Arthashastra - Paper
Arthashastra
One of the oldest management books available to the world is
Arthashastra, the treatise on Economic Administration was written by Kautilya in the 4th century before Christ. It consists of 15 chapters, 380 Shlokas and 4968 Sutras. It is essentially on the art of governance and has an instructional tone.
Chanakya applied the principles and techniques of Arthashastra to create India’s MauryanEmpire, which spanned over one hundred years and is considered to be one of the brightest periods of Indian history. it is astonishing to observe that several concepts of present day management theories have been explicitly explained by Kautilya in his work. As in the present day management, the importance of vision, mission and motivation was captured in Arthashastra. Kautilya advise his Swami to rule through
• Prabhu Shakti (vision),
• Mantra Shakti (mission) and
• Utsah Sahkti (motivation). Kautilya's concept of the objectives of a king seem to be virtually adopted by Peter Drucker in his book, Managing For Results.
Kautilya reminds his Swami that his objectives for his rule are:
• Acquire power; (Making present business effective)
• Consolidate what has been acquired; (Making present business effective)
• Expand what has been acquired; and (Identify potential and realize it)
• Enjoy what has been acquired. (Making it a different business for a different future)
He is equally clear on the organizational aspects, human dimensions of an organization as well as the leadership requirement of an organization.
It is indeed interesting to note that Kautilya, having woven an elaborate organization, moves to set up policies and procedures i.e. business processes.
Kautilya weaves a design of a tall hierarchy for governance going down to the level of village through his concept of Mandalas. Gram Panchayats and Panchayati Raj set up that was adopted by the Government of India.
Kautilya refers to diplomacy as an important element in
One of the oldest management books available to the world is
Arthashastra, the treatise on Economic Administration was written by Kautilya in the 4th century before Christ. It consists of 15 chapters, 380 Shlokas and 4968 Sutras. It is essentially on the art of governance and has an instructional tone.
Chanakya applied the principles and techniques of Arthashastra to create India’s MauryanEmpire, which spanned over one hundred years and is considered to be one of the brightest periods of Indian history. it is astonishing to observe that several concepts of present day management theories have been explicitly explained by Kautilya in his work. As in the present day management, the importance of vision, mission and motivation was captured in Arthashastra. Kautilya advise his Swami to rule through
• Prabhu Shakti (vision),
• Mantra Shakti (mission) and
• Utsah Sahkti (motivation). Kautilya's concept of the objectives of a king seem to be virtually adopted by Peter Drucker in his book, Managing For Results.
Kautilya reminds his Swami that his objectives for his rule are:
• Acquire power; (Making present business effective)
• Consolidate what has been acquired; (Making present business effective)
• Expand what has been acquired; and (Identify potential and realize it)
• Enjoy what has been acquired. (Making it a different business for a different future)
He is equally clear on the organizational aspects, human dimensions of an organization as well as the leadership requirement of an organization.
It is indeed interesting to note that Kautilya, having woven an elaborate organization, moves to set up policies and procedures i.e. business processes.
Kautilya weaves a design of a tall hierarchy for governance going down to the level of village through his concept of Mandalas. Gram Panchayats and Panchayati Raj set up that was adopted by the Government of India.
Kautilya refers to diplomacy as an important element in