The video explores the unique and traditional business practices prevalent in India, underlining the importance of trust and honesty in transactions. It highlights how Indian shopkeepers often give a little extra to customers as an ingrained practice learned from ancestors, marking a distinction between profit and greed. Historical context is provided, showing that honesty was paramount even in ancient civilizations like Mohenjo-Daro, and it's a widespread cultural ethos in India and neighboring countries.

It discusses the stark contrast between modern and traditional Indian business practices, such as how Indians value auspicious profits and maintain relationship-based transactions, with emphasis placed on cultural and spiritual reminders like icons with large eyes, which serve as moral cues for honesty. The video also examines the integration of dharma (duty) in business, showing how ancient texts, such as Smriti Chandrika, codified business laws, delineating duties and ethical practices in trade and apprenticeship.

Main takeaways from the video:

Please remember to turn on the CC button to view the subtitles.

Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. forefathers [ˈfɔːrˌfɑðərz] - (n.) - Ancestors, especially those who did something first or started a tradition. - Synonyms: (ancestors, predecessors, progenitors)

He is doing it because he has seen his forefathers do it.

2. auspicious [ɔːˈspɪʃəs] - (adj.) - Conducive to success; favorable. - Synonyms: (favorable, promising, propitious)

The business, the profit that comes to you has to be auspicious.

3. fulcrum [ˈfʌlkrəm] - (n.) - The central or most important element in a balance or an argument. - Synonyms: (pivot, hub, cornerstone)

Honesty was the key fulcrum of a business.

4. submerged [səbˈmɜrdʒd] - (adj.) - Completely covered or hidden beneath (often water). - Synonyms: (underwater, engulfed, inundated)

There was a place called Puhar in Tamil Nadu. Now it's submerged in the sea.

5. dharma shastra [ˈdɑrmə ˈʃɑːstrə] - (n.) - Ancient Indian texts that codify moral law and ethics, including business practices. - Synonyms: none (specific cultural term)

It's normal that our business policies or business management tools would have been codified in dharma shastra.

6. decolonize [diːˈkɒləˌnaɪz] - (v.) - To free a former colony from colonial status and remove cultural or systems-based influence of former colonial rulers. - Synonyms: (liberate, free, emancipate)

So time to decolonize our mind and look at Bharati management.

7. inheritors [ɪnˈhɛrɪtərz] - (n.) - People who receive property, titles, or other possessions from a predecessor. - Synonyms: (heirs, successors, beneficiaries)

...if you are dividing the property among inheritors, you must document it because it will save you from the confusion and legal disputes.

8. codified [ˈkoʊdɪˌfaɪd] - (v.) - To arrange laws or rules into a systematic code. - Synonyms: (systematized, organized, arranged)

dharma shastra codified the business laws.

9. acumen [ˈækjəmən] - (n.) - The ability to make good judgments and quick decisions, especially in a particular domain. - Synonyms: (insight, shrewdness, ingenuity)

...but they had inbuilt acumen.

10. jagannath [ˈdʒæɡəˌnɑːθ] - (n.) - A deity worshipped primarily in Odisha, India, symbolizing a colossal and unstoppable force. - Synonyms: none (specific cultural term)

...we have a country where goddess or gods eyes are very popular matadorga bhagavan shiv bhagawan jagannath...

The Bharatiya Way of Management - Sandeep Singh - TEDxJBIMS

Who does gives you using a weighing balance. Have you noticed ever when you ask him to give you 1 potato, he will weigh it, will balance it and then he does something before he packs it for you, he adds little more to it. I have asked lot of buyers, why do you think he does it? People say maybe customer retention, somebody will say customer confidence, etcetera, etcetera.

If you ask the shopkeeper why he does it, he or she will not be able to answer you why he does it. He is doing it because he has seen his forefathers do it. Neighbors, shopkeepers doing it. So he just doing it. So this is what is called lop Vidya. But the thinking behind that is I have balanced the scale. Still there might be some mistake. And I as a shopkeeper own up that mistake. And he adds little more to it. A rough back of an envelope calculation tells you that he almost gives away 5% of his produce every day. Because he gives it to every buyer.

