The Rama Rajya Paradigm of Corporate Governance

Padma Bhushan Dr. Mrityunjay Athreya presented the Rama Rajya Paradigm of Corporate Governance at Tattvāloka’s latest seminar in Mumbai.

As part of its Onward March to Rama Rajya (OMRR) campaign, Tattvāloka organised a seminar on ‘Lessons from Rama Rajya for Good Corporate Governance,’ in association with the World Trade Center, Mumbai, at their Centrum Hall premises, on February 17, 2020. Hon’ble Justice B.N. Srikrishna was the chief guest at the event which witnessed participation by several professionals and eminent citizens of the city.

Ms. Rupa Naik, Senior Director, World Trade Center, welcomed the audience with her opening remarks. She narrated three beautiful stories from Valmiki Ramayana that brought out the divine qualities of Lord Rama.

Rama Rajya, Ms. Naik said, is where every person and role is important. In the Ramayana, it is characterised by Lord Rama, his consort Sita, loyal brother Lakshmana, and so on. Reflecting on the probable considerations behind Rama’s decision to finally abandon his wife, Ms. Naik said that the episode carried lessons for Corporate Governance. “The king must be flawless,” she said, adding, “Rama did not want anyone to bring disgrace to the king. It is Sita’s greatness that she too accepted the decision and allowed even a washerman’s comments to be taken seriously. That is corporate governance, where everyone’s thoughts matter and there is inclusiveness.”

Hon’ble Justice Srikrishna began his inaugural address with a Sanskrit verse by saint Tulsidas which invoked Lord Rama as the Vedantic Brahman. Quoting verses from Valmiki Ramayana, he described the state of affairs under the rule of Lord Rama. “People lived long and there was no untimely death, there were no diseases and there was happiness all over,” he said.

Justice Srikrishna related the advice given by Rama to Bharata, contained in the Kaschit Sarga of the Ramayana. He highlighted the value of being able to take effective and confidential decisions, implementing them and the delegation of roles, among others. Suggesting that what is true for the administration of a state must be true for the administration of a corporate entity, Justice Srikrishna concluded that if Valmiki had been followed, Corporate Governance would already have been very good.

Rama Rajya Paradigm of Corporate Governance

The core of the seminar was the Keynote Address by Tattvaloka’s editorial adviser, Padma Bhushan Dr. Mrityunjay Athreya, in which Dr. Athreya, laid down the Rama Rajya Paradigm of Corporate Governance.

Emphasising that profit is not the sole aim of business, Dr. Athreya said that capitalism has failed to address the high inequalities in society. “Business is not only for shareholders but also for multiple stakeholders. Every enterprise must have a meaningful social purpose,” he said.

The role of corporate governance is to blend performance with values. Dharma has to be the core value. It is that which must govern board decisions, investment allocation, share price, dividends, and so on. Boards and managements need to serve not only their direct stakeholders but also consider how they can serve all the people. They need to consider how the damage caused to the environment, etc., can be reduced. The board should not only be aware of the known expectations, but should also have the foresight and empathy to anticipate future needs of the stakeholders.

Holistic Leadership

“The Rama Rajya spirit is that the raja, the leader, is the pradhan sevak, the chief servant of the stakeholders. Leaders have to aspire to Rama’s image of a maryada purushottama. They must not merely be most powerful or the richest, but rather the most respected leader in the organisation. The organisation should have the right mix of sattva guna and santa rajo guna,” said Dr. Athreya.

The goal is to have businesses leadership with dharmic principles. Every company must articulate their core values clearly. They must let the higher Dharma prevail when faced with conflicting Dharmas, namely, Dharma sankats.

All managers must follow Sreshtha Dharma, by being role models of right acharana; conduct, and setting high pramana, standards in all relevant areas. Employees too must make the transition from being a mere karmachari, working only for material rewards, to a karmayogi, seeking also spiritual satisfaction.

Dr. Athreya concluded his talk with an action plan for all organisations to conduct an audit of the current state of corporate governance, introspect and identify gaps therein. He suggested regular team workshops to sustain the spirit of Dharma in the board room and senior management.

'Onward March to Rama Rajya' Campaign

Following Dr. Athreya’s address was a presentation by Sri Rohit Viswanath, Deputy Editor, Tattvaloka and Coordinator of the OMRR campaign. It gave an overview of the campaign so far. The campaign has hosted six distinguished lectures, published 10 articles and organised four Rama Rajya seminars across India, at Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru and Mumbai. More are planned.

Panel Discussion

In the subsequent Panel Discussion, Sri M. Venugopal, Company Secretary (retd.), Bharat Petroleum, was the first speaker. His presentation focussed on the need for visionary leadership. He said that board positions should be earned. Those on the board must be selfless and self-disciplined.

The board members should be time-conscious and must give priority to adherence to principles, ensuring transparency, equality of treatment, to budgetary discipline etc. The whistle blower policy, in every organisation, should be practiced in true spirit. He narrated the story of Vibhishana Sharanagati, from the Ramayana to underscore this leadership trait of Rama, who listens to everyone, takes their point of view, and finally takes his own decision, explaining the logic behind it.

Dr. Radhakrishnan Pillai, Deputy Director, Chankya International Institute of Leadership Studies, Mumbai University, and an expert on the Arthasastra, was the next speaker. “ A leader is one who creates more leaders,” he said, adding, “He is one who listens to the last man’s voice and accepts even his criticism.”

According to Dr. Pillai, a leader is a role model who is not even afraid of giving up leadership positions. He stressed on the need for constant association with one’s seniors. “The senior’s role is to show Dharma,” he said, adding, “therefore one must never debate or discuss without the presence of a senior.”

Sri Siddhartha Rastogi, Managing Director, Ambit Capital, made the point that Rama Rajya starts when there is noble intention. Whatever great men do masses will follow. Sri Rastogi’s talk threw light on how Rama Rajya values help in protecting and growing capital. Orienting everyone towards the common mission is most crucial. Shareholder value is created when the smallest stakeholder in a company’s four major stakeholder groups, viz. suppliers, distributors, employees and minority shareholders, is served well.

According to Sri Rastogi, the CEO of a company should be like one’s mouth, which eats but shares the nourishment with all parts of the body. He narrated the example of Vibhishana to highlight the role of whistle-blowers in a company. The whistle-blower’s role is to nudge leaders to do the right thing. According to him, Bharata, who performed his responsibilities but did not enjoy the trappings of power, exemplifies the concept of trusteeship.

The programme concluded with a lively and serious Q&A session with the audience, going well beyond the schedule's ending time.

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The video recording of the programme is available on Tattvāloka’s YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/32T9Cme .