Business excellence enshrined in Vedic (Hindu) philosophy.

Abstract

The search for excellence and all-round happiness has been the important objective of mankind since ages. Happiness can be attained either through self-contentment or through fulfilment of desires. When someone tries to attain happiness through the latter, creation and distribution of goods and services occupy the central stage which is translated into business. In Vedic Hindu mythology, business is seen as a legitimate, integral part of society. Its core function is to create wealth for society through manufacturing, domestic distribution, foreign trade, financing and other such related activities. It emphasises the need to work for an economic structure based on Sarva Loka Hitam which means "the well being of all stakeholders". To enhance the benefits of business, it needs to achieve all round excellence where maintenance of quality becomes important factor. The paper contains a broad discussion on business excellence and quality models of various countries and establishes a relationship of these with the similar inferences as already existing in the Vedic Hindu literature. A new outlook to business excellence has been attempted by taking clues from Vedic Philosophy, which provides another platform towards building business excellence models in future.

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Man has been searching for excellence since evolution. He has an instinct to remain happy. Happiness can be attained either through self-contentment or through the fulfilment of the desires. While Vedic philosophy stresses on the former, the latter has played a crucial role in the business excellence journey. The goods produced or services rendered can bring happiness only when they meet the desired objective. Man has been in constant pursuit of more and more to satisfy his ever-growing desires. The search for excellence has been going on for thousands of years.

Excellence means perfection. Excellence lies in all creations of God. As one approaches towards perfection in work, one approaches excellence or God. Man can attain excellence or perfection through his deeds or Karma. Many hymns of Veda and other religious books indicate toward the way to attain the excellence. For example, Lord Krishna says in Bhagvad Geeta:

   "Yoga is excellence in Karma (action)".

The simplest way to attain God is to bring excellence in all our deeds. Excellence has many dimensions. Excellence implies more than competence, it implies striving for highest possible standards. The dictionary meaning of excellence is "Quality of highest order". As per Indian mythology, "Swa-Dharma" or "Self-Ethics" or "Organisation's Values System" are synonyms to quality. To attain the excellence or 'quality of highest order' everyone in an organisation needs to perform his duty or assignment correctly and completely without any deviation the first time and every time.

Quality is the ability of a product or service to consistently meet or exceed customer expectations. According to the ISO 9000 system standard: "Quality is totality of characteristics of an entity that bears on its ability to satisfy stated and implied needs". Some quality gurus have defined the quality as:

* "Quality is conformance to requirements; and not goodness"--Philip B Crosby (1979)

* "Quality is fitness for use"--JM Juran (1988)

* "Quality in loss avoidance"--Taguchi (1989).

Quality means meeting or exceeding expectations. Quality can be quantified as the ratio of Performance and Expectations. If the performance of the product or service is better than the expectations, then the customer has a good feeling about it. While the organisation determines the performance, the customer determines the expectations. Quality has many dimensions. According to Indian mythology, there are 16 dimensions of quality. If a man could attain the excellence even in one dimension or aspect of life, he becomes entitled to salvation or Moksha. It is believed that Lord Rama attained the excellence in 14 dimensions (14 Kala Sampuran) and Lord Krishna attained the excellence in 16 dimensions (16 Kala Sampuran).

According to modern management concepts, quality has nine dimensions:

1. Performance--main characteristics of the product/service

2. Aesthetics--appearance, feel, smell, taste

3. Special features--extra characteristics

4. Conformance--how well the product/service conforms to customer's expectations

5. Safety--Risk of injury

6. Reliability consistency of performance

7. Durability--useful life of the product/service

8. Perceived quality--indirect evaluation of quality (for example, reputation)

9. Service after sale--handling of customer complaints and checking customer satisfaction.

These dimensions are somewhat independent, therefore a product can be excellent in one dimension and average or poor in another. Very few products excel in all nine dimensions.

