Management Gita: Sin of Success

निहत्य धार्तराष्ट्रान्नः का प्रीतिः स्याज्जनार्दन । पापमेवाश्रयेदस्मान् हत्वैतानाततायिनः ॥ १-३६॥
nihatya dhārtarāṣṭrānnaḥ kā prītiḥ syājjanārdana
pāpamevāśrayedasmān hatvaitānātatāyinaḥ 1-36

Spiritual Context

Arjuna questions what joy comes from killing the Kauravas, seeing only sin in harming even aggressors.

Management Context

This highlights ethical cost-benefit analysis, moral responsibility, and conflict aversion. Arjuna weighs the moral cost of victory, a key management dilemma.

Insights

Ethical trade-offs shape decisions (Ferrell et al., 2015). This mirrors CSR balancing profit and ethics (Carroll, 1991).

Applications

Managers can use ethical decision models or stakeholder impact assessments to weigh actions (Jones, 1991).

References

Carroll, A. B. (1991). The pyramid of corporate social responsibility. Business Horizons, 34(4), 39–48.
Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2015). Business ethics. Cengage Learning.
Jones, T. M. (1991). Ethical decision making by individuals in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 16(2), 366–395.

This excerpt is taken from Management Gita, authored by Sunil Khandbahale