And the guy might be sitting on the roadside pavement. He does it. So in India, business practices of a different scale that we haven't looked at it. Our business is very different. We dont write Shubh or we dont write lab. What do we write shubh lab. The business, the profit that comes to you has to be auspicious. Khoon choose is not acceptable. So there is a very thin line between lab and lob. Profit and greed. Very thin line. And you will often find businessmen making committing that mistake. So our business principles are very different.

How old is this weighing scale? Before that, have you ever thought how many decimal places you pay in a mall when you buy potato? You can never weigh exactly 1 kg, right? In electronic weighing machine you will have an option of 1.023. In a mall you pay for three places after decimal. Even when you buy a potato, just to soak you in. How different the business practices are and how old. It was found in Mohanzo Daro, the oldest and perfect weighing scale.

This picture is from the National Museum, Delhi. So this practice is alive from that time. And it's a pan India. And my friends tell me who travel to Pakistan and Bangladesh. It's practice there. That's the whole of Akanbhara. That's civilizational history we talk of. Honesty was the key fulcrum of a business. There was a place called Puhar in Tamil Nadu. Now it's submerged in the sea.

There are documentary evidence that the businessmen were so honest that they used to state upfront that in every deal what's the kind of profit they are making. Which means if they're selling a biscuit packet for rs10 and they are making a profit of two, it will be stated upfront that the profit in this transaction is rs2. So that's the business we had. We don't have a word for blackmail in any indian language because there was no need then.

Now if you, tafati, will do a google search to tell me. It's called bhai Dohan. So when you don't have original word in any culture, you coin. Once those systems get rooted in the culture. So you combine generally two words, bhai and Dohan. So extracting the fear. So that's how the bhai Dohan comes into play. So we didn't have this concept of blackmail. Our business works on trust.

And just to tell you, when you go to mcdonalds, what do you do? You pay the money in advance. When you go to a tapri or at Haba, you pay the money after. In case he asks you first, your reaction will be Jantani Mekawn. And imagine, as a student, most of us or many would have had khata, right, where you pay at the end of the month. Maybe later. Now you are a business student. You will understand the impact of cash flow in a business. Correct? So now try to appreciate the Bhati management.

So the trust, as I said, is the fulcrum of a business. The weighing scale is known as dharmakata. You just can't afford to cheat. It reminds you at every stage. So it's normal that our business policies or business management tools would have been codified in dharma shastra. We have heard of Takshila and Nalanda. But there were 126 universities and institutions spread across India teaching dharma shastra. And dharma shastra codified the business laws. I'll give you some example.

Smriti Chandrika, written in 13th century, talks about how you should prepare documents. It says, if you sell a property or buy a immovable property, if you are dividing the property among inheritors, you must document it because it will save you from the confusion and legal disputes.

Move. Fifth century Narad Shastra. You will be amazed the kind of rules he defines for summer trainees or apprentice. It defines that a summer trainee will stay in the house of the master. The master will provide him the shelter and the food. The master is bound to teach him everything. If the master doesn't teaches him properly, he will be punished. If a summer trainee runs away halfway, he'll be caught, confined, punished and brought back to learn. So the teacher had a duty to learn to teach the student had the duty to learn to and I remembered after reading this that my father never went to the work he didnt go to office, he always went to duty my generation people will relate more so duty was a responsibility thats how the work is so we dont have a concept in India of Monday morning blues right?

So we are in Navaratri how can we not talk about it? And we have a country where goddess or gods eyes are very popular matadorga bhagavan shiv bhagawan jagannath huge round eyes they are very important because in a shop when you go there are danglers they work as a last point of recall before you make a purchase so a murthy or an eye of a devi or a devata in a business is not only about bhakti but just to remind you that people are watching you God is watching you cannot cheat and I must buttress my argument with a western example how else Indian will accept it otherwise? So in 2006 at Newcastle University in London they did a study.

