‘Politicians And Bureaucrats Don’t Want To Devolve Powers To Local Governments’: T.R. Raghunandan

Mumbai: In April 2018, India marked the silver jubilee of the passing of the 73rd Amendment to the Constitution, which formalised the decentralisation of governance through panchayat raj institutions (PRI) across the country. Part IX of the Amendment made state legislatures responsible for devolving powers to PRIs.

Over the years, the southern states have done better than others in doing this. Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka topped the aggregate index for devolution in a 2015-16 report entitled ‘Where Local Democracy and Devolution in India is Heading Towards?’ issued by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR). Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Jharkhand were poor performers, it added.

There are exceptions such as Tripura, which has the highest-spending rural bodies in India, as IndiaSpend reported in June 2015. Its per capita spending is almost double that of states with more money and financial powers. But overall, there are challenges of finances, transfer of functions and capacity of local governments to handle the work given to them.

This stems from the fact that politicians and bureaucrats are unwilling to relinquish power, said T.R. Raghunandan, an expert on decentralisation and a former joint secretary in the MoPR, who took voluntary retirement after serving 26 years in the Indian Administrative Service. After retirement, Raghunandan helped establish the ipaidabribe.com initiative in 2011, which crowd-sources reports on corruption from citizens. He also co-founded a non-profit to work in the areas of decentralised public governance and heritage preservation. He was a member of the committee on decentralisation, a member of the state planning board in the government of Karnataka, as well as principal consultant to several expert committees constituted by the government of India on decentralised public governance.

In an email interview with IndiaSpend, Raghunandan talked about the hurdles faced by local governments in rural and urban areas, the reluctance of politicians and bureaucrats to allow the devolution of powers to panchayats, and his perspective on corruption in India.

States such as Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are among the top five for transferring functions, institutions and finances to PRIs. Lately, the details related to the weightage given to 2011 population in the 15th Finance Commission (FC) has received a backlash from the southern states. Do you think their reservations are relevant? What effect can it have on rural and urban local governance and the process of decentralisation?

The backlash from South Indian states certainly has plenty of substance. They are protesting because the 15th FC will take into account their 2011 populations when suggesting formulae for horizontal and vertical transfers [of central funds] to states.

These states say they are being punished for more effective population control ever since the family planning programme was announced in 1971. That is bound to have a bearing on the actual proportion of allocations these states receive from the central government’s revenues divisible pool, both for their own use and to supplement local governments’ finances.

The 14th FC was of the view that the use of dated population data is unfair and concluded that a weight to the 2011 population would capture the demographic changes since 1971, both in terms of migration and age structure.

However, this is not directly relevant to the issue of whether south Indian states are doing better than northern ones in the devolution of powers and responsibilities to local governments. Arguably, even if they were not, the use of 2011 population data will harm them.

While there are variations across states, the economic survey 2017-18 noted that urban local governments in India generated 44% (in 2015-16) of their total revenue from their own resources compared to panchayats which overwhelmingly (about 95% in 2014-15) depend on devolution of funds from the Centre. What are the challenges and solutions for resolving challenges to cooperative fiscal federalism?

While urban local governments earn a higher proportion of their revenues on their own as compared to panchayats, the fact remains that both rural and urban local governments are significantly underfunded to perform the tasks that are devolved to them under the law.

This does not mean that there is no scope to raise more revenues at the panchayat and municipality levels. In this regard, it is true that the panchayats have generally failed to utilise the revenue handles that have been given to them by state governments under the law. While some states, such as the southern states and Maharashtra, have had a generally better track record, and Chattisgarh and West Bengal have been able to undertake effective reforms in this regard, there is tremendous scope for panchayats to increase their own revenues.

Unfortunately, it is quite often the lack of capacity of states that has come in the way of panchayats raising their own revenues. Tax administration needs human resources and funds, but where states have not posted panchayat secretaries, or have one-person panchayat offices, panchayats cannot be blamed for not collecting taxes.

Most of the solutions for strengthening fiscal federalism have been repeated ad nauseum over the past two decades. They comprise of (a) a clear assignment of functions, powers and responsibilities to the local governments through activity mapping, (b) a clear budget window in state budgets assigning funds to the panchayats to match the devolved functions, (c) adequate staffing at the panchayat level, either through the state assigning staff on deputation or enabling the panchayats to recruit their own staff, and (d) the state being willing to provide capacity on tap to panchayats to enable them to perform their functions, instead of running low-quality, discontinuous, and haphazard one-off training programmes that deliver homilies to elected representatives instead of squarely addressing the administrative weaknesses of panchayats.

The biggest challenge is that higher-level politicians and bureaucrats don’t want to devolve powers and responsibilities to local governments, because they fear competition and being outclassed by the latter in the delivery of essential goods and services. Higher level politicians and bureaucrats have a vested interest in mystifying governance simply to protect their monopoly.

In a 2015 article**, you mention, “Over the last decade, the amount of money that goes to one [panchayat] has increased tenfold but the staff has remained nearly the same.” There seems to be very little in terms of building the organisational capacity of PRIs and strengthening the skills of functionaries. What sort of investments are needed to improve this?

To put matters bluntly, states do not know the meaning of the word ‘devolution’. It means that exclusive powers and authority are transferred to local governments, along with adequate fiscal allocations, capacities (in terms of people and systems to perform, not in terms of training alone) and accountability systems to ensure that people can hold their local governments accountable.

What we run in India through the panchayats is an extension office of the rural development department in villages. Panchayats are basically run as agencies of the state government, implementing rigid schemes through officers nominally posted at that level who owe allegiance to higher official channels than to elected representatives.

The elected representatives are scoffed at, ignored, or treated with hostility, particularly if they are outspoken. They are universally condemned as being transactional and corrupt. They are not at the table when crucial policy decisions are taken on how panchayati raj should be reformed. This is hardly devolution.

One of the big weaknesses of Indian administration is that it is under-capacitated in many ways. While many departments are top-heavy and centralise their administration through multiple levels of scrutiny in order to give something to do to redundant higher-levels officers, at the field level they typically suffer from grievous shortages of staff. This shortage pans itself across both local governments and departments that are not decentralised.

In such circumstances, the finance, planning and personnel departments of states need to take a serious look at how much investment needs to be put into the hiring and placement of well-qualified staff, regardless of whether they wish to run a decentralised or centralised system. Sadly, not one state thinks of these matters in the long term. Interim solutions include hiring people on contract, and even running departments through consultants hired through external funding. There cannot be a greater abdication of responsibility by states.

