Reconceptualizing Profit-Orientation in Management : a Karmic View on ‘Return on Investment’ Calculations

Köllen, Thomas (2016). Reconceptualizing Profit-Orientation in Management : a Karmic View on ‘Return on Investment’ Calculations. Philosophy of Management, 15(1), pp. 7-20. Springer 10.1007/s40926-016-0027-9

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From the perspective of the present day, Puritan-inspired capitalism seems to have succeeded globally, including in India. Connected to this, short-term profit-orientation in management seems to constrain the scope of different management approaches in a tight ideological corset. This article discusses the possibility of replacing this Puritan doctrine with the crucial elements of Indian philosophy: Karma and samsara. In doing so, the possibility of revising the guiding principles in capitalist management becomes conceivable, namely the monetary focus of profit-orientation and its short-term orientation. This perspective allows a detachment of the concept of profit from the realm of money, as the seemingly only objectifiable measure of profit. Furthermore it allows a removal of the expectation that every “investment” has to directly “pay off”. A karmic view offers management a possible facility for being more caring about the needs and fates of other stakeholders, as profit-orientation would no longer be attached as a factual constraint to merely accumulate money.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

03 Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences > Department of Business Management > Institute of Organization and Human Resource Management > Human Resource Management

UniBE Contributor:

Köllen, Thomas

Subjects:

100 Philosophy > 170 Ethics
100 Philosophy > 180 Ancient, medieval & eastern philosophy
200 Religion
200 Religion > 210 Philosophy & theory of religion
200 Religion > 290 Other religions
300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 330 Economics
600 Technology > 650 Management & public relations

ISSN:

1740-3812

Publisher:

Springer

Language:

English

Submitter:

Thomas Köllen

Date Deposited:

11 Jun 2018 16:25

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:10

Publisher DOI:

10.1007/s40926-016-0027-9

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Hinduism, Karma, Samsara, Capitalism, Puritanism, Max Weber

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.111727

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/111727

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