Gandhian management perspective for enhancing productivity and innovation in public sector organisation

Abstract

This paper underpins the importance of establishing public sector undertakings (PSU) in India with special reference to one of the key industrial organisations, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL), which focuses on elements of innovation that drives productivity inculcating the Gandhian management perspective. In the present competitive world, BHEL and other industrial PSUs are passing through a transitional phase of enhancing their productive competitiveness through both process and product innovation for sustainable growth. This requires introduction and adaption of non-conventional or modern modes of management based on the principles of Mahatma Gandhi. The need, importance and implication of Gandhian perspective in industrial organisation got reemphasise. Mahatma Gandhi's fundamental philosophical approach might not be radically different from that of others but it exists in the form of an approach that structurally recommends a pathway of wealth generation, productivity, wealth distribution and economic prosperity for all. The paper intends to find traces of Gandhian management perspective in Indian PSUs and also tries to elicit relevant Gandhian elements of industrial organisation management.