New Zealand has a remuneration authority for setting remuneration for elected members of local authorities. Would a similar body in India help uniformly establish honorarium/salary and benefits from panchayats to state legislatures and members of parliament? What has been the effect of the non-uniformity in salaries at different governance levels?

New Zealand is a unitary country. India is a federal country with huge variations in culture, democratic practice, habitation patterns, climatic conditions, service-delivery requirements and cost of service delivery. In such circumstances, having a single remuneration authority will not make sense.

Having said that, there is indeed a need to establish a set of norms for how much legislators and other elected representatives ought to be compensated. Politics is no longer to be wholly regarded as selfless public service. There is an opportunity cost to be considered if politics is to attract quality professionals. Otherwise, even the best are likely to become corrupt, first, in order to catch up on the lucrative incomes that they may have foregone to join politics, and then, to rake in the moolah while the good times last.

I have been involved in research studies of panchayat members, which show that while they are under pressure from their voters to perform, they do not have the staff to competently deliver services.

In such circumstances, panchayat members themselves take on quasi-executive duties and incur expenditure to undertake legitimate governance activities. As the sitting fees paid to them are not adequate to cover such expenses, even the best of them are drawn to indulge in need-based corruption, by which they skim off just enough money from government contracts and procurements to compensate for the expenditure they incur.

Such practices also open them to blackmail by corrupt officials who are often on the lookout for chinks in the armour of honest elected representatives.

Having state-wise remuneration authorities would be a good way to bring these issues out in the open and take pragmatic decisions based on the fundamental principle that everybody involved in governance, whether as elected representative or staff, ought to be compensated adequately. Only then will we be able to take a hard line on curbing corruption.

India was ranked 81st among 180 countries in the global corruption perception index 2017, after falling two places from the previous year. What has been the effect of corruption on local governance?

There is an oft-repeated statement that decentralisation amounts to only decentralisation of corruption. When this argument is made by those in the upper echelons of power, it reeks of hypocrisy and condescension. So what do these people mean, exactly? That corruption is better when centralised?

India’s ranking of corruption is hardly based or dependent on whether it has decentralised (which it has not). India is corrupt because we have no clue how to address corruption in a holistic or comprehensive manner, and instead, we merely engage in discontinuous, random steps to curb it.

What India needs is an anti-corruption strategy; one which takes a systems approach to curbing and eliminating corruption. We will be condemned to languish at the 80th position or so, for the next decade, if things don’t change.

The Pathalgadi movement in Jharkhand is an assertion of local governance where in some parts stone slabs have been inscribed with features of the Panchayat Extension of Schedule Areas (PESA) Act. While the state government is wary, how do you view such attempts to self-rule or govern? How can contestation of land and approach to local governance be resolved in such contexts, where development is low due to historic and socio-economic reasons?

This was bound to happen. I think it’s a natural outcome of having strong laws but very weak implementation. If the PESA were implemented with sincere intentions, it would have given tribal communities some chance at true self-governance in the spirit of their traditional approaches to participatory governance. However, the oppressive capturing of the spirit of PESA and its overturning by the same bureaucratic system that it aimed to supplant, will eventually lead to people repudiating the state.

I don’t believe that local governance can be weak simply because development as we observe it is measured to be low. I find that tribal communities have a greater sense of self-governance as compared to so-called developed communities, say, in urban areas, who are only too willing to be led by the nose by higher-level governments and who hardly have any understanding of the potential of local governments as a way to seize and decentralise power to enable local action.

Although on paper the law provides for decentralised decision-making at the gram panchayat level for many policies and schemes of the central government, overarching policies such as Aadhaar tend to centralise the entire process. Under such circumstances, would you believe that the spirit of decentralisation has been repeatedly affected due to unclear policy paths?

Till now, I would say that the progress of decentralisation was stymied by unclear policy paths. But we must remember that decentralisation is always in transition as capacities change and new techniques and technologies emerge that make the delivery of services efficient at some level other than the local. This has been predicted in the literature on fiscal federalism.

[Public economics expert Albert] Breton observed, in competitive governments, from a fiscal and service delivery perspective, decentralisation is about managing externalities in service delivery and governance action. As a logical extension of this argument, Jack Weldon, an academic who worked on decentralisation, observed that if at any time a higher-level government was in a position to manage all externalities, then the rationale for multi-level governance would disappear. While I am personally very wary of Aadhaar as I believe it seriously compromises privacy, I cannot but concede that Aadhaar is arguably one such instrument that can change the scales of service delivery dramatically.

Therefore, it is bound to have an effect of decentralisation of service delivery to local governments. I also anticipate that the future, with its reliance on artificial intelligence, blockchain, and other technologies that transcend national boundaries, will not only affect the way we look at local governments, but also how we consider national sovereignty. It is likely that in future the only real justification for local governments will be our enduring need to stick together on the basis of identity, culture and commonality of political beliefs, rather than on economist-generated ideas of efficient service delivery.

We’ll have panchayats in future because they represent our identities, not because they can deliver water or education or sanitation services better. That may be an additional benefit, but it might not be the glue that holds us together in our local governments.

The government has allowed lateral entry into the bureaucracy to bring in specialists. Is it a step in the right direction?

Yes, I think it’s a good thing, though I have serious misgivings about the rather non-transparent way in which this is being tried out at the moment. Monopolies are never good for incentivising the striving for more quality.

When an individual, however gifted, is guaranteed a certain measure of stability and assured progress in her career, you can bet that she has no incentive to improve. The bureaucracy must be kept on its toes and lateral entry is a good way to do that. Have you noticed that nearly all articles critical of lateral entry have been written by former or serving bureaucrats?

