Management and Ethical Lessons for Modern Businesses in the Buddhist Scripture ‘Dhammapada’

Abstract

Business ethics refers to the application of ethical behavior in business. Business ethics is based on the principle of integrity, fairness and the benefits to the stakeholders. The ethical issues such as bribery, corruption, deception, concealment of facts, insider trading and fraud etc have increased the importance of business ethics in today;s dynamic business environment. The important sources of ethics are culture, religion, and law. Among these religion plays a crucial role in shaping the ethical values and attitudes for a human being. Thus, Buddhism is one of the major religions in the world which has a long tradition of highlighting ethical behavior in its practice and to deal with a practical solution to offer to today's business world. Keeping in view the importance of business ethics in a business environment, this paper aims at highlighting the ethics of Dhammapada which are correlated in business. The Dhammapada refers to the path of the dharma of truth and righteousness. It also encompasses the teachings of Buddha in the form of verses, having ethical values such as elimination of greed, good leadership, experience and good moral conduct etc. bearing implications on business management.