For example, the Japanese were cited for high quality cars in the 1970s based only on the dimensions of reliability, conformance, and aesthetics. Therefore quality products can be determined by using a few of the dimensions of quality.

Business Excellence: Historical Profile

Indian manufacturing was at its zenith in the ancient times as revealed by innumerable artefacts and monuments. Ancient scriptures record the excellence in manufacturing during those days. However, mankind has forgotten to look into these to learn the valuable lessons.

For example, 30 years before the two German brothers flew a few kilometres in the first aeroplane, Swami Dayanand Saraswati wrote in his famous book The Rigvedadibhashya Bhoomika in 1872 about the design of aeroplanes. He said that "an aeroplane should be prepared having trio-merits of flying into the sky, streaming on water, and moving on road".

Swami Dayanand concluded with remarks that he had seen many mantras in the Vedas to get in-depth knowledge of the above subject, however, this glimpse was enough for a wise man to act. After 130 years, this is high time that we set the house in order and make an endeavour to attain manufacturing excellence through integration of modern technology and Vedic studies.

During the Middle Ages, the work excellence, to a large extent, was achieved by the long period of training required by the guilds. This training instilled pride in workers for product quality. The concept of specialisation of labour was introduced during the industrial revolution in the 1700s and 1800s with the spread of power-driven machinery and that led to rapid growth of industry. As a result, a worker no longer made an entire product, only a portion of it. This change brought about a decline in workmanship. Because most products manufactured during that early period were not complicated, quality was not greatly affected. In fact, because productivity increased there was a decrease in cost, which resulted in lower customer expectations. As products become more complicated and jobs more specialised, it became necessary to inspect products after manufacture.

The surge of scientific and technological excellence was seen after the World War II. In 1957, the space age began when the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite to circle the Earth. In 1969, two American astronauts became the first human beings to walk on the moon. Advances in science and technology have changed the world in many dramatic ways. Aeroplanes, cars, communication satellites, computers, lasers, plastics, refrigerators, and television are only a few of the inventions that have transformed human life. Rapid medical progress and growth in food supplies have enabled millions of people to live healthier and longer lives.

Evolution of Modern Thoughts of Business Excellence

According to Vedic mythology, business excellence can be achieved only through prosperity for all or by taking care of the stakeholders. For an organisation there are five stakeholders, namely: customer, employees, suppliers, shareholders, and society as a whole. Some companies have forgotten to take care of these stakeholders, leading to the industrial recessions, trade union struggles, and other industrial problems. To overcome these problems, many management experts came forward with their theories and thoughts to bridge the gaps between the conflicting needs of stakeholders. Some of the popular management theories developed are Fayol's 14 principles of management, FW Taylor's scientific management based on work studies, Max Weber's Bureaucratic Management, Elton Mayo's human relations approach, Hawthorne studies emphasising the human relations utopia, and motivational theories of Maslow, McGregor, and others. In 1924, WA Shewhart of Bell Telephone Laboratories developed a statistical chart for the control of product variables. This chart is considered to be the beginning of statistical quality control. Recognition of the value of statistical quality control became apparent by 1942.

The Japanese economy was depressed after World War II. In 1950, Edwards Deming, who learned statistical quality control from Shewhart, gave a series of lectures on statistical methods to Japanese engineers and CEOs. Deming's quality systems for problems solving through cooperation between workers and management were widely accepted and used by Japanese industry. He said that quality should be stressed at each step of the manufacturing process and most product defects and service problems result from faults in management rather than from the carelessness of workers. The teachings of Deming led to the revival of the Japanese economy. The Deming prize on Total Quality was introduced in 1951. In 1954, Joseph Juran made his first trip to Japan and further emphasised management's responsibility to achieve quality. In 1960, the first quality control circles were formed for the purpose of quality improvement. Simple statistical techniques were learned and applied by Japanese workers.

