VALUES IN INDUSTRY

Wings Objective

· To encourage the attainment of individual excellence and collective satisfaction.

· To inspire and activate business and industry to move towards their highest potential.

· To induce the consciousness of responsibility and service.

· To provide educational training programmes.

· To inspire businessmen and industrialists to become instruments of change for a new world order of   global peace and harmony.

The business environment at the end of the 20th Century is a turbulent sea. The ship of the nation's commerce has sailed into unknown waters, pulled by the unrelenting current of the profit motive. It is buffeted by the winds of international economic upheaval and is tossing severely upon the waves of competitive markets. Notwithstanding the negative social consequences, Captains of Industry are all too often lured by treasures to be plundered through exploitation and unfair business practices. Economic values and selfish gain have superseded many other values, like quality goods and services, customer service and employee satisfaction.

When businessmen and Captains of Industry are spiritually empowered, they will be motivated by the understanding that material gain is temporal and temporary and not the overriding purpose of human life; alongside wealth, health and happiness are equal, if not higher, goals. They will consider themselves trustees of the nation's resources-both human and material-and will make use of them for the well-being of all. Business practices will be guided by the principles of righteous action (sukarma) and will be characterised by just and reasonable remuner-ation, environmental sustainability, co-operation and the spirit of service to society.

The Business & Industry Wing is committed to the development of value-based management, sound, equitable business practices and individual excellence. The Wing organises numerous conferences, festivals, workshops, lectures, and exhibitions. These programmes are tailored to suit different categories of people, for example, management personnel, employees and their families, and factory workers.

Self Orientation Workshop

In 1999, a new method of serving the business community-the Self Orientation Workshop (SOW)-was launched. Developed exclusively for business people, it is designed to spread the awareness of the importance of values in Business and Industry. Businessmen today must face turbulent situations with innovative solutions. They need to balance the personal world of relationships with the business world of responsibilities. SOW addresses challenging aspects of day-to-day business and provides practical tools to master them. The first SOW was conducted in August at the BK Academy for a Better World campus in Mt. Abu. 450 business people participated.

Self Managing Leadership

Self Managing Leadership (SML) is a fusion of the best modern management practices with the ancient self management principles of Raja Yoga. It provides a framework for personal strategic planning and re-engineering. It empowers individuals to realign with changing business environments by enhancing self-esteem and self-control through relevant mental training and change management skills.

In January, SML seminars were conducted in Sangli at the Star Ghutka Company, the Collectors Office and the Sangli Sugar Mills, in which a total of over 100 employees participated. Also in January, 55 employees of IFFCO underwent SML training. In May, an 8-session SML programme was held over 4 days for 40 managers and managing directors of the sugar mills in Shahbad. In June, 200 people participated in a 2-day SML programme conducted in Winsome Textiles, Chandigarh. Two SML training programmes were held in Mt. Abu at the BK Academy for a Better World campus in May and June. 55 participants benefited from the first and, in the second, 140 persons took part, including 60 employees from the IR & HRD of Godrej Group. In July, an SML programme was conducted for 2 days at the Margoa Port Trust.

Gujarat Milk Federation, NDDB, Telco, Atul, and Godrej, as well as Pune-based Cummin India Ltd., Atlas Copco, the Bank of Maharastra & the Maharatra Sugar Factory regularly invite the Brahma Kumaris to conduct SML programmes in their companies.

Lectures, Seminars & Other Programmes

With the co-operation of Gyan-Sudha (a creative forum established in the Chhatisgarh province of Madhya Pradesh to promote values among various sections of society), a programme Values for Excellence in Professional Life was held. Mr. Moolchand Shah, Vice President of the Simplex Group of Industries and Mr. R.L. Trikha, General Manager of MECON were among the participants.

In January, a Self Development programme for 300 workers was conducted at the Star Ghutka Company in Sangli, alongside the SML programme for management mentioned above. Also in Sangli, 80 people participated in a Success in Business Through Spiritual Power get-together. Stress-Free Living programmes were held at both the Computer Training Institute and the State Transport Company. In February, 29 members of IFFCO participated in an Effective Management programme. In April, a Seminar on Spiritual Wisdom in Modern Management was conducted for 80 industrial Materials Managers in Chandigarh. Custom-designed business programmes were also held for a business group of 200 participants at the BK Academy for a Better World in May and for a group of 275 people in June.

Numerous short programmes were held at various organisations on different topics: Reorientation of Attitudes at the Bank of India; Self Development & Leadership at LIC Housing Finance Ltd.; Self Motivation, the Key to Success at Canara Bank; Better Human Relations through Mind Control at the Central Bank of India.

Seminars and workshops for businessmen and industrialists are held at all the national and international events organised by the Vishwa Vidyalaya in 1999. Two sessions, one on attitude change through spiritual wisdom and the other on the need of inner peace and power in business, were held during the International Conference on Spiritual Wisdom for Changing Times.

Theme of Business and the Quality of Life. A session on Generating Wealth Through Values and another on Ethics & Wealth were held at the Vision & Values for the 21st Century festival held in Hyderabad.

A set of pictures depicting better values in life was prepared and exhibited at the Vidya-laya's national festivals held in Ahmedabad, New Delhi and Calcutta.