Current World Affairs

1. Current World Affairs MahapanayaVidayalai An Affiliated Institute of MCU Semester I 2011 Part IX

2. Buddhism and Management Definition of Management • Management is an organization activity of act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively. • Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading and controlling an organization for the purpose of accomplishing a goal. • Management is a system of producing useful output. • Organization and coordination of the activities of an enterprise in accordance with certain policies and in achievement of clearly defined objectives •  Henri Fayol (1841–1925) considers management to consist of six functions: forecasting, planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling. He was one of the most influential contributors to modern concepts of management. •  Mary Parker Follett (1868–1933), who wrote on the topic in the early twentieth century, defined management as "the art of getting things done through people". She described management as philosophy. • The term "management" probably means the group of people who are primarily responsible for making decisions in the organization.

4. History of Management • Egypt civilization (3000-4000 BC): Construction of Pyramid • Chinese civilization ( 600 BC): Sun Tzu’s The art of war: military strategy • Indian civilization (300 BC): Chanakya’sArthashastra: various strategies, techniques and management theories • Nicolo Machiavelli’s (1513): Principle that people were motivated by self-interest • Adam Smith’s (1773-90): The Wealth of Nations: specialization of labour • John Stuart Mill (1806-73): Theoretical background to resource allocation, production and pricing issues.

5. Scientific Management Theory(1890-1940) Frederick Taylor /careful specification and measurement of all organizational tasks.Tasks were standardized as much as possible. /Workers were rewarded and punished. /This approach appeared to work well for organizations with assembly lines and other mechanistic, routinized activities. Bureaucratic Management Theory(1930-1950)Max Weber embellished the scientific management theory with his bureaucratic theory. /Weber focused on dividing organizations into hierarchies, establishing strong lines of authority and control. /He suggested organizations develop comprehensive and detailed standard operating procedures for all routinized tasks. Human Relations Movement(1930-today)Human Resource departments were added to organizations. /The behavioral sciences played a strong role in helping to understand the needs of workers and how the needs of the organization and its workers could be better aligned. /Various new theories were spawned, many based on the behavioral sciences (some had name like theory “X”, “Y” and “Z”)./With the Human Relations movement, training programs recognized the need to cultivate supervisory skills, e.g., delegating, career development, motivating, coaching, mentoring, etc. Theories of Management

6. Contemporary Theory of Management Contingency Theory Basically, contingency theory asserts that when managers make a decision, they must take into account all aspects of the current situation and act on those aspects that are key to the situation at hand. Basically, it’s the approach that “it depends.” For example, the continuing effort to identify the best leadership or management style might now conclude that the best style depends on the situation. If one is leading troops, an autocratic style is probably best. If one is leading a hospital or university, a more participative and facilitative leadership style is probably best. Systems Theory Systems theory has had a significant effect on management science and understanding organizations. First, let’s look at “what is a system?” A system is a collection of part unified to accomplish an overall goal. If one part of the system is removed, the nature of the system is changed as well. For example, a pile of sand is not a system. If one removes a sand particle, you’ve still got a pile of sand. However, a functioning car is a system. Remove the carburetor and you’ve no longer got a working car. A system can be looked at as having inputs, processes, outputs and outcomes. Systems share feedback among each of these four aspects of the systems. Chaos Theory As chaotic and random as world events seem today, they seem as chaotic in organizations, too. Yet for decades, managers have acted on the basis that organizational events can always be controlled. A new theory (or some say “science”), chaos theory, recognizes that events indeed are rarely controlled. Many chaos theorists (as do systems theorists) refer to biological systems when explaining their theory. They suggest that systems naturally go to more complexity, and as they do so, these systems become more volatile (or susceptible to cataclysmic events) and must expend more energy to maintain that complexity. As they expend more energy, they seek more structure to maintain stability. This trend continues until the system splits, combines with another complex system or falls apart entirely. Sound familiar? This trend is what many see as the trend in life, in organizations and the world in general.

7. Branches of Management • Human resource management • Operations management • Strategic management • Marketing management • Financial management • Information technology management

8. Basic Function • Planning • Organizing • Staffing • Leading/directing • Controlling/monitoring • Motivation

9. Levels of Management • Top-Level Managers • Middle-Level Managers • First-Level Managers

10. Management styles • Autocratic • Permissive • Democratic • Lessiez-faire

11. Management skills • Technical: used for specialized knowledge required for work. • Political: used to build a power base and establish connections. • Conceptual: used to analyze complex situations. • Interpersonal: used to communicate, motivate, mentor and delegate. • Diagnostic: ability to visualize most appropriate response to a situation .

12. Basic Roles • Interpersonal: roles that involve coordination and interaction with employees. • Informational: roles that involve handling, sharing, and analyzing information. • Decisional: roles that require decision-making.

13. Formation of policy • Mission • Vision • Objectives • Policy • Strategy

14. Buddhism perspective Today’s management concept is imperfect. Why? • Because the main purpose of worldly management is success; namely, their main goal is self advantage. • When people’s main goal is their self advantage, they will pay attention only to material and forget about heart and soul. • Lord Buddha knew the actual aim of human being. • While earning our living, we should better take this chance to improve ourselves and to do good deeds for our own community. • Therefore, he taught us not to place our minds to only material stuff or our own sakes or any other material usage while we are working, but we should also think about people and the material and ideal usage of all of us. Ideal usage improves our behavior, and then our merit will grow bigger. • By this vision and hope that we could do the thing he wished, he gave us a suggestion to do whatever work or management that were not immoral, it doesn’t matter if that work is for our own business, for an organization, for a big company or for the country, but we have to be well aware that every work had to increase the morality of ourselves, our co-workers, our society and our countries without destroying the environment. This is the main purpose of management that Buddhists have been taught since their very young age. • Since we have been trained this way, sometimes we forget to improve technological system or produce new technology for management. For that, we sometimes leave the material management behind, yet the ideal one has such a big progress, i.e. we have good wills for others at work; namely, we are generous and have mercy on our co-worker in the same time. Whoever who is in trouble will be helped, and will not be easily neglected. Moreover, he will be taken good care until the end.