While talking about business excellence and quality management, one must focus upon the contributions of Edwards Deming particularly his 14 points for management. These points are more relevant to attain quality, while managing the organisation and achieve excellence. The 14 points are:

1. Create and publish the aims and purpose of the organisation

2. Learn the new philosophy

3. Understand the purpose of inspection

4. Stop awarding business based on price alone

5. Improve constantly and forever the system

6. Institute training

7. Teach and institute leadership

8. Drive out fear, create trust and create a climate for innovation

9. Optimise the efforts of teams, groups and staff areas

10. Eliminate exhortations for the work force

11. (a) Eliminate numerical quotas for work force

(b) Eliminate management by objectives

12. Remove barriers that rob people of pride of workmanship

13. Encourage education and self-improvement for everyone

14. Take action to accomplish the transformation.

Evolution of Business Excellence Models

By the mid-seventies, Japan had started to progress more rapidly than the American and other western competitors, first in cars, then in the whole range of goods including videos, hi-fi, and electronics. In the late eighties the automotive industry began to emphasise statistical process control (SPC). Suppliers and their suppliers were required to use these techniques. Various models for business excellence came in different parts of the world on which quality awards were instituted in their respective countries. These awards are given to organisations that have excelled in quality in real terms and are role models for others. Some of these awards are:

* Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award established in 1987 in USA

* Australian Business Excellence Award introduced in 1988 in Australia

* European Quality Award introduced by EFQM in 1992 in Europe

* CII-EXIM Bank Business Excellence Award introduced in 1994 in India, and

* Singapore Quality Award in 1994.

Apart from the above 'industry specific' and 'family group specific' quality awards also emerged. For example in India, the Tata Group introduced the JRD Tata Quality Award and Manufacturing Association of IT industries introduced MAIT Award. Prime Minister's Trophy was introduced for the steel industry in India.

The key focus of these awards is to motivate the industry to come forward and take improvement initiatives to bring all-round business excellence in their operations. In addition, ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 became the worldwide model for quality system and environmental system respectively. By the late nineties, Total Quality Management became the globally accepted slogan for corporate excellence so as to gain the competitive edge and thereby ensuring long-term success by meeting the requirements of the customers, employees, and other stake holders.

We present three important quality models. The objective is to emphasise the fact that more or less, these models come with the similar philosophy which already existed in the Vedic Hindu literature. After the explanation of these models, we attempt to establish a relationship between these modern excellence models and ancient Vedic philosophy.

EFQM Excellence Model 

The EFQM Excellence Model is based on eight fundamental concepts. Each year, European Quality Prizes and European Quality Awards are presented to organisations that demonstrate excellence in the management of quality. The EFQM Excellence Model has wide acceptability across the countries. In 1994, the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) along with Export-import Bank of India found it most suitable for Indian circumstances and adopted it. A growing number of Indian and European organisations are using the EFQM Excellence Model, not only to get an insight into their own strengths and weaknesses (Self-assessment), but also to look ahead, using the criteria to shape their business excellence strategy.

In 1999, the EFQM Model and the CII-EXIM Model for Business Excellence a year later, went through a major change with the introduction of RADAR (Results, Approach, Deployment, Assessment and Review) for measurement and 39 per cent change in the areas to address bringing more focus on performance and organisational excellence. The model is based on the premise that: "Excellent results with respect to performance, customers, people and society are achieved through leadership driving policy and strategy, people, partnerships and resources, and processes."

The nine criteria parts of the model are shown in Figure 1.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Innovation & Learning

The arrows emphasise the dynamic nature of the model. They show innovation and learning helping to improve enablers that in turn lead to improved results. The points for each criterion are indicated in the boxes. The Enabler Criteria cover what an organisation does and Results Criteria cover what an organisation achieves.

Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

In the United States, business excellence of an organisation is judged based on the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence as depicted in Figure 2.