So in the common room there was a coffee vending machine which was supposed to people to drink. There was nobody manning it. So you leave the price number of coffees you had, it was not adequate. It means everybody was not paying. So alternate weeks they put the picture of a flower and of an eye and after that they did a study the weeks they had put a picture of an eye the collection had gone up three times. So these things do work. That's bharti management. If you're talking Dasarana or aatri how can you forget Dipavalli?

Now what do you. Whom do you worship in Deepavali? Not many people recall except Devi Lakshmi. We worship accounts book we also worship Yamraj, the God of death. We also worship Dhanavantri, the God of health. Apart from worshipping Devi Lakshmi, God of wealth if you have been reading last two weeks you will realize the biggest problem that corporate world or India is facing is the health of the employee. So what does Diwali remind you? It does remind you about health, wealth and death. Some realities of life. It's not only about wealth.

Viswakarma puja unlike labour day, it's not a holiday. The manager and the labor don't go separate ways to celebrate. In Vishwakarma puja everybody comes together to worship and have a lunch or Prasad together. That is why we do not have a Monday morning blues. Because when you go to the work you are going to a bigger family.

I know now you will ask me but what about strategy? And do you have a case study? So let me cite a small case study. In 1991 when the liberalization was happened there was something called Bombay Club. It was a group of indian industrialists. They were worried that there will be inflow of lot of multinational and they wanted a label playing field from the government in terms of policies and regulation and which is perfectly fine and in the laboration software.

Soft drink giants came to India. And after that what happened? I will just tell you the craze like the way you have a craze for iPhone. Those days there was a craze for soft drinks. The brands that came to India. So people, when the brands were available in cans, they were people who used to display empty cans in their office. That they had a soft drink in a can. That was the craze. So you can imagine what would have been happened. The biggest guys were under threat were not only the soft drink manufacturer in India but the Naril Pani or the dhab or the coconut water seller and the Nimu pani seller.

And they didn't have an association or an organization to outreach the government to lobby for them. And what happened? Most of the indian brands sold off or folded up. But the Naril pani guys and Nimbu pani guys are still around. So what? They met them around. Very simple. They bought a thermocol box, they put some ice and they stored soft drinks in that they sold. The question comes, how could they think of this? The idea is very simple. They knew which business they are in. They knew they are not in the business of increasing market share of nimbu pani or Naril Pani.

They were in the business of quenching thirst. And whatever will quench your thirst, they will sell that. Now where did they get knowledge from that slok vidya? That is something which society absorbs. It percolates down from civilization. They did not go to this business school to learn but they had inbuilt acumen. And where do we stand today? Those days the price point for a soft drink was rupees five and ten. Today also it is available at ten. Daniel Pani was those days at rupees ten. Today it ranges from rupees 40 to rupees 150 depending on the size the area and the city you are in and the Narayal Pani and the Nimur painisl are still around. Now people dont demand that much of south drink. He has stopped storing them. So this is a beautiful understanding which inherently comes in indian business.

Now what happens with thermocol box normally in India it will be dismissed saying jugad and will be laughed at. If this would happen in western world it will be called research paper will be written, conference will happen case study will be written and indian management Institute will buy those case studies by paying in dollars.

So time to decolonize our mind and look at Bharati management. Now you will ask me what about brands? Yes we have distinct brand making process we have brands which have stood millennias fighting every odd but that some other day I invite you to take a deep dive in the Mahasagar of Bharti management remember the only ocean named after any country is Hindu Mahasadar Indian Ocean. That is because our business impacted all the nations in the rim of Indian Ocean or Hindu Mahasalar. And just to end and remind you the first recorded industrial activity anywhere in the world is Samudramanthan what did you get? Wealth, prosperity, pleasure and pollution. So welcome to Bharti management. Thank you.

Business, Education, Innovation, Indian Business Practices, Trust And Ethics, Cultural History, Tedx Talks