Case 7: Patanjali: The Black Swan
When one of India’s foremost news magazine puts you on their front page then you have certainly arrived. However, when the issue is closely read by stock market analysts who are understanding the dynamics of Indian stock market then there is something hap
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When one of India’s foremost news magazine puts you on their front page then you have certainly arrived. However, when the issue is closely read by stock market analysts who are understanding the dynamics of Indian stock market then there is something happening which is disruptive to say the least and a black swan to say the most. The person in question is Ramdev Baba of Patanjali, the most dynamic businessman in India, who continues to create a complex supply chain of products based on his learnings not from Havard but Haridwar, a pilgrimage site in the foothills of Himalayas. So why are the investors and consumers putting their bets behind this monk, fondly called Baba Ramdev by his followers? And here we enter the heart of the paradox. At one level he is a sadhu, an aesthetic, a monk and as a monk he has to leave his family, adopt a new name, and live a frugal life in a monastery or ashram as it is called in India. In these Ashrams the monks are usually engaged in religious practices, reciting hymns, offering prayers, doing rituals, doing meditation and reading religious scriptures. Ashrams have Hindu devotees coming to them for listening to religious discourses of the monks and conduct religious activities. Baba Ramdev has done all this and continues to do so, yet paradoxically, surprisingly and astonishingly he has been able to use the ethos and working principles of ashram ecosystem to create Indias’s most ruthless, ambitious and expansive business organization with global ambitions. He himself is one the richest men in India. It is this paradox which has added to his leadership style. He was asked this question in a recent interview (http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/baba-ramdev-patanjaliyoga/1/714332.html) as to “why is a self-proclaimed renunciate selling shampoo, toothpaste, detergent and anti-ageing cream?” The answer is as follows, “When I went to the Himalayas in my youth, I saw many sadhus who had given up the materialistic life. But what were they doing? Nothing for the welfare of mankind. That cannot be the purpose of life. In India, it’s believed that sadhus can’t do anything; S. Shukla (*) University of Allahabad, Allahabad, India © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018 A. Malik (ed.), Strategic Human Resource Management and Employment Relations, Springer Texts in Business and Economics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0399-9_21
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they are supposed to live on donations. It hurt me. The real goal of a sadhu is not to attain moksha for himself but to serve the masses. My business is not for profit but to spread wellness,” Some indication that he is bringing in a new leadership mix to business organization. Black swan indeed!
Follower – Leader Interaction Leadership in an organizational context can be viewed as an interaction between leader and followers. The premise is that leader and followers exchange certain psychological and social goods between each other. In Patanjali’s case there was a pattern of communication choices exercised by the leaders in framing their busine
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