Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Gandhi as Entrepreneur

http://www.littlemag.com/nandy.htm

31 comments:

P31051 said...

Gandhi was a kind of social entrepreneur who brought about a revolution with his ideologies that appealed to the public at large. He as an entrepreneur identified the need to approach the freedom struggle with his new ideas by creating a whole different domain of actions for achieving the goal of independence and emerged as a changemaker.

Laxmidhar Sundara said...

Entrepreneurs always think out of box and foray into unexplored area.Gandhi who always encouraged social entrepreneurship ,started the Charkha revolution to make the people self employed.He adopted the policy of non-violence to accomplish the goal of freedom from British.

Sugandha Anwekar said...

For the success of an entreprenuer it is necessary to venture in the area which is unexplored or in a different way.Gandhi does exactly the same. As a social entreprenuer ,He took the idea for freedom forward in a different way, by taking non-violence.Also he promoted all the home made goods which also is a quality of an economic entreprenuer.He presented his ideas in a way which people wiill buy

Ashutosh Mohapatra said...

Gandhi as an entrepreneur has been uncannily successful in all his ventures starting from being an integral part of politics and on the meanwhile also refraining from it completely. This attitude of his made him think both ways and hence garnering support from all sectors in his quests, the ultimate signs of a successful entrepreneur. Whether it is the Gandhi of the past, or of the modern world, they have been able to leave a mark