Article:https://www.indiaspend.com/politicians-and-bureaucrats-dont-want-to-devolve-powers-to-local-governments/

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**Criminal elements are making a beeline for panchayat elections due to the huge amounts of money now flowing into panchayats. A gram panchayat may get more than Rs 1.5 crore annually. The bureaucracy that works at higher levels is also complicit in this chain of corruption. Officers are posted at the higher level at the behest of MLAs, often on the payment of bribes. They in turn extract bribes from panchayats to clear plans, approve estimates and payments.
Yet it would be wrong to lay all the blame for rampant corruption on decentralisation. Corruption does not increase as a result of decentralisation. It just gets detected faster and is more visible.
There are ways to reverse this trend. First, the institution of the gram sabha has to be strengthened. Unfortunately, the term gram sabha is considered to be a meeting, though the Constitution defines it as an association of voters. There is a dire need to improve the quality of deliberation within gram sabhas so as to make them truly inclusive, through smaller group discussions and workshops rather than large meetings, which tend to get dominated by vocal and powerful mobs.
Second, the gram panchayat’s organisational structure has to be strengthened. Over the last decade, the amount of money that goes to one has increased tenfold but the staff has remained nearly the same. Panchayats are burdened with work from other departments (conducting surveys, undertaking censuses, distributing benefits) without any compensation. Need-based corruption is then inevitable. Gram panchayats should be enabled to hold state departments accountable and to have them provide quality, corruption-free services.
Third, we can never have accountable panchayats if they don’t collect taxes. In Karnataka, panchayats are not utilising their powers to collect property tax and user charges fully. They know that if they collect taxes, voters will never forgive them for misusing their funds. Tax collection results in higher accountability.

In the overall analysis, improving the functioning of democratic institutions is a constant battle that must not be given up. A centralised system is far worse and much less accountable than panchayati raj.

Article:https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/begin-with-gram-sabha//indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/begin-with-gram-sabha/

New-age policy-makers

Policy-making, a specialised field, requires an in-depth study of its nuances

I still remember the time in school, when civics was the favourite subject for most of my classmates, including me. More than the content of the curriculum that the subject offered, it was the way it was taught, that made it so interesting — ‘participative’ would, indeed, be the word for it. The role plays served as an immersion into real-life scenarios, in order to understand duties, responsibilities and challenges better. The outcome — better understanding, as all of had our thinking caps on. That was not just a momentary outcome, but had a long-term impact of sorts. The interest in the country’s affairs, its societies, communities, and their respective roles was kindred, and enhanced, with the passage of time. Though the profession I chose was far and wide from the subject, the attachment and interest remained. I have always wondered (and hoped) whether ‘learning that encourages to think’ is being actively deployed in classrooms, no matter what age the faculty and students are.
One of my recent assignments plunged me into the world of public policy making. The first point that struck me was, “How can someone be trained in this vast and dynamic field?” Of course, basic training forms the core, but experience on-the-job would, ideally, do the trick. The popularity in the study of the field lies in the fact that it holds career progression, wide scope for exposure, and fulfilment of the passion to be the change one wishes to see and make. Having said this, my introduction to the Indian School of Public Policy (ISPP) served as an eye-opener, in a way.

Balanced mix

Policy-making, and its training, is a highly specialised field, with the amalgamation of theoretical rigour and experiential learning being a prerequisite. Not only is an in-depth study of the nuances of the subject paramount, but what is also vital is an exposure to the subject on an international basis, and to global policy makers. Says Vijay Kelkar, former finance secretary, Chairman of the Thirteenth Finance Commission of India, Padma Vibhushan awardee and chairman of academic advisory council, ISPP, “One of the most important, not skill, but prerequisite for a public policy domain maker, according to me, is the possession of values. He or she should be committed to public good. This is extremely important. On second place, I would place domain knowledge. How can a policy-maker make a policy, on say climate change, when he/she is not well versed with the nuances of the field? This applies to policy-making in any field. On the other hand, this does not mean a standalone focus on one field. It also fosters the strength to navigate between fields, quickly and effectively. Another important prerequisite is the willingness to adapt.”
Over the past few decades, it has been heartening to see the paradigm shift towards specialisation in a field like public policy; this has been, mainly, to address the desire in future decision-makers to find innovative and effective solutions for the dynamic challenges the country faces. The energy is infectious and inspiring. At the same time, governments are becoming increasingly open to draw fresh talent, ideas and designs from outside the bureaucratic ranks. The need is urgent and agreed upon.
And so, young minds nourishing policy space is an idea whose time has come, and a shift that is here to stay…hopefully, for a long time…
The writer is advisor, communications and media outreach, IL&FS Education and Technology Services.

Article Courtesy: https://www.thehindu.com/education/new-age-policy-makers/article26699412.ece

Democracy depends on vibrant ‘gram sabhas’

Gram sabhas' have ceased to be vibrant spaces for popular participation and effective agencies to hold government functionaries to account.

Decentralization is a strategy to empower citizens to control their own destinies. At its core, decentralization signals that citizen collectives can come together to make decisions of allocation and expenditure of public resources. ‘Democratic decentralization’, as practised in India, is where this power is devolved to elected local governments—this was the spirit of the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution in 1992-93.

This form of decentralization sought to break away from the conventional planning processes that did not involve citizens. Bringing about reforms in such a context required a ‘big bang’—of the kind attempted in Kerala, where, in 1996, instead of waiting to gradually create and upgrade the administrative capacity of the local government officials and elected representatives, the state government decided to devolve untied funds. The assumption was that these funds would trigger a wave of local accountability. The devolution was accompanied by a state-wide people’s campaign to mobilize people to participate in local governance.

In the democratic decentralization system, gram sabhas were envisaged as key platforms for popular participation. A quorum was defined for convening a meeting, and they had to develop by-laws that specified the number of times they were to meet in a year. Gram sabhas were responsible for catalysing local planning by conducting ‘needs assessment’ exercises, and devising plans for development projects that would be aggregated at the panchayat level. When further aggregated and rationalized at the district level, these would become official inputs into the state government’s annual budgeting process.

This highlights the importance of the gram sabha as a pivotal institution in local planning. However, 25 years since the landmark constitutional amendments, their state is quite different in reality. With low participation, and frequent hijacking by small but influential interests, gram sabhas have struggled to stay relevant. The dip in popular participation has had significant implications for the future of democratic decentralization in India. It is therefore important to take urgent steps to revive the humble institution. 

1. There is a widely shared perception that gram sabhas are only for discussions on benefits from individually-targeted government schemes, and the planning process is seen merely as an exercise in identifying beneficiaries for these schemes. This needs to be countered by running a widespread awareness campaign where the development agenda of local governments, and the role of gram sabhas, is clarified.

2. There is a significant imbalance of power between local government officials and gram sabha members. Government officials are supposed to attend key gram sabhas, and communicate how projects and schemes under their jurisdiction are relevant to communities. The active participation of these officials, and a clear demonstration that gram sabha decisions cannot be simply overruled by the local bureaucracy, would be an important factor in restoring trust. For instance, administrative sanctions for scheme implementation should not take place without authorization at the gram sabha level.

