21st August…On this very day, 23 years ago, the Divine Chancellor of Sri Sathya Sai University (formerly Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning) formerly inaugurated the Management Programme throwing open various avenues for self development as well as societal development finally aiming at serving the nation.
It is said that the descent of God is for the ascent of man and every step of the Avatar is for the fulfillment of this objective. Hence, every action, project or institution is based on this very principle. The commencement of the Management programme was also aimed at this very objective. While there are hundreds of Business Schools across the country and world imparting management education of all kinds, Bhagawan started His Management programme with a difference. He said while inaugurating the department, “All over the world, there are numerous institutes of management. They confer Master’s degree in Business Administration. I do not regard this as the right course for India. In our Institute, we should turn out ‘Master’s in Man Management’. Our student should develop a broad outlook and prepare themselves to serve the society with sincerity and dedication. They must set an example in morality and bring credit to this country by their work and their contribution to the development of the nation”.
Of all the 6 M’s of Management – men, materials, machines, methods, minutes and money; men are most important as it is they who determine the exploration and effective utilisation of the other 5 M’s. Bhagawan says, ‘Men are more valuable than all the wealth of the world.’
It was with this objective that Bhagawan started the MBA Programme in the Faculty of Business Management (now known as the School of Business Management, Accounting & Finance - SBMAF). Through the years, Bhagawan has given a number of discourses covering all aspects of business and management. Areas such as Values based Management, Values based Finance, Values based Marketing, Values based Economic Development, Values based Rural Development, Social Responsibility of a Business, Total Quality Management, Reengineering, Statistics, International Finance and Banking and many more. Each of them is suffused with a seamless blend of spiritual excellence based on the Indian culture and heritage and management application with a global outlook. As said by Bhagawan on the inauguration day of the Management Programme, “The study of ‘Indian Ethos and Values’, would be the most distinctive feature of the MBA course of the Sai Institute.”
The SBMAF has made a sincere effort in compiling all these pearls of Divine Wisdom on Management through a book which Bhagawan Himself names as ‘Man Management’. This book is a compilation of all His Discourses given to the staff and students of SBMAF at Sri Sathya Sai University over the last 23 years. It is a clarion call to mankind to follow the path of values, ethics and morality in the profession of management and field of business to be truly successful. It is an eye opener to so many subtle and fascinating aspects of business management. The Discourses even indicate the subtle hints that Bhagawan had given about the impending catastrophes that would be facing the business and economic world only because of the greed of man. The book is a message of God (the perfect manager) come down as man on how to be the ideal manager and in the process, an ideal human being.
On 21st August, 2009, the occasion of the 23rd Anniversary of the SBMAF, Bhagawan very graciously blessed the revised and enlarged edition of the book. Prof. U.S. Rao, the Dean of SBMAF, Prof. Kumar Bhaskar, the editor and compiler of these Discourses into the book format and Sarvasree Shashank Shah and Suman Narayan, Doctoral Research Scholars at the SBMAF and associated with the publishing of the book had an opportunity to be with Bhagawan during the occasion. Bhagawan graciously released the book by unknotting the ribbon and showering sacred rice grains on the book, blessing the noble venture. Showing keen interest Bhagawan browsed through the contents of the book and expressed His joy and satisfaction over the same.
[The book would be available on sale at the Publications Division of the Sri Sathya Sai Sadhana Trust from the first week of September 2009. The book is for businessmen, entrepreneurs, management professionals, researchers, teachers, students and devotees.]
Bhagawan also blessed the manuscript of a book entitled ‘Values based Management – Historical Insight from India and Current Practices’ jointly authored by Dr. N. Sivakumar (Faculty Member, Dept. of Commerce, Brindavan Campus) and Prof. U.S. Rao, Dean, SBMAF. The book is based on the doctoral research of Dr. N. Sivakumar.
[All these books – the two blessed by Bhagawan today and two other manuscripts blessed by Him on June 4, 2009 when He visited the College Auditorium, in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility (co-authored by Prof. V.E. Ramamoorthy and Sri Shashank Shah) and Corporate Stakeholders Management (co-authored by Sri Shashank Shah and Prof. Sudhir Bhaskar) are a part of a series called ‘Values in Management’ prepared by the SBMAF as a part of the research work undertaken by the department over the past 2 decades. Some of these books are in the process of publication.]
Thereafter, Bhagawan very graciously blessed the card prepared by the students of the SBMAF expressing their gratitude to Him and praying for His grace so that they may be His effective instruments. Swami also blessed a tray of sweets for distribution to the students and accepted floral offerings from some students.
Thus progressed a short, sweet but supremely memorable and cherishable celebration of the Management Programme Anniversary in the Divine Presence in Sai Kulwant Hall.