[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]

Singapore Quality Award

Launched in 1994, with the Prime Minister as its patron, the Singapore Quality Award (SQA) is the most prestigious award conferred on organisations that demonstrate the highest standards of business excellence in Singapore. The SQA business excellence model is based on universally accepted standards that are found in the US Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the European Quality Award and the Australian Business Excellence Award. As a symbol of world-class business excellence, the SQA encourages organisations to strengthen their management systems and capabilities to enhance their competitiveness. The SQA criteria form the basis for the evaluation and feedback to applicants on their performance as shown in Figure 3.

[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]

Essence of Business Excellence Models vis-a-vis Vedic Vision

Business excellence models adopted by various countries are dynamic in nature and periodically go under review for further improvements based on the changing needs of stakeholders. They reflect shifts in business emphasis and new management approaches and ideas. They can be used by any organisation irrespective of country, size, sector or maturity in excellence. The 14 points of Deming have been addressed in the eight fundamental concepts of excellence of EFQM Excellence model and also in the other excellence models. These concepts have very deep linkage with the Vedic concept of business excellence.

Constancy of Purpose

Deming's first point focuses on creation of the aim and purpose of the organisation. The other excellence models also focuses upon policy and strategy of the company to understand the basic purpose of its existence.

Rig-Veda explains the "Rta", or "cosmic order" saying physical as well as moral laws govern the entire universe and that no transgression of these laws is allowed. Thus, to attain the excellence we need to have:

* Common Vision

* Universal Brotherhood, and

* Equitable Prosperity for all

The following mantra from Rig-Veda clearly explains this concept:

   "O ye mankind!
   Let your vision and thinking of life be one and common,
   Let your hearts be transpired with feeling of equality,
   Let your minds be united together,
   Resulting in equal prosperity and common excellence in the
   life for all".

Excellence is dependent upon balancing and satisfying the needs of all relevant stakeholders including employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders and society in general. Development and implementation of the improvement plans by the organisations is an integral part of TQM implementation under various models. It is in line with the following Vedic hymn:

   "Effort is the hallmark of a human being".

Continuous Improvement Focus

Vedic philosophical thought reaches its summit in the "Upanishads". The Upanishads deal with the central philosophical questions: What is the nature of ultimate reality? What is the essence of humanity? Putting together these two ideas, the essence of humanity and the essence of the world, the ancient philosophers produced the greatest insight of the Upanishads. Upanishads also present the doctrine of Karma. According to this teaching, each human soul lives countless lives. It is born and reborn again and again until it reaches liberation and is born no more. In life, the individual suffers and enjoys the results of immoral or moral deeds done in existing and previous lives. In turn, the individual performs deeds whose fruits he will reap in existing and succeeding lives. Every moral act must lead to its appropriate reward: if not in this life, then in a future one.

In an organisation, perceptions of customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers and society about the organisation are formed based on its past performance and current deeds. Also, every positive initiative taken by the organisation will fetch good results now or in the future. Thus, an organisation should continuously focus on the improvements as per Deming's PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) Circle or the RADAR (Results, Approach, Deployment, Assessment and Review) logic of EFQM Model as shown in Figure 4.

[FIGURE 4 OMITTED]

Deming's fifth point is about constant improvement. The concept of continuous learning, innovation and improvement of excellence models emphasise the same thing. The emphasis on continuous efforts for improvements to attain excellence is supported by Vedic hymn:

   "The Gods like hard-working persons. They dislike easy-going and
   idle people. Ever-wakeful persons attain great happiness and
   prosperity".

Another Vedic hymn focuses on continuous improvements:

   "O man! You grow very high".

Customer Focus

The customer is the final arbiter of the quality of any product or service. Customer loyalty, retention, and market share gain are best optimised through clear focus on the needs of current and potential customers. Customer results have been given 20 per cent weightage in the EFQM Model. In his second point, Deming stresses that management must learn their responsibilities and give first priority to customer satisfaction. He stresses in the third point to eliminate the need for inspection by building quality into the product in the first place. This is endorsement to the teaching of Lord Krishna in Bhagvad Geeta:

   "Yoga is excellence in Karma (action)".