3. There is a perception of rampant corruption by local leaders and elected representatives. The quantum of funds that flow through local governments, and the reports of misuse, add to this suspicion, or at least strengthens the perception that local governments are unable to ensure clean effective spending. Local accountability should be the central theme that binds every gram sabha. An active state government, acting as a watchdog, should complement the role of popular participation, and put pressure on local governments and government officials operating at the grass roots, from both above and below.

4. In most parts of the country, self-help groups have put down strong roots. In Kerala, the Kudumbashree model has demonstrated how these groups can interact with local government, strengthening, as a result, the spirit of local governance.

5. Finally, when it comes to gram sabhas, one size does not fit all—not all gram sabhas care about service delivery issues; there might be ones whose primary concern is the quality of tertiary health, or educational institutes, or job creation.

The functioning of gram sabhas is affected by the manner in which agendas are framed for public meetings, and the levels of involvement of critical actors such as elected representatives, government officials and subject experts. It is evident that there is very little scrutiny of the local governments by the state government. This calls for a more active role from the state government in reforming the organization and the conduct of gram sabhas to improve popular participation. This would form the basis for state governments and civil society to hold gram sabhas and the local government accountable for the delivery of public services. 

In the techno-managerial framework of development, local governments have become contractors who just implement schemes designed and funded by those above them. In this process, gram sabhas have lost their ability to function as vibrant spaces for popular participation, as well as the ability to function as effective agencies to hold government functionaries to account. It is this space that gram sabhas need to regain if the goals of democratic decentralization are to be realized. 

Suvojit Chattopadhyay works on issues of governance and development in South Asia.

Article courtesy: https://www.livemint.com/

Ancient Indian Spiritual And Religious Texts in Universities and Corporates Worldwide - Newspaper Clippings

Harvard University to teach a course on Ramayana and Mahabharata this fall

Courtesy: https://indianewengland.com/2017/08/harvard-university-teach-course-ramayana-mahabharata-fall/

CAMBRIDGE, MA–Hindu epics Mahabharata and Ramayana will be taught in the upcoming Fall semester at Harvard University. These great Sanskrit epics will be focus of the graduate level “Indian Religions Through Their Narrative Literatures: The Epics” class taught by Professor Anne E. Monius of Harvard Divinity School starting August 30.
Ramayana, a narrative poem of about 25,000 slokas is divided into seven kandas. Mahabharata, the longest poem ever written, contains around 100,000 verses, and is divided into eighteen parvan and Bhagavad-Gita forms part of it.
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed commended Harvard University for highlighting Hindu heritage.
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged major universities of the world; including Oxford, Stanford, Cambridge, Princeton, UC Berkeley, Yale, Columbia, Toronto, Tokyo, Melbourne, etc.; to frequently offer Hinduism focused classes, thus sharing rich philosophy-concepts-symbols-traditions of this oldest religion with the rest of the world
Harvard University, whose motto is Veritas (Latin for “truth”) has about 22,000 students, boasts of “48 Nobel Laureates, 32 heads of state, 48 Pulitzer Prize winners”.
Hinduism, the third largest religion of the world, has about 1.1 billion adherents and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal. There are about three million Hindus in USA.
Prof. Monius is a historian of religion specializing in the religious traditions of India. Her research interests lie in examining the practices and products of literary culture to reconstruct the history of religions in South Asia, according to her profile on Harvard University website.
Her first book, Imagining a Place for Buddhism: Literary Culture and Religious Community in Tamil-Speaking South India, examines the two extant Buddhist texts composed in Tamil; her current research project, “Singing the Lives of Śiva’s Saints: History, Aesthetics, and Religious Identity in Tamil-Speaking South India,” considers the role of aesthetics and moral vision in the articulation of a distinctly Hindu religious identity in twelfth-century South India, according to her profile.
Her future research projects will explore the relationship of Hindu devotional and philosophical literature in Tamil to its Sanskritic forebears, as well as consider the transmission of South Indian strands of Buddhism and Hinduism to Southeast Asia.

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Harvard students studying the Gita, Ramayana: Univ president

 Courtesy: https://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-harvard-students-studying-the-gita-ramayana-univ-president-1640315

While Indians aspire to bag a foreign degree, some Harvard University students, on the other hand, are studying the Bhagavad Gita and Ramayana. At least 200 business students from the prestigious American university are also working with business houses in Mumbai and Chennai to get global experience.
Harvard University president Prof Drew Gilpin Faust, who was speaking at Sir Cowasjee Jehangir Hall (Convocation Hall) of University of Mumbai, said, “We see education transforming into positive effects in India. We need to face the challenges of exploding number of students. To counter the challenge, technology will play an important role.”
She said nearly 15 million students sought higher education in India between 1971 and 2007, while over 18 million sought higher education in the US.
Mumbai University vice-chancellor Dr Rajan Welukar said, “We look forward to leadership development programmes from Harvard in the future.”
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Harvard learns management lessons from India Inc.

Courtesy: https://www.equitymaster.com/5MinWrapUp/detail.asp?date=06/17/2011&story=4&title=Harvard-learns-management-lessons-from-India-Inc 

Who has not heard of Harvard University? Nearly every management professional has aspired to be a student of the prestigious Harvard Business School (HBS). Therefore it would be interesting to know that the HBS uses India Inc as case studies to impart management lessons to its students. That's right. Over the years, the phenomenal success of Indian companies has landed them in the form of case studies for business schools all over the world. And HBS is no exception to this.

As reported by a leading daily, nearly 120 plus Harvard case studies from South-Asia are India centric. Reasons for this are several. The phenomenal economic growth rates spanning two decades. The growth of a significant middle-class. And most importantly, the increased presence of global firms in India and vice versa. Therefore, it is little wonder that the world's most prestigious management schools are lining up to draw lessons from the various success stories. Professors are using these lessons to fill in the specific needs in their course syllabus.

But this is not just one way traffic. Indian companies too are benefitting from becoming case studies in such universities. These universities typically take in some of the best minds in the world as students. These students come up with innovative approaches and solutions to some of the problems that the companies are currently facing. For example, Eureka Forbes, an Indian water filtration device manufacturer, drew an important learning on how to lower the cost of its water filters. Many companies, including the likes of TCS have drawn on these learnings to improve their business processes further. Becoming a case study also helps them in garnering international exposure which is essential for companies aspiring to be significant global players.

The truth is that India Inc has taken on the challenge of operating in India and expanding outside of its boundaries in its own unique way. And the world has now realized this fact and is taking notes.

