In an age marked by increasing global uncertainty, ethical dilemmas, sustainability crises, and the alienation of individuals in hyper-competitive corporate cultures, there is an urgent call to revisit management philosophies that are holistic, inclusive, and value-driven. Against this backdrop, the theme of the conference “Bharatiya Management: Bridging Ancient Wisdom with Modern Practices in Management” emerges as both timely and transformational. The School of Management at Chanakya University, along with the Centre for Educational and Social Studies (CESS), proposes to conduct an International Conference on this broad topic in December 2025. This document contains details of the proposed conference.

India, with its 5,000-year-old civilizational continuity, is uniquely positioned to offer management thought leadership to the world. As the global economic centre of gravity shifts eastward and the world looks for models that combine material growth with spiritual depth, Bharatiya Management offers an inclusive, sustainable, and contextually adaptable alternative.

It is not merely an academic curiosity or cultural revivalism it represents a deeply rooted, philosophically rich, and practically applicable paradigm that draws from India’s vast civilizational heritage. At its core, it promotes the integration of timeless Indian principles with contemporary management challenges to create ethical, sustainable, and human-centric organizations.

The foundations of Bharatiya Management can be traced to the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Arthashastra, Manusmriti, Thirukkural, and a wide corpus of Indian philosophical and literary texts. These works articulate intricate insights into human behavior, leadership, governance, strategy, resource allocation, ethics, and community development.

This worldview positions the manager not merely as a profit-maximizer, but as a karma-yogi, a servant-leader, a wise strategist, and a guardian of social and ecological harmony.

The conference highlights the urgent need to bridge the historical with the contemporary. Today’s management education is largely shaped by Western paradigms such as scientific management, behavioral theories, systems thinking, and shareholder capitalism. While these models have their merits, they often neglect cultural specificity, spiritual intelligence, and the ethical underpinnings necessary for long-term value creation.

Bharatiya Management fills this gap by offering frameworks that are culturally resonant, spiritually grounded, and intellectually robust. Whether it is incorporating Panchakosha (five layers of human consciousness) into HR practices, or using the Nyaya maxims for decision-making logic, or deploying the Bhagavad Gita’s leadership archetypes in organizational training these applications make ancient knowledge relevant, accessible, and actionable.

Multinational corporations and global academic institutions are increasingly seeking models rooted in empathy, resilience, inclusivity, and purpose. Bharatiya Management is already influencing areas like:

  • Sustainable development and ESG through the lens of Dharma and intergenerational responsibility.
  • Leadership and organizational behaviour are grounded in the Bhagavad Gita’s teachings on detachment and inner balance.
  • Corporate governance is shaped by Kautilya’s nuanced understanding of power, statecraft, and accountability.
  • Crisis management and resilience building based on stories from Indian epics like the Mahabharata and Ramayana.
  • One of the key objectives embedded in this conference is the pedagogical transformation of management education in India. The NEP 2020 has opened the doors for integrating Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) across disciplines, and this theme strongly advocates for a reimagined MBA curriculum that reflects India’s intellectual sovereignty.

The School of Management Sciences at Chanakya University has adopted a holistic and interdisciplinary educational approach that goes beyond traditional business and finance curricula. Recognizing the dynamic and interconnected nature of the modern world, the School designed its academic framework to nurture not only technical and managerial competence but also intellectual curiosity and social awareness. Students were encouraged to engage with a wide array of subjects from the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, allowing them to develop a well-rounded worldview. This exposure played a crucial role in strengthening their critical thinking, analytical reasoning, communication, and interpersonal skills capabilities that are essential in today’s complex and multicultural business environments.

The academic philosophy of the school aimed to cultivate graduates who were not only professionally capable but also culturally sensitive, ethically grounded, and socially responsible. The emphasis was on nurturing future leaders who appreciated diversity of thought, respected global and local perspectives, and could contribute meaningfully to society and industry alike.

To support this vision, the school offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programs tailored to meet diverse interests and career aspirations. At the undergraduate level, programs such as Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) and Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) provides students with foundational knowledge in business, economics, and management, while integrating courses from other disciplines to broaden their academic exposure. At the postgraduate level, the flagship Master of Business Administration (MBA) program offers majors in high-demand areas such as Business Analytics, Finance, Supply Chain Management, amongst others. These programs have been designed with a strong emphasis on experiential learning, case-based pedagogy, industry immersion, and collaborative projects to bridge the gap between theory and practice.

CESS is an institution recognised by Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), Ministry of Education, Government of India, New Delhi. CESS is committed to bringing about ‘Social Transformation through and with Education’ through Research, Policy Advocacy and Capacity Building in the fields of Education and India Studies.
Centre for Educational and Social Studies (CESS) was established in 2006 and is a Registered Society that has been working with Indian Education system from inception. CESS engaged in myriad activities in the domain of education for over a decade and positioned itself to meet the current challenges in the society keeping education as a focal point.

CESS has actively engaged in various research pursuits and has successfully completed several projects in the area of education, social sciences, culture and Indic studies. The Centre has strived to draw the attention of stakeholders, including State and Central Governments, on vital issues of education through series of National and State level seminars and publications. It aims to become a catalytic force influencing the policy makers and to be a top think tank in the country.

We invite researchers, academicians, practitioners, and policymakers to contribute original, unpublished research papers to our upcoming conference. We invite papers in the following areas, which reflect the evolving discourse in Bharatiya Management: Bridging Ancient Wisdom with Modern Practices in Management.

Taylor and Francis (CRC Press) has been identified as the publishing partner for this conference. Accepted and presented full papers may be considered for publication in the conference proceedings as a chapter.

Three awards will be given based on reviewers’ suggestions only for candidates with full paper submissions.

CONFERENCE ADVISORY BOARD

Conference Chairs
Conference Organizing Secretary
Conference Conveners

Conference Organizing Committee

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