Thus customer satisfaction or 'quality of highest order' can be attained only through voluntarily following "Swa-Dharma" or "Self-Ethics" or "Self-Inspection" or "Organisation's Values System", which will lead to achievement of excellence (Yoga) of product or service ultimately passed on to the customers.

Leadership

The behaviour of an organisation's leaders creates a clarity and unity of purpose within the organisation and an environment in which the organisation and its people can excel. All business excellence models put leadership as the first step towards excellence. Manu Smiriti has many mantras, which guides how the good governance can be achieved. In the past hundred years we have seen growth and fall of national economies and the companies. Role model ethics by the chief executive plays a major role in the development of organisational culture. The various roles of a good manager are shown in Figure 5.

[FIGURE 5 OMITTED]

Employees will follow the "Swa-Dharma" or Organisation's Values System only if the chief executive and his top team set an example before them as Vedic philosophy explains:

   "As the chief executive (King) is, so are the people".

The above principle has also been endorsed by eminent international quality experts like Deming, Juran, Claus Moller, and Harry Roberts who deliberately identify the personal quality of the chief executive as the starting point for the organisational excellence. Deming has given special focus on various aspects of leadership in the points 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. The search of personal quality starts from self-analysis or self-assessment. Vedic shastras strongly stress on the need of three types of self-discipline to be strictly observed by the Shreshtha Purusha (man with high moral ethics) or the chief executive of an organisation. These are:

* Atma-Glani or Self-Guilt,

* Ishwar-Bhaya or Fear of punishment by God, and

* Lok-Lajja or Fear of Society.

People Focus

The full potential of an organisation's people is best released through shared values and a culture of trust and empowerment, which encourages the involvement of everyone. Deming has stressed on people development in the points 6, 8, 12, and 13. He emphasises that each employee must be oriented to the organisation's philosophy of commitment to never-ending improvement through education, training and self-improvement. Management should drive out fear and create an environment of trust and innovation so that everyone may effectively contribute. The hymn of Atharva Veda endorses the above concept:

   "O King! Take care of the welfare and growth of all your people.
   Then you will grow as the sun grows and shines at dawn and after
   its rise".

The sun makes consistent and continuous efforts to grow without fear. Similarly, the chief executive should make consistent and continuous efforts for the growth of his employees and the organisation. The quality of a person's life is directly proportional to his commitment to excellence regardless of his chosen field of endeavour.

Partnership Focus

An organisation works more effectively when it has mutually beneficial relationships, built on trust, sharing of knowledge, and integration with its Partners. Various excellence models emphasise to end the practice of awarding business on the basis of the price tag. Instead to minimise total cost, move toward a single supplier for any one item and build the long-term relationship of loyalty and trust. The enhancement of organisational performance, practices, and capabilities is possible only through teamwork, sharing of best practice information among organisations. Benchmarking offers the possibility to exchange experiences with peers from other companies in a very open and friendly atmosphere. Participation in benchmarking clubs by a variety of industries makes it easy to find companies that have different strengths. Thus, the team spirit between the organisations play a major role in high growth, as the hymn in 'Atharva Veda' says,:

   "People with same divine thoughts grow together".

Benchmarking requires visioning "out of the box", a willingness to look for solutions not only within your own environment, but anywhere in the world. Focus on enablers (actions) to achieve results is truly in line the hymn from Bhagwad Geeta:

   "Don't be associated with inaction".

Process Focus

Organisations perform more effectively when inter-related activities are understood and systematically managed. The decisions concerning current operations and planned improvements are made using reliable information that includes stakeholder perceptions. ISO 9000 system mainly stresses on the process focus. In excellence models too, process focus has been given the centre stage as the backbone for excellence.