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How Bhagavad Gita has charmed US corporates

Courtesy: https://www.rediff.com/money/2006/nov/02bspec.htm

Times have changed since Gordon Gekko quoted Sun Tzu in the 1987 movie Wall Street. Has the Bhagavad Gita replaced The Art of War as the hip new ancient Eastern management text?
Signs of worldly success abounded as members of the Young Presidents' Organization met at a mansion in a tony New Jersey suburb. BMWs, Lexuses, and Mercedes-Benzes lined the manicured lawn. Waiters in starched shirts and bow ties passed out vegetarian canapés.
And about 20 executives -- heads of midsize outfits selling everything from custom audiovisual systems to personal grooming products -- mingled poolside with their spouses on a late September evening.
After heading inside their host's sprawling hillside house -- replete with glittering chandeliers, marble floors, and gilded rococo mirrors -- the guests retreated to a basement room, shed their designer loafers and sandals, and sat in a semicircle on the carpet.
The speaker that evening was Swami Parthasarathy, one of India's best-selling authors on Vedanta, an ancient school of Hindu philosophy. With an entourage of disciples at his side, all dressed in flowing white garments known as kurtas and dhotis, the lanky 80-year-old scribbled the secrets to business success ('concentration, consistency, and cooperation') on an easel pad.
The executives sat rapt. "You can't succeed in business unless you develop the intellect, which controls the mind and body," the swami said in his mellow baritone.
At the Wharton School a few days earlier, Parthasarathy talked about managing stress. During the same trip, he counseled hedge fund managers and venture capitalists in Rye, N.Y., about balancing the compulsion to amass wealth with the desire for inner happiness.
And during an auditorium lecture at Lehman Brothers Inc.'s Lower Manhattan headquarters, a young investment banker sought advice on dealing with nasty colleagues. Banish them from your mind, advised Parthasarathy. "You are the architect of your misfortune," he said. "You are the architect of your fortune."
Big Business is embracing Indian philosophy
The swami's whirlwind East Coast tour was just one small manifestation of a significant but sometimes quirky new trend: Big Business is embracing Indian philosophy. Suddenly, phrases from ancient Hindu texts such as the Bhagavad Gita are popping up in management tomes and on Web sites of consultants.
Top business schools have introduced 'self-mastery' classes that use Indian methods to help managers boost their leadership skills and find inner peace in lives dominated by work.
More important, Indian-born strategists also are helping transform corporations. Academics and consultants such as C. K. Prahalad, Ram Charan, and Vijay Govindrajan are among the world's hottest business gurus.
Management gurus of Indian origin
About 10% of the professors at places such as Harvard Business School, Northwestern's Kellogg School of Business, and the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business are of Indian descent -- a far higher percentage than other ethnic groups.
"When senior executives come to Kellogg, Wharton, Harvard, or [Dartmouth's] Tuck, they are exposed to Indian values that are reflected in the way we think and articulate," says Dipak C. Jain, dean of the Kellogg School.
Indian theorists, of course, have a wide range of backgrounds and philosophies. But many of the most influential acknowledge that common themes pervade their work. One is the conviction that executives should be motivated by a broader purpose than money. Another is the belief that companies should take a more holistic approach to business -- one that takes into account the needs of shareholders, employees, customers, society, and the environment.
Some can even foresee the development of a management theory that replaces the shareholder-driven agenda with a more stakeholder-focused approach.
"The best way to describe it is inclusive capitalism," says Prahalad, a consultant and University of Michigan professor who ranked third in a recent Times of London poll about the world's most influential business thinkers. "It's the idea that corporations can simultaneously create value and social justice."
Karma Capitalism
You might also call it Karma Capitalism. For both organizations and individuals, it's a gentler, more empathetic ethos that resonates in the post-tech-bubble, post-Enron zeitgeist.
These days, concepts such as "emotional intelligence" and "servant leadership" are in vogue. Where once corporate philanthropy was an obligation, these days it's fast becoming viewed as a competitive advantage for attracting and retaining top talent. Where the rallying cry in the 1980s and '90s may have been "greed is good," today it's becoming "green is good."
And while it used to be hip in management circles to quote from the sixth century B.C. Chinese classic The Art of War, the trendy ancient Eastern text today is the more introspective Bhagavad Gita. Earlier this year, a manager at Sprint Nextel Corp. penned the inevitable how-to guide: Bhagavad Gita on Effective Leadership.
The ancient spiritual wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita seems at first like an odd choice for guiding today's numbers-driven managers. Also known as Song of the Divine One, the work relates a conversation between the supreme deity Krishna and Arjuna, a warrior prince struggling with a moral crisis before a crucial battle.
One key message is that enlightened leaders should master any impulses or emotions that cloud sound judgment. Good leaders are selfless, take initiative, and focus on their duty rather than obsessing over outcomes or financial gain. "The key point," says Ram Charan, a coach to CEOs such as General Electric Co.'s Jeffrey R. Immelt, "is to put purpose before self. This is absolutely applicable to corporate leadership today."
Indian philosophy perfect for firms
The seemingly ethereal world view that's reflected in Indian philosophy is surprisingly well attuned to the down-to-earth needs of companies trying to survive in an increasingly global, interconnected business ecosystem.
While corporations used to do most of their manufacturing, product development, and administrative work in-house, the emphasis is now on using outsiders. Terms such as "extended enterprises" (companies that outsource many functions), "innovation networks" (collaborative research and development programs), and "co-creation" (designing goods and services with input from consumers) are the rage.
Indian-born thinkers didn't invent all these concepts, but they're playing a big role in pushing them much further. Prahalad, for example, has made a splash with books on how companies can co-create products with consumers and succeed by tailoring products and technologies to the poor.
That idea has influenced companies from Nokia Corp. to Cargill. Harvard Business School associate professor Rakesh Khurana, who achieved acclaim with a treatise on how corporations have gone wrong chasing charismatic CEOs, is writing a book on how U.S. business schools have gotten away from their original social charters.
Vijay Govindarajan, a professor at Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business whose books and consulting for the likes of Chevron and Deere & Co. have made him a sought-after innovation guru, links his theories directly to Hindu philosophy.
He helps companies figure out how to stop reacting to the past and start creating their own futures through innovation. Govindarajan says his work is inspired by the concept of karma, which holds that future lives are partly determined by current actions. "Karma is a principle of action. Innovation is about creating change, not reacting to change," he says.
Of marketing and Bhagavad Gita
There are also parallels between Indian philosophy and contemporary marketing theory, which has shifted away from manipulating consumers to collaborating with them. "Marketing has tended to use the language of conquest," says Kellogg professor Mohanbir S. Sawhney, a Sikh who discusses the relevance of the Bhagavad Gita to business on his Web site. Now the focus is on using customer input to dream up new products, Sawhney says, which "requires a symbiotic relationship with those around us."
Kellogg's Jain, who is working on a book about the customer-centric business models of Indian companies, believes that many Indian thinkers are drawn to fields stressing interconnectedness for good reason. "We have picked areas that are consistent with our passion," he says.
Whatever the common themes, India, of course, is hardly a showcase of social consciousness. While companies such as Tata Group or Wipro Technologies have generous initiatives for India's poor, the country has its share of unethical business practices and social injustices.
In addition, some Indian academics bristle at the suggestion that their background makes their approach to business any different. They're quick to point out the wide range of religions, influences, and specialties among them.
Indeed, it's not surprising that thinkers from a country with as diverse an economic and social makeup as India would have different perspectives on the influences on their work. "We are a fusion society," says Harvard's Khurana.
As a result, many Indian management theorists "tend to look at organizations as complex social systems, where culture and reciprocity are important," he says. "You won't hear too many of us say the only legitimate stakeholders in a company are stockholders."
What's more, India's extreme poverty imposes a natural pressure on its companies to contribute more to the common good.
Indian thinkers influencing US firms
Indian thinkers are affecting not only the way managers run companies. They are also furthering their search for personal fulfillment. Northwestern's Kellogg even offers an executive education leadership course by Deepak Chopra, the controversial self-help guru and spiritual healer to the stars.
Chopra also is on the board of clothing retailer Men's Wearhouse Inc. and has conducted programs for Deloitte, Harvard Business School, and the World Bank.
In a stark, brightly lit classroom, Chopra, sporting glasses with heavy black frames studded with rhinestones, led a class through a 20-minute meditation in June.
"Sit comfortably in your chair with your feet planted on the ground," Chopra instructed the 35 mostly midlevel executives from corporations that are as far afield as ABN Amro Bank and sporting goods retailer Cabela's Inc. "Our mantra today is: I am.'"
Other B-schools are adding courses that combine ancient wisdom with the needs of modern managers. A popular class at both Columbia Business School and London Business School is "Creativity & Personal Mastery," taught by Columbia's Srikumar Rao.

