RESPONSIBLE MANAGEMENT: THE NEW PARADIGM

If people do not aspire at all, development will stop. But if consumerism is overdone, it will lead to destruction. So what does responsible management for modern businesses look like?

- ASHOKE K MAITRA

WITH nations worldwide realising the gravity of the climate crisis and pledging to take sincere actions for sustainable development so as to not further endanger the Earth in COP26, ‘responsible management’ has become the popular buzzword. In simple words, it means running industries in a manner that does not endanger the Earth by adding to the climate crisis.

Countries have come to this realisation after witnessing many cyclones, floods, forest fires, and the Covid-19 pandemic. It has also dawned on leaders that unless wealth creators change their manufacturing process and make it more eco-friendly, and society opts for cleaner energy and a sustainable way of living, we cannot stop endangering the Earth. Too much time has already been lost.

Everyone knows global warming has happened and will continue to happen because of the way humans have destroyed nature and are following a materialistic philosophy that proclaims that the more we consume, the happier we will become. Most people in first world nations believe that the more luxuries they have, the happier they will get.

Eastern philosophy, on the other hand, teaches human beings to be satisfied with just what is needed to live and lead a life of austerity, detachment and renunciation, which leads to happiness and peace. I am not getting into what is right and wrong or how much of which type of philosophy is right. If people do not aspire at all, development will stop. We don’t want to regress to the stone age. But if consumerism is overdone, it will lead to the destruction of the Earth, global warming and unsustainable development.