15. Management in Sangha • Sangha community has had a well-developed administration system. • The five bhiksus became the first Sangha group. In time the community grew into a congregation that included the seven groups of disciples, i.e., the bhiksus, the bhiksunis, the siksammanas, the sraamaneras, the sramanerikas, the upasakas, and the upasikas.  Among them, about 1,250 monastics were usually at the Buddha’s side.   • True deliverance depends on the Four Noble Truths and The Three Dharma Seals. Buddha frequently made the following comments: “I myself am just a member of the Sangha” and “I do not govern, the Dharma governs.”  Buddha never considered himself “leader,” rather he let the truth govern.   • The Sangha community was ruled by the members’ respect for moral conduct.  Upon admission, each member had to give up his/her previous social status, wealth, fame, and other privileges.   • All external classifications and differentiations were disregarded.  Members differed only in stages of internal cultivation.   • The operation of the Sangha community was based on mutual respect and love, and sometimes on the order of seniority.   • Thus, the bhiksus, bhiksunis, and the others each had their own rules.  When disputes arose, the “Seven Reconciliation Rules” made by the Buddha were followed to settle the conflict.     

16. Decentralized leadership: The Buddha, as the head of the Sangha community, led by his teaching and by establishing the precepts for the group.  He selected knowledgeable and virtuous bhiksus and bhiksunis to be the “instructing“ monastics to teach the Dharma and precepts.  Among them, he further selected the elders to counsel, to advise, and to monitor the progress of the monastics under their supervision.    Shared support and responsibility: When the initial Sangha of the five bhiksus was formed immediately after the Buddha’s enlightenment, the “Four Principles of Living” was laid down to guide them toward virtuous living: “Eat only food from alms, wear only cast-off clothing, abide only under trees, and take only discarded medicine.”   Further, the monastics were warned to shun eight evil possessions that were considered to be hindrances to their practice, i.e., houses and gardens, plants, grains and crops, servants and slaves, pets and animals, money and jewels, utensils and tools, and decorated beds.  As the size of the Sangha community increased, and in response to the problem of the rainy season and constant requests from their benefactors, the rules were modified to allow receipt of donated clothes, food, houses, and gardens.   But regardless of the summer retreat during the rainy season, and throughout ordinary daily life during the rest of the year, a communal form of living was maintained.  The communal rule required that except for each monastic’s own clothing and bowls, all other supplies, tools, bedding, houses, and gardens were public goods, not to be individually possessed. Repair and maintenance of equipment and tools were distributed among the members.   In each of the Sangha residences, an elder was elected to lead the daily operation, teach the Dharma, maintain the code of conduct, and channel any speech and information delivered by the Buddha.  Although the lifestyle changed somewhat over time, all Sangha communities still followed the basic principle of an alms system, as well as sharing support and responsibilities. Mutual respect and harmony: Guided by the Dharma, the Sangha community practices the “Six Points of Reverent Harmony” in communal living.  They are: (1) doctrinal unity in views and explanations to ensure common views and understanding; (2) moral unity in observing the precepts to achieve equality for all under the rules, (3) economic unity in community of goods to effect fair distribution of economic interests, (4) mental unity in belief to provide mutual support in spiritual cultivation, (5) oral unity in speech to nurture com-passion and love, (6) bodily unity in behavior to assure nonviolence and harmonious living. 

17. Communication and interaction: Buddha periodically convened all members of the Sangha community on the eighth and fourteenth or fifteenth of each month to recite the precepts.  Such gatherings provided an excellent opportunity for interaction among the members and a way of fostering shared values for productive and harmonious living.    Democratic governing:   The “Karma Assembly” system was the highest authority governing monastic life.  The goal of the system was to promote a democratic way of life.  The Karma Assembly Meetings were regularly convened on the fifteenth of each month.  At these meetings, members of the Assembly reviewed any violations of the precepts that occurred during the month, determined the appropriate discipline for the offender, and decided how it would be carried out.  There were two types of karma cases: (1) cases involving disputes and violations, and (2) cases not involving disputes and violations.  The former dealt with disputes and disagreements among monastics or violations of precepts in which right or wrong had to be determined.  The latter dealt with the appropriateness of the monastics’ daily behavior and their proper guidance, or the admission of a new member into the Sangha community.  The Karma Assembly provided a formal and rigorous mechanism to pro-mote fellowship, harmony, and mutual support of the Sangha community.  It enabled the community to become an ideal moral society where the four all-embracing virtues of giving, affectionate speech, beneficial deeds, and teamwork were always practiced.   

18. Use of Buddhism Philosophy in Anger Management Anger is one of the three poisons – the other two are greed and ignorance – that are the primary causes of the cycle of samsara and rebirth. • First, Admit You Are Angry • What Makes You Angry? • Anger Is Self-Indulgent • How to Let It Go • Don’t Feed Anger • Compassion Takes Courage The Buddha said, “Conquer anger by non-anger. Conquer evil by good. Conquer miserliness by liberality. Conquer a liar by truthfulness.” (Dhammapada,)