Many attendees are fast-track managers who are highly successful at work but still miserable, says Rao. His lectures, which include mental exercises and quotes from Indian swamis and other philosophers, win praise from managers such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Managing Director Mark R. Tercek.
"Business schools ought to be championing this stuff," says Tercek, a yoga practitioner. "We can hire the smartest damn people in the world, but many of them ultimately don't succeed because they can't motivate and work with those around them. I think the Indians are on to something."

India's biggest impact
They may be on to quite a lot. Some Indian theorists have said their ultimate goal is to promote an entirely different theory of management -- one that would replace shareholder capitalism with stakeholder capitalism.
The late Sumantra Ghoshal was attempting to do just that. At the time he died, the prolific London Business School professor was working on a book to be called A Good Theory of Management.
As Ghoshal saw it, the corporate debacles of a few years ago were the inevitable outgrowth of theories developed by economists and absorbed at business schools. Corporations are not merely profit machines reacting to market forces; they are run by and for humans, and have a symbiotic relationship with the world around them.
"There is no inherent conflict between the economic well-being of companies and their serving as a force for good in societies," wrote Ghoshal.
In their own ways, other Indian thinkers are picking up the mantle. Khurana's forthcoming book, From Higher Aims to Hired Hands, looks at the professional responsibility to society that managers and the business schools who train them were initially designed to have.
The quest, says Prahalad, is to develop a capitalism that "puts the individual at the center of the universe," placing employees and customers first so that they can benefit shareholders. This is a lofty if improbable goal. But if it is attained, business leaders may find that India's biggest impact on the global economy may be on the way executives think.

 

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Corporate America swears by the Gita

Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/132248.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Why the 'Gita' is a must - read at this American university

Courtesy: https://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report-why-the-gita-is-a-must-read-at-this-american-university-1228670

Since last year, all students of business management at Seton Hall University (SHU), New Jersey, have had to compulsorily study the Bhagavad Gita. Not to glean some tactical insights for use in corporate warfare, but to ground themselves in multiple religious cultures. A laudable objective that would resonate with US president Barack Obama’s vision of a pluralist America where Christians and Muslims, Hindus and Jews, and non-believers, live together.
It all began as a pilot project last year, to teach the Gita to business students as a ‘signature course’ on a full-time basis. From this year, the Gita has become part of the core curriculum at the SHU, which happens to be a Roman Catholic-run institution.
Ironically enough, the initiative was triggered by a concern that the proportion of ‘active’ Catholics filling the faculty and administrative positions was falling. This was making it difficult for the college to maintain its religious identity. The university then constituted a group, and entrusted it with the task of designing an inter-disciplinary course that would help students obtain answers to “perennial questions”. Naturally, this being part of an effort to emphasise the university’s Roman Catholic identity, the answers were to be sought in the Bible, which would be made compulsory reading.
That’s when AD Amar, professor of strategy, policy and knowledge in the university’s School of Business stepped in. As a member of the core curriculum group, he suggested that looking for perennial questions in the Bible would not yield insights from different civilisations and that “it would give students only one perspective.”
The faculty then asked that the answers to the perennial questions “be expanded”. Eventually they decided to consider the ‘answers’ as given by various religions, including Islam and Buddhism. “Many Americans do not understand Hinduism. They find it too complex. In fact, Americans find Buddhism simple and feel it can be imbibed from one known leader, such as the Dalai Lama,” says Amar.
So at one of the core curriculum meetings, Amar proposed that Hinduism should be included. As the world’s oldest religion, he argued, it had put in most thought into the ‘perennial questions.’ His suggestion was accepted, and the SHU committee included the Gita, along with the Koran, the Bible, besides texts from the Buddhist sutras and the Greek philosophers. The course was called The Journey Of Transformation.
“American students will find the Gita rather difficult to navigate due to cultural barriers and a lack of context. But they are all fascinated by India, and being keen to learn, they will be interested,” says Amar.
The Journey Of Transformation will be taught alongside another course, Christianity And Culture In Dialogue. The University will train faculty to take these additional courses, and whoever agrees to take it on will get a stipend of $1,000 for training, and a ‘bounty’ of another $1,000 the first time they teach the course. While six new professors were hired last year for this course, another six are set to be hired this year. If other universities, too, take a leaf out of SHU’s book, then America could well churn out a new generation of business graduates well-versed in the perennial questions. If the recession is still on by the time they pass out, a spiritual grounding in the Gita could prove more than useful.
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Gita is new mantra for US businesses 

Big businesses in the United States are embracing Indian philosophy, in a significant new trend.

