greatest commodity in the future will be knowledge, irrespective of the evaluation based for the executives

Manpower

Men are the assets of the organization,there are two kinds of manpower-:

1. INTERNAL-comprises employees of the organization,the board of directors,and the share holders.

2. EXTERNAL-includes customers and suppliers.it is because of them that we exist.

Peter Drucker, the father of management points out “the aim of marketing is to know and understand our customers so well that the product or service fits them and sells itself.

Financial power :

The progress of any organization depends upon its financial success.

Jack Welch, the former chairman of GE points out,

“nothing succeeds like success”.this gives a lot of courage to the organization to not only share its profits, but to also reinvest it in various productive areas like research n development,venture into new projects and ideas,and contribute to social causes.

Power of enthusiasm and morale :

This is the most important factor of all.

A leader who is charged with enthusiasm and a high level of morale can create the other three factors.the drive to “get more” is the true sign of progress.

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Power brings responsibilities

Chanakya says :

“for the king, there is a danger of revolt in the interior of or in the outer regions”.

The greatest danger for a king is revolt.it means dissatisfied employees, shareholders, stakeholders who are integral elements of the organization, even politicians know that if they do not rule the country properly, the dissatisfied workers would overthrow them.

Understand the needs of the market:

As a leader it is important to understand the needs of the people in the organization as well as in the market and the industry. As long as one is fulfilling ones needs, they will be loyal.

Remember old clients while making new ones

Business is not a one time deal ,but a collection of deals over a period of time which makes the business successful.

One must understand the requirements of people around himself.

He must always be on the move.

Imp-keep meeting your old clients regularly even when you are in the process of expanding your client base.

Solve the problem immediately :

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To curb any revolt early action is required similarly it is necessary to curb the dissatisfaction of the employees and clients, the moment any issue crops up.

A good leader knows that only committed employees run an organization.they also are aware of the fact that only satisfied customers bring good business.

The art of punishment

Success to any journey depends upon how a leader deals with his employees in any given organization.He has a very tough rule to play.

Dealing with his employees is not an easy task.

In order to reach the target set by the board of directors he has to tactfully get the work done by his team.

He has to consider their problems immediately so that the work does not suffer.

At the same time, he has to be disciplinarian.

He should be flexible with the employees but he should not loose focus of the goals and priorities of the organization-the reason for which he has been appointed.

Many a times he might have to use the way of punishments.

How much punishments can be given,when can it be given,and why has it been given-is an art in its ownself.

This art has been perfected by kautilya in the Arthashastra.

This is one of the reasons why kautilyas arthashastra is also called as

Danda niti-the art or the strategy of punishments.

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Punishments may not even be necessary but it has been said that-“if the rod is not used at all, the stronger swallows the weak in the absence of the wielder of the rod”.

In such cases the leader or the ceo is the final authority in the matter of punishments.if he not disciplining his team from time to time,there is always a possibility of him being a poor leader.more importantly in his absence the law of the jungle will take over and disturb the set up and structure of the organization.the bully in the team will start overpowering the weak as he would not be afraid of the boss,or the actions that will be taken when he returns.

“the king severe with rod(punishment) becomes a terror. A king with a mid rod is despised. The king just with the rod is honoured.”

Maintaining Secrets

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The power of secrecy holds a very strong portion in business. And the leader to maintain this secrecy is also very important since he holds a very it strong portion in the organization. At every stage of business in the key Secrets should be known only by the leader .If the secrets are disclosed the leader will have to face the following problems

1.He has to bend down near people who know his secret

2.He might become helpless

3.He should follow the rule of think twice before you speak.

Pillars of business

Commitment, vision and purpose from the important pillar of any organization

The pillars of an organization listed by chanakya are:

1. The King (The Leader)

Great leaders from great organization

2. The Minister (The Manager)

He is the person in action and runs the show

3. The Country (Market/Client/Customer)

No business can exist without market capitalization, clients and customers.

3. The Fortified City (Head Office)

It is the nucleus and the center of any organization.

4. The Treasury

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Financé is extremely important resource and backbone of any business

5. The Army (The Team)

No organization can come into existence without its team

6. The Ally(Friend)

A friend in need is a friend indeed

Aspects of success

Success is a relative term

Every person today craves for success

Success is threefold.i.e.

1. Success by Counsel

The better the advisor, the better one is guaranteed to succeed

2. Success by Might

Success derived due to ones position or the chair that on holds

3. Success by Energy

Success can be achieved on will power. He can be successful on the basis of his enthusiasm and the passion he shows

Power Management

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Artha is defined as POWER

No two situations are the same and a unique strategy must be applied for every situation.

Management of Power is based on:

People Situation

As soon as a person attains powers the first he has to handle is the people working under him

1. Knowledge Situations

As the world moves towards a knowledge economy the competitive advantage will be held by people who are ahead of others in the information sphere.

2. Material Situations

Here material means money, machines, and even technology

Bosses Are Answerable

Every boss has a boss above him. Every leader is answerable to someone else. Every King is given a code of conduct and the duties and responsibilities that have to be borne to

1. To Stakeholders

Usually it is understood that the person at the top is answerable to only those from whom he has take money like financers and lenders.

2. To Government And Society

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Every company is governed by certain laws.

3. To Self

Well, one may not follow others one may not even like government policies the industry standard or existing social rules.

Applying Arthashastra In Business

This science being and preserves spiritual good material well being and pleasures and destroys spiritual evil,material loss and batred.

1. Protecting And Expanding

If one has achieved something,it has to be protected

2. Destroy the wrong

Only protecting and expanding the good is not enough

3. Expansion Of Knowledge

By studying the Arthashastra,one increases knowledge and experience.

Inherited Company

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While most of the work has already been done by the parents still there is an advice to children born with a silver spoon in the mouth. Benefiting from an inheritance to look at the positive of the business and change the negative points with their own positives.

1. Identifying the positive aspects

As far as inheriting a business is conserened we find that the previous generation did the most work starting up,sales,capturing the market too.

2. Neutralise the Negatives

Earlier generations lived in different times

3. Be A Positive Change After getting the power to make decisions ,move your company slowlyto next level without giving any serious jerks to the existing system

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corporate chanakya

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