Reflections on contemporary business ethics and the ancient wisdom of Kalidasa

Satya Prakash Saraswat

International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 2010, vol. 3, issue 6, 702-716

Abstract: In the past two decades, multinational corporations have relied on laws, codes of ethics and in-house awareness programmes for managers to deal with the problems of corporate social responsibility and business ethics. The current global financial crisis and other corporate scandals have exposed the limited utility of these approaches and the glaring need for innovative solutions to the perennial problems of moral philosophy. This paper argues that the secular poetry of the renowned Sanskrit poet Kalidasa can motivate employees and managers to bring about a personal and organisational transformation required for solving the mounting problems of business ethics. Selected verses and aphorisms from two epic poems of Kalidasa – RaghuvaMsha and KumarasaMbhavaM – are examined and interpreted with proper context for their inspirational wisdom and its relevance to ethical behaviour in contemporary global business management.

Keywords: business ethics; CSR; corporate social responsibility; Kalidasa; classical literature; Sanskrit; MNCs; multinational corporations; ethical values; laws; legislation; codes; in-house training; awareness programmes; managers; global financial crisis; corporate scandals; moral philosophy; secular poetry; poets; employee motivation; personal transformation; organisational transformation; verses; aphorisms; Raghuvamsha; Kumarasambhavam; epic poems; inspirational wisdom; ethical behaviour; India; Indian culture; business management. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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