Courtesy:  https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/gita-is-new-mantra-for-us-businesses/story-fpqCGC5AogKS7AnycBDzPL.html

Big businessess in the United Statesare embracing Indian philosophy in a significant but sometimes quirky new trend.
A recent whirlwind East Coast tour by Swami Parthasarathy, one of India's best-selling authors on Vedanta, was just one small manifestation of the new trend, according to BusinessWeek magazine.

Suddenly, phrases from ancient Hindu texts such as the Bhagavad Gita are popping up in management tomes and on websites of consultants, while top business schools have introduced "self-mastery" classes that use Indian methods to help managers boost their leadership skills and find inner peace in lives dominated by work.

More important, India-born strategists also are helping transform corporations. Academics and consultants such as C.K. Prahalad, Ram Charan, and Vijay Govindrajan are among the world's hottest business gurus, Pete Engardio and Jena McGregor write in the Oct 30 issue of the publication.

About 10 percent of professors at places such as Harvard Business School, Northwestern's Kellogg School of Business and the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business are of Indian descent -- far higher than other ethnic groups.

"When senior executives come to Kellogg, Wharton, Harvard, or [Dartmouth's] Tuck, they are exposed to Indian values that are reflected in the way we think and articulate," the weekly quotes Dipak C. Jain, dean of the Kellogg School as saying.

Indian theorists, of course, have a wide range of backgrounds and philosophies. But many of the most influential acknowledge that common themes pervade their work.

One is the conviction that executives should be motivated by a broader purpose than money. Another is the belief that companies should take a more holistic approach to business - one that takes into account the needs of shareholders, employees, customers, society and the environment.

Some can even foresee the development of a management theory that replaces the shareholder-driven agenda with a more stakeholder-focused approach.

"The best way to describe it is inclusive capitalism," the magazine says, citing Prahalad, a consultant and University of Michigan professor who ranked third in a recent Times of London poll about the world's most influential business thinkers. "It's the idea that corporations can simultaneously create value and social justice."

You might also call it Karma Capitalism. For both organisations and individuals, it's a gentler, more empathetic ethos that resonates in the post-tech-bubble, post-Enron zeitgeist.

These days, concepts such as "emotional intelligence" and "servant leadership" are in vogue. Where once corporate philanthropy was an obligation, these days it's fast becoming viewed as a competitive advantage for attracting and retaining top talent.

Where the rallying cry in the 1980s and 1990s may have been "greed is good", today it's becoming "green is good".

And while it used to be hip in management circles to quote from the sixth century BC Chinese classic The Art of War, the trendy ancient Eastern text today is the more introspective Bhagavad Gita, the Businessweek said.

Earlier this year, a manager at Sprint Nextel Corp. penned the inevitable how-to guide: the key message of "Bhagavad Gita on Effective Leadership" is that enlightened leaders should master any impulses or emotions that cloud sound judgment. Good leaders are selfless, take initiative, and focus on their duty rather than obsessing over outcomes or financial gain, the weekly said.

"The key point," it quotes Ram Charan, a coach to CEOs such as General Electric Co.'s Jeffrey R. Immelt, as saying "is to put purpose before self. This is absolutely applicable to corporate leadership today".

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Business Schools Take On Indian Philosophy

Indian-born management thinkers such as Ram Charan, Vijay Govindrajan and Srikumar S Rao are among the world's hottest business gurus and they are transforming American business schools. 

Courtesy: https://www.braingainmag.com/business-schools-are-embracing-indian-philosophy.htm

  NEW YORK – Bob Miglani, a senior director in Pfizer and author of Treat Your Customer told BrainGain that the lessons in leadership contained in the Bhagavad Gita were being applied widely in corporate America because the old, dog-eat-dog workplace had changed.
“The principles are being applied because the workforce today requires managers to be more collaborative rather than authoritative,” said Miglani.
“I think American executives are also getting exposed to spiritual values which are most often delivered by Indian management professors, in top American business schools. Indian professors such as Srikumar Rao are ideally placed to be the executive coaches of the next generation of Fortune 500 firms because they manage to balance their teachings with an East-West flavor. These academics are very smart and their message comes across so easily…in a warm and fuzzy sort of way,” added Miglani.
Professor Srikumar Rao, who is also a prolific author developed his course, "Creativity and Personal Mastery," in the mid-90s and has taught it at Columbia Business School, the London Business School and the Haas School of Business at Berkley. Rao hands out eclectic reading lists and his lectures include mental exercises, breathing and meditation techniques and "total immersion exercises."

“In the Indian tradition, you are taught action is in our control, but the outcome/goal is out of our hands. I encourage executives to invest completely in the process and not the goal.”

He uses Indian philosophy, parables, anecdotes from the Bhagavad Gita and other ancient texts to guide business school graduates to self-improvement and corporate enlightenment.Through his “self-mastery” course, Rao has also helped managers boost their leadership skills. He has coached people on Wall Street and executives at Johnson & Johnson, McDonald's, United Airlines, Google and Microsoft. His course is highly rated for helping people balance the compulsion to amass wealth with the desire for happiness.
‘Invest in the process, not the goal’

Professor Rao’s course is highly rated for helping people balance the compulsion to amass wealth with the desire for happiness.

“The West is indoctrinated heavily into achieving goals: good grades will get you into a good college which in turn will get you a good job. If you succeed your life is good, otherwise you are doomed. So everyone is goal-centric and gets set up to face inevitable disappointments,” Rao told BrainGain.
“In the Indian tradition, you are taught action is in our control, but the outcome/goal is out of our hands. I encourage executives to invest completely in the process and not the goal. If they invest every fiber of their being into the process they are likely to enjoy the outcome. It is a paradox. When you become detached from the outcome, strangely enough the probability of achieving the goal rises dramatically,” says Rao.
Rao’s new book Happiness at Work is flying off US bookshelves and provides a unique way of thinking about problem solving.  
About 10 percent of the professors at places such as Harvard Business School, Kellogg School of Business, and the Ross School of Business are of Indian origin. Dipak C. Jain, dean of the Kellogg School, acknowledged, "When senior executives come to Kellogg, Wharton, Harvard, or Tuck, they are exposed to Indian values that are reflected in the way we think and articulate."
The Gita Gets Trendy

BusinessWeek noted that while it used to be hip in management circles to quote from the sixth century B.C. Chinese classic The Art of War, the trendy, ancient, Eastern text today is the more introspective Bhagavad Gita.