The scriptures moved a step further and stresses on continuous efforts or process focus with detachment. A hymm from 'Yajur-Veda' says that one should continue to put in his best efforts for 100 years (whole lifetime) with detachment from its results. The selfless actions will lead one to the highest level of happiness (Moksha):

   "One should like to live in this world doing hard work for 100
   years. There is no other way for one's salvation. A selfless and
   detached action keeps the doer away from harm".

Business Excellence and Vedic Philosophy: A New Outlook

Though the business excellence models have provided a new direction and guidelines to the corporate management for growth, their focus is still limited. Vedic philosophy takes us much ahead on the road of excellence to become a dream society, where every member is prepared to sacrifice his profits for the larger interests of society. In Vedic mythology, business is seen as a legitimate, integral part of society. Its core function is to create wealth for society through manufacturing, domestic distribution, foreign trade, financing and other related activities. It encourages one to work for an economic structure based on "Sarva loka hitam" which means "the well-being of all stakeholders".

The long-term interest of the organisation and its people is best served by adopting an ethical approach and exceeding the expectations and regulations of the community at large. Though the EFQM model gives society 6 per cent weightage, other excellence models have ignored this aspect. The corporate world has forgotten to take care of this aspect in the past; leading to the industrial recessions, trade union struggles, and other problems today. Let us ponder what went wrong with some of the excellent companies:

* Why 33 per cent of excellent companies (1982-84) in USA are dead today?

* Why 84 per cent of 100 biggest US companies (1900-2000) are dead today?

* Why 20 per cent of Fortune 500 companies (1955-2000) are dead today?

* Why India's share in world trade has come down from 85 per cent in 1547 to 20 per cent in 1700 and reached to insignificant 0.6 per cent in 2002?

The answers of these questions lie within the organisation. Vedic philosophy of business excellence answers the above questions. It gives extensive focus on preventing such occurrences.

Distribution of Wealth for Growth

According to Vedic philosophy, one should continuously distribute one's wealth for the growth. The moment one stops the distribution, the rate of growth starts declining. The 'Atharva Veda' has a sutra to explain this aspect:

   "O man! Procure wealth with 100 hands and distribute it in charity
   with 1,000 hands. Thus, you attain perfection of the work done and
   to be done".

Growing organisations consistently meets customers' changing needs and continuously improves. New organisations and areas of business sprout up with the distribution of wealth and are decentralised to provide new opportunities of growth. Thus, the organisations should continuously search for new avenues of business and capital investment with an objective of growth for all. While it will generate more employment avenues and better prosperity for the society, it will also give an opportunity for the growth of the employees, suppliers, and customers and ultimately lead to more profits.

Larger Interest Should Prevail in Decision-making

'Chankya Niti', moves a step further emphasising that even at the cost of loss to the organisation, the larger interest of society should prevail in decision-making as the following hymn says:

   "One should sacrifice the individual for the sake of family
   interest, family for the sake of village, village for the sake of
   nation, and abandon everything for defending higher values of life".

Sacrifice for the sake of larger interest of the society will lead to total transformation of the corporate world and provide better quality of life for the society at large which will lead to a new world order and growth for all.

Yoga--Path of Excellence

According to Patanjali: "Yoga is a methodical effort to attain excellence". This is achieved through the control of the different elements of human nature, both physical and psychical. All mental states are modifications of "chitta" (mind). Ordinary human life is afflicted by the belief that the mind cannot fathom ultimate reality due to its afflictions like egoism, attachment to pleasure, aversion to pain, and love of life. These afflictions are responsible for the greatest turbulence in "chitta". In the state of "samadhi", all modifications of "chitta" cease, and the soul regains its eternal and attains a perfect placid state (or excellence). It becomes free, self-illuminated consciousness as Patanjali says:

   "Ending the functions of chitta is Yoga".

In an organisation there are distractions due to clash of interests among various stakeholders for their apparently conflicting demands leading to day to day problems and fire fighting by one and all. By ceasing all these afflictions an organisation can become excellent or ideal. At this stage every member of the organisation works not because he will be rewarded but because it gives him inherent happiness. It is the stage of self-actualisation.

