Abstract
According to the ancient Indian scholar Kautilya (350–275 BC), a leader can only be successful if he or she considers philosophy to be of equal importance to economics and politics, because a philosophical foundation will infuse into praxis the principles of self-regulation, care, and transcendence. Although Kautilya’s teachings originally referred to leaders in the context of politics (heads of state), they are applicable to other forms of leadership, too.
Kautilya took a holistic view of leadership which can now be equated with stewardship theory. The lack of the stewardship concept is a weakness in mainstream leadership approaches, but it is now being incorporated in the management theory of stewardship. The concept of transcendence in leadership theory is new. Transcendence is the understanding that we are part of a larger universe, have extended responsibility, and must obey the laws of nature.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Change history
03 August 2019
The online version of the original chapter was inadvertently published with incorrect affiliation of one of the authors ‘Ankur Joshi’.
Notes
- 1.
- 2.
The English translations hail from Kangle but have been adjusted to make them more readable.
References
Adams, J. S. (1965). Inequity in social exchange. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology. New York: Academic Press.
Bass, B. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York: Free Press.
Bass, B. M. (1990). From transactional to transformational leadership: Learning to share the vision. Organizational Dynamics, 18 (3) 19–31.
Bass, B., & Avolio, B. (1994). Transformational leadership and organizational culture. International Journal of Public Administration, Vol 17, pp. 112–121.
Benefiel, M. (2008). The soul of a leader: Finding your path to success and fulfillment. New York: Crossroad.
Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper and Row.
Chakraborty, S. K., & Chakraborty, D. (2004). The transformed leader and spiritualpsychology: A few insights. Journal of Organizational Change Management, I 7(2), pp. 194–210.
Covey, S. R. (1992). Principle centered leadership. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Davis, J. H., Schoorman, F. D., & Donaldson, L. (1997). Toward a stewardship theory of management. Academy of Management Review, 22(1), 20–47.
Deci, E. L. (1971). Effects of externally mediated rewards on intrinsic motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 18, 105–115.
Eisenhardt, K. (1985). Control: Organizational and economic approaches. Management Science, 31, 134–149.
Fry, L. W. (2003). Toward a theory of spiritual leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 20, 693–727.
Fry, L. W. (2005). Toward a paradigm of spiritual leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(5), 619–722.
Giacalone, R. A., & Promislo, M. D. (2013). Broken when entering: The stigmatization of goodness and business ethics education. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 12(1), 86–101.
Greenleaf, R. (1977). Servant leadership. New York: Paulist Press.
Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. (1975). Development of the job diagnostic survey. Journal of Applied Psychology, 60, 159–170.
Hernandez, M. (2008). Promoting stewardship behavior in organizations: A leadership model. Journal of Business Ethics, 80(1), 121–128.
Hernandez, M. (2012). Toward and understanding of the psychology of stewardship. Academy of Management Review, 37(2), 172–193.
House, R. J., & Mitchell, T. R. (1974). Path goal theory of leadership. Journal of Contemporary Business, 3, 81–97.
Jain, N., & Mukherji, S. (2009). Communicating a holistic perspective to the world: Kautilya on leadership. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 30(5), 435–454.
Kangle, R. P. (1965). The Kautilya Arthashastra-translation. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Ludwig, D. C., & Longenecker, C. O. (1993). The Bathsheba syndrome: The ethical failure of successful leaders. Journal of Business Ethics, 12(4), 265–273.
Maslow, A. H. (1954). Motivation and personality. New York: Harper and Row.
McClelland, D. (1953). Human motivation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
McGregor, D. (1960). The human side of enterprise. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Nandram, S. S. (2011). Kautilya, the first management Guru rediscovered. NHRD Journal. 2011. Vol 88.
Ouchi, W. G. (1981). Theory Z: How American business can meet the Japanese challenge. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Pandey, A., & Singh, K. (2010). Wholesome leadership development process: Case study of a business organization. In S. S. Nadram & M. E. Bordem (Eds.), Spirituality and business. Exploring possibilities for a new management paradigm. Heidelberg: Spinger.
Priyadarshni Academy. (2009). Kautilya’s Arthashastra. Mumbai: Jaico Publishing.
Shamashastry, R. (2005). Kautilya’s Arthasastra (Sanskrit text with English translation and an exhaustive introduction, R. Shamashastry, Trans., V. Narain, Ed.). New Delhi: Chaukhamba Sanskritpratishthan.
Skinner, B. F. (2011). About behaviorism. New York: Vintage.
Spears, C., & Lawrence, M. (2002). Focus on leadership. New York: Wiley.
Steers, R. M., & Porter, L. W. (1987). Motivation and work behavior. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Taylor, F. W. (2004). Scientific management. London: Routledge.
Vroom, V. H. (1964). Work and motivation. New York: Wiley.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2016 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Nandram, S., Joshi, A. (2016). An Ethics of Care Induced from Kautilya’s Wisdom. In: Chatterji, M., Zsolnai, L. (eds) Ethical Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60194-0_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60194-0_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-60193-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-60194-0
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)