BusinessWeek noted that while it used to be hip in management circles to quote from the sixth century B.C. Chinese classic The Art of War, the trendy, ancient, Eastern text today is the more introspective Bhagavad Gita. Times have changed since Gordon Gekko quoted Sun Tzu in the 1987 movie Wall Street. The US magazine pointed out that the rallying cry in the 1980s and 1990s may have been "greed is good" but Indian management thinkers are now celebrating the idea of what you might call “Karma capitalism” by underscoring that executives should be motivated by a broader purpose than money.

“Good leaders are selfless, take initiative, and focus on their duty rather than obsessing over outcomes or financial gain.”

“To Sun Tzu, author of the once-hip management treatise The Art of War, victory should be the great object. Winning the battle is all about unyielding discipline. The Bhagavad Gita, is more in keeping with today’s zeitgeist, contains the wisdom of Lord Krishna. Focus on your thoughts and actions, rather than the outcome,” noted the US magazine. “Good leaders are selfless, take initiative, and focus on their duty rather than obsessing over outcomes or financial gain.”
The magazine said the Bhagvad Gita was popular because “for both organizations and individuals, it's a gentler, more empathetic ethos that resonates in the post-tech-bubble, post-Enron zeitgeist.” It’s also probably more in synch with today’s concepts such as "emotional intelligence" and "servant leadership."


Uttara Choudhury is Associate Editor, North America for TV 18’s Firstpost news site. In 1997, she went on the British Chevening Scholarship to study Journalism in the University of Westminster, in London.   

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Other good reads:

Article: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Corporate-America-swears-by-the-Gita/articleshow/132248.cms 

 

Corporate America swears by the Gita

Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/132248.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Corporate America swears by the Gita

Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/132248.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Corporate America swears by the Gita

Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/132248.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Comparitive Study - Simon's Decision Making Model Vs Ancient Indian Sacred Texts

Simon's Fact-Value Dichotomy in Decision Making:
Simon in his writing asserts that each decision consists of a logical combination of fact(proven examples) and value(good and bad/morality,culture or virtues) propositions. He states that as much as possible decisions should be based on facts and not influenced by values much so that there is uniformity in decision making universally because values are individual centred and varies from individual to individual whereas facts do not. Also decisions based on facts are most beneficial as they are proven and tried and tested most of the time and well calculated. He however made an exception for values stating that values can take part in decisions relating to the fixation of end goals of a policy while factual judgements shall be seen pre-dominant in the implementation of such goals.

Drawing a paralled with the Bhagvad Gita's teachings:
The Bhagvad Gita begins with Arjuna deciding to give up the fight of Righteousness by basing his decision totally on his value judgment and totally ignoring the factual side of it. His dilemma of a fact-value decision is something people face everyday. It is then when Sri Krishna in Chapter 2 of the Bhagvad gita reveals the true facts and duties of a human life as well as how one should pre-dominantly do what is based on facts/truths and objectivity rather than what is based on one's individual values which varies from person to person. The value should be attached to the end of the goal which is to establish the right way of life and eradicate unrighteousness from this world by doing his duty and attaining the greatest amount of good for the greatest number as propositioned by Classical Utilitarians John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham.

Simon's Decision Making Model:
Herbert Simon listed a three step process for proper decision at individual level making that need to be followed in a systematic manner.
1. Intelligence stage: It is the stage of identifying the problem and collecting all the necessary information regarding it.
2. Design stage: Search for possible & suitable courses or strategies or alternatives of action that could help resolve the issue in the best possible manner and leading to positive and beneficial results for the organisation.
3. Choice stage: It is the stage where the final decision is taken after completing the above two steps. It is here that the best alternative out of all the possible solutions is chosen to solve the issue/roblem identified. This stage requires certain skills like judgement,creativity,quantitative analysis and experience in the decision making process.

Parallels drawn wit the Bhagvad Gita on Decision Making:
Parallels of Herbert Simon's decision making model/process can be drawn in the Bhagvad Gita.Towards the end of the complete dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna, Arjuna is told to probe in totality whatever he has just been audience to and comprehended and proceed to make his decision.

Intelligence stage: The problem had been identified which was that of a fact-value dilemma in deciding by Arjuna.
Krishna helps Arjuna identify that with him being the source of all facts and information/intelligence.

Design stage: Krishna then provides Arjuna with an undeniable understanding of decision making:
"iti te jñanam akhyata? guhyad guhyatara? maya
vimishyaitad ashehea yathechchhasi tatha kuru" [Bhagavad Gita 18.63]

Translation:Thus, I have explained to you this knowledge that is more secret than all secrets. Ponder over it deeply, and then do as you wish.

Then Arjuna proceeded to the Choice stage: Upon deep analysis and choosing the right solution to the problem Arjuna says to Krishna:
"naho moha smitir labdha tvat-prasadan mayachyuta
sthito ‘smi gata-sandeha?" [Bhagvad Gita 18.73]

Translation: O infallible one, by your grace my illusion has been dispelled, and I am situated in knowledge. I am now free from doubts.

Arjuna then executes the same and wins the war of wrong vs right and establishes righteousness once again in the society.

Decision making in the Taittiriya Upanishad:
Taittiriya rishi gives a complete solution by teaching his students the optimum way to arrive at a conclusion and take best decision.
Taitriya Upanishad [11.8] gives a simple yet detailed and beautiful account of how an enquiry is to be done in order to arrive at the correct fact-value conclusion and decision:
1. Sammarsinham – good judgment
2. Alookshaa – Without deception or guile
3.Dharma kaama – Devoted to dharma which is the right and just way of doing anything, the well-being of others (the society, the corporation, the country, the world etc)
4. Yuktaa – Proper conduct
5. Aayuktaa – self governed/ruled decisions independent of other outside incitements

So, that is where this post ends today with wholesome ancient pearls of wisdom have time and again repeated themselves in modern theories and that serves as a lesson that ancient wisdom whould be the first books we read while in the studet period of our life and then keep referring to to understand complex modern theories in a simplistic way. This way we will be completely prepared in our consciousness as well as subconsciousness for any kind of decision making situation in personal and professional life throughout our existence.