Interim Report on the topic "Moral Transformational Leadership from Bhagavad-gita perspective"

8/14/2019 Interim Report on the topic "Moral Transformational Leadership from Bhagavad-gita perspective"

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INTERIM REPORT

ON

A STUDY ON MORAL TRANFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP

FROM THE BHAGAVAD-GITA PERSPECTIVE

SUBMITTED BY:

JANU JEEVAN

8NBAZ027

INC,ALPY

SUBMITTED TO:

Mr.JEEMON JOSEPH

FACULTY GUIDE

INC,ALPY

SUBMITTED ON

8 Sept 2009

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents .................................................................................................... ..2

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INTRODUCTION

HR manager serve the role of true transformational leaders in the sense they raises the

level of human conduct and ethical aspiration of both and thus it has a transforming effect

on both. An Authentic Transformational Leader forges a path of congruence of values and

interests among stakeholders, while avoiding the pseudo-transformational land mines of

deceit, manipulation, self-aggrandizement and abuse of power.

Realty sector involves lot of human power and that is the sector where the study is

concentrated on. Massive constructions will always speak the hardships of human

resource and each engineering needs dedication and absolute concentration. There leaders

and followers play a vital role in raising one another to higher levels of motivation and

morality. Their purposes might have started out as separate but related goals take on a life

of their own.

This study is significant due to the need for true transformational leaders in every walk of

our life, and this need is urgent because of the conflicting influences of culture and many

more such factors. There is widely held views that leaders, especially those in business

and politics, have lost their moral purpose and sense of idealism and often thrives on

materialism and renounces spirituality and the common good.

The Bhagavad-Gita has repeatedly stressed upon the moral life at many places. Morality

gives us the knowledge of reality which is attained through purified minds. Arjuna, the

disciple of Lord Krishna represents typical man of the world, constrained by the

limitations and imperfections of human being. Krishna proceeds to guide Arjuna to

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identify his interest with the interest of the class to which he belongs. Thus Krishna

becomes the first moral transformational leader ever born.

Many participants said that moral leaders are change agents, risk takers, even rule

breakers or lawbreakers. This view reflects the philosophy of the Bhagavad-Gita, which

says progress is the meaning of life, and the change is the process of life. We acquire the

right to judge others when we reach the highest level of spiritual maturity and that is the

level at which moral leaders should operate: that is why sometimes they do not obey

social laws. Lord Krishna has advised Arjuna to follow his Swadharma and fight the

righteous war against his own family members although according to social law one

should not fight against ones kith and kin.

In organizational communication, ethics in leadership are very important. Business

leaders must make decisions that will not only benefit them, but also they must think

about how the other people will be effected. The best leaders make known their values

and their ethics and preach them in their leadership style and actions. It consists of

communicating complete and accurate information, where there is a personal,

professional, ethical, or legal obligation to do so. When practicing ethics, a person gains

the respect and admiration of employees, with the satisfaction of knowing that they did

the right thing. If you never make clear what you want, and expect, then it can cause

mistrust.

Being unethical in the workplace can include anything from taking personal phone callswhile at your desk, telling someone the "check is in the mail", when in fact it hasn't even

been written yet, and even taking office supplies home for your personal use. Most

organizations create an ethical code, which is usually a list of rules that tells you what

behaviors are right and what are wrong in the company.

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For your organization, you might want to let employees know your values right off the

bat. Such values can be, teamwork, ambition, honesty, efficiency, quality,

accomplishment, and dedication.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Personal morality and truthfulness are important elements, because generally these are the

virtues over which people are judged in the society. Moral people dont have any other

motives or personal interest in performing their allotted duties. An HR professional

should always act for justice. Everyone should be equal to him. If he is morally bound the

qualities will always be in him thereby he could take the mass with him. Those persons

will have a private life in consonance with their public image which actually adds to the

reliability of those persons.

Egoism paves the way for many unethical practices. A pure ethical person is one who has

overcome his limited ego-sense, does not identify himself as of this or that class or of this

or that kind or of any class or kind whatsoever. Treating everyone as equals provide input

to any leader and as future managers every MBA should identify its vitality. When

working for the general good and not for the good of any class, one has no passions. Such

a person doesnt come into conflict with anybody, doesnt encounter any opposition and

has no occasion to feel himself as distinct from others. In moral transformational

leadership the leader is not merely wielding power, but appealing to the values of the

follower and that itself becomes the mantra of improving the efficiency in any work

where human power is involved more.

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Two primary objectives:

(1) to discover how those identified as contemporary moral leaders define ethical and

moral leadership

(2) how effective a leader can be in his sector if he acts as a moral transformational

leader.