Lord Krishna has explained this concept in 'Bhagavad-Gita'. Vedic Vision of Excellence in Bhagavad-Gita preaches that real happiness lies in the karma with complete detachment. In the Bhagavad-Gita, Krishna offers the path of karma yoga, or the discipline of action as stated below:

   "You have right to perform your karma (action), but never to the
   fruits thereof. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of
   your activities, nor should you be attached to inaction".

To attain this level of thinking in one's thoughts, we need to have the selflessness in ourselves and in the organisations. The concept of selflessness is shown in Figure 6.

[FIGURE 6 OMITTED]

'Sangthan Sukta'--Vision of the New World Order

The Rig-Vedic hymns portray the world as a place where human beings are expected to enjoy life. The main religious activity is 'yajna' (sacrifice for others). If the sacrifice is correctly performed, God is obliged to help. Thus mankind is assured of a happy life, and a happier after-life. If an organisation sacrifices its profits for the sake of the welfare of the society, it is destined to gain profits. The expenditure in the publicity campaign gives the momentary benefits; as the same expenditure for society's welfare gives long term gains. It creates the goodwill for the organisation among people who benefited in particular and in the society as a large. This goodwill pays dividends especially in the time of crisis, when the organisation is in need of help.

'Sangathan Sukta' presents a perspective of excellence for society, where every member is willing to sacrifice his gains for the well being of others. Thus every member of society gets his lower level needs fulfilled, which leads to building of higher moral values for all. Thus slowly we attain a level of excellence where all remain happy and healthier. The Vedic concepts of growth are based on self-management and self-discipline.

Accordingly everyone is expected to follow his Swa-Dharma and continuously make sustained efforts for self-growth as well as for the growth of society.

Conclusion

In essence, the Veda are answers to many questions. This can be achieved through integrating and directing efforts to maximise the global product and its equitable distribution among members of society.

In the new millennium, it will be essential for the business leaders to devise and adopt a unified theory focused to attain excellence comprising principles, methods, tools, and systems appropriate to their companies. Organisational excellence can be attained by developing proactive, self-responsible people concerned with achieving the ultimate goals of the organisation and inculcating values for appreciating the purpose of achieving goals. Success depends greatly on the involvement of people in the organisations, willing to bring a change in tune with the global environment. Business practices will have to be changed and aligned to with the growing needs and expectations of stakeholders. The lure of using isolated techniques will not be enough for transforming the industrial world. To bring excellence, the integration of the Vedic studies with modern science and technological research is necessary.

References

Atharva Veda 20-18-3, 4-4-2, 3-24-5

Dale H Besterfield, Carol Besterfield-Michna, Glen H Besterfield, Mary Besterfield Sacre, Total Quality Management, Addison Wesley Longman, Singapore, 2001, pp 5-11

ISO 9000: 2000 Transition Auditor Training Course, BVQI ISO 8402:94, Issue 10.01, 2001, 2.11

The CII-EXIM Bank Award for Business Excellence 2002--Application Brochure & The Business Excellence Model, Confederation of Indian Industries Publications, TQM Division, New Delhi.

Rig Veda, 10-191-4, 8-2-18, 10-191.

Shreemad Bhagvad Geeta, Chapter 2 (47), (50).

Sri Swami Omkaranand, Patanjalya Yoga Pradeep, Gita Press Gorakhpur, 1993, 163.

Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Rigvedadibhashya Bhoomika, Arya Prakashan, India, 1998, 213-223.

W Edwards Deming, Out of the Crisis, Chapter 2.

www.businessexcellenceaustralia.com.au

www.efqm.org

www.quality.nist.gov

www.spring.gov.sg/portal/products/awards/sqa/sqa_overview.html

Yajur-Veda 40-2.

Dr AK Sharma

Balvir Talwar 

Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (UA) India