Looking into the Bhagavad Gita for Managing Organizations to Become Meaningful

Abstract

This symposium is inspired by the theme of the Academy of Management 2016 conference and planned to add a new dimension to the dialogue on this subject with the hope to enrich the discussion at AOM. It is focused on how to manage organizations, specifically knowledge organizations, meaningfully following the beliefs and time-tested writings of the ancient Indians in their ancient text named The Bhagavad Gita, which, although by some accounts as old as from the year 3137 BCE, is still admired globally and guides the personal and work lives of more than a billion people in the world. The symposium will go over how to perform important management functions of planning, organizing, leading and controlling, and their other ancillary aspects from other disciplines related to business, such as the economics and commerce as they pertain to the management of organizations. Seven management and Gita scholars from various academic disciplines from the USA, UK, and India will go into the management functions, interpret the Bhagavad Gita and, then, interpret how to carry out the functions to make organizations meaningful to themselves and local and global societies. A discussion and question-answer period for the audience comments and questions will be provided. The Wisdom of Self-Management Presenter: Swami Sarvapriyananda; Vedanta Society of Southern California Training the Mind for Creative Work: How to Manage Knowledge Workers Meaningfully Presenter: A. D. Amar; Seton Hall U. Timeless Values for Today's Management Presenter: Paul Palmarozza; Principled Business