REFERENCES

1. Baier, K (1985) The Moral Point of View. Cornell University Press, New York,

Chapter Twelve, pp 298-320

2. Radhakrishnan, S. (1977) The Bhagavad-Gita. New Delhi: Harper Collins,

pp 28-37

WEBIOGRAPHY

H:\Ethical leadership - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.htm

RESEARCH DESIGN

Direct interview technique is the most applicable way for collecting data and the same

technique is applied here. Face-to-face interviews and telephonic interviews were used.

From 30 samples selected only 17 has been interviewed so far. Mainly 10 questions were

prepared which led to descriptive answers and interviews allotted time exceeded in some

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cases than expected. 30 to 50 minutes interview extended up to an hour. Some were

reluctant to give descriptive answers and therefore had to ask probing questions. From the

remaining 13 samples 10 people are from abroad. Engineers and managers who perform

as leaders are to be interviewed for the purpose. Interview with those working abroad was

also done to evaluate the study with differences in culture.

The sample selected belonged to different religions and they were about 30 in number

from various places in and around India. Those people were specifically selected from

realty sector. The 10 questions were selected in such a way that it led to the primary

objectives. The samples selected belonged to the age group ranging from 40 to over 70.

Hindu, Muslim and Christian individuals were included in the survey portraits, and

several from each group were identified as potential participants. But the final group of 30

participants was decided on the availability of the participants and their knowledge on the

philosophy of the Bhagavad-Gita.

Some of the books were referred for the study and internet also helped in getting some of

the details. Content analysis was the central technique used to identify the issues and

themes that the participants emphasized in their responses. The answers were noted and

reviewed on line-by-line basis. Then the requirements were identified and were coded and

grouped into sub-categories based on their common content or theme. The sub-categories

were grouped into broader or core categories. Thematic connections and recurring

patterns began to emerge from sorting the data into categories and sub-categories.

Merriam (2002) notes the philosophy of phenomenology which is a foundation for all

qualitative research. However, phenomenological studies focus on the essence of shared

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experience (Creswell,1998 ). The phenomenological approach was used for this study as

an attempt to discover the fundamental beliefs of moral leaders regarding their definitions

of ethical and moral leadership.

Researchers who use phenomenological analysis need to identify and set aside their taken-

for-granted orientation by bracketing that life world (Holstein & Gulbrium, 1994, p.263).

The researchers acknowledge a bias toward liberal thinking, but have attempted to bracket

this thinking by using reflexivity or self-reflection (Krefting, 1999; Seale,1999)

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

For the purposes of this study, two questions were selected, which led to two primary

objectives:

(1) to discover how those identified as contemporary moral leaders define ethical and

moral leadership

(2) how effective a leader can be in his sector if he acts as a moral transformational

leader.

Ten open-ended questions about various aspects of leadership (Appendix A) gave answers

on how individuals can be educated to be moral and/ ethical leaders.

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PROGRESS REPORT

During the first week of August the participants were selected and their

permission was taken.

30 participants were selected for the study.

Next 2days were spent for the preparation of questionnaire which consisted

of 13 questions.

The very next day after the thorough examination of the concerned faculty

guide only 10 relevant questions were selected.

Next step was typing the questionnaire and taking printouts and sending it to

the participants. To some of the participants the questionnaire was send as

email.

By August 15 it was confirmed that all the participants received

questionnaire.

Till now 17 participants has been interviewed and they are all working in

India especially in the realty sector.

They are Engineers or Managers because they are the ones who act as

leaders.

Time allotted for the interview was 30 to 50 minutes but some interviews

longed upto 1 hour.

The main limitation of this study is that none of the individuals other than

Hindus responded for the interview.

Within next 2weeks interviewing will be completed. Next 10 participants

are from abroad.

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REFERENCES

1. Baier, K (1985) The Moral Point of View. Cornell University Press, New York,

Chapter Twelve, pp 298-320

2. Radhakrishnan, S. (1977) The Bhagavad-Gita. New Delhi: Harper Collins,

pp 28-37

WEBIOGRAPHY

H:\Ethical leadership - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.htm

.

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APPENDIX

Questions

1. How do you define ethical and moral leadership?

2. What behavior would you say constitutes the moral and the ethical?

3. Do you consider yourself to be a leader with moral and ethical characteristics?

4. What and who led you to become the ethical/moral leader that you are? What

were/are your primary influences? For example: family, friends, faith, mentors,

education, peak events.

5. Whom do you hold in high esteem for moral and ethical leadership? Please

describe this person or persons.

6. Do you consider yourself a change agent, one who helps to change environments in

a positive way?

7. How do you empower others to be change agents?

8. Do you believe that people can be educated to be ethical and moral? What

programmes or courses might you suggest that universities could use to assist

undergraduate and graduate students to reach a greater moral potential?

9. For what would you most like to be remembered at the end of your lifes mission?

For example, Martin Luther King Jr. said he would like to be remembered as a

drum major for justice.

10.What awards have you received for your work? Which award or recognition you

value the most?

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Interim Report on the topic "Moral Transformational Leadership from Bhagavad-gita perspective"