B-school takes cues from Gita

Draws daily management lessons from scriptures to be used in daily lives. 

It's classes at usual at the SP Jain Institute of Management Research (SPJIMR). The students are taking management lessons. But, there are no textbooks nor heavy management theory being discussed. Instead, through the video-lectures, students are being taught management on the lines of the ideals of Indian philosophy by Swami Viditatmananda. This is the 'Gita Shibir' in progress at SPJIMR. 

Gita Shibir is an effort to provide participants with a usable road map to help them identify, appreciate and imbibe appropriate attitudes to stand up and face challenges of the corporate world and life, in general. The course is offered to highlight viewpoints from the Bhagavat Gita and to integrate ancient insights from the Vedanta philosophy with modern thinking for day-to-day living generally and draw lessons to execute management tasks deftly. 

This programme at SPJIMR has evolved over the years. "Earlier, when the programme had just started, they would go to ashrams in Ahmedabad, Baroda and Lonavala. Since the number of students has increased we use Swami Viditatmananda's CDs as part of the course. When it started it was optional but, given the overwhelming response, all the students are now part of it," says a faculty member. The programme has been on at the institute for 13 years now. 

The Gita Shibir is for both students of post graduate diploma in management and the post graduate programme in management. It runs throughout the semester and is taught by dedicated team of faculty members, including the Dean of the institute. The students are taught through video lectures, followed by discussions on religious scriptures and their relevance with the current management thinking. 

The participants learn how the concept of dharma can be applied to our daily lives as well as the corporate world. Such discussions, embedded with discourses from renowned gurus, are said to broaden the vision of participants and enables them to appreciate eastern ethos. 

SPJIMR Director Sesha Iyer says, "The western philosophy is based on behavioral psychology. What the Gita Shibir emphasises on is leadership through character building and relies on the inner core or spiritual quotient for this purpose." He added that the programme intended to provide students with a value based growth that can transform them into better intuitive managers. The Gita Shibir is not about a particular religion. It is about the core concepts of spirituality which are applicable to humanity at large, irrespective of religion, caste, creed, language, country or any other differences. 

Iyer also says that they had their own pedagogic approach based on classroom learning on Vedantic theories and its application to management and human beings and through self reflection. 

SPJIMR faculty members say that they are not aware of any other B-School that uses Gita in its curriculum. They believe that this an experience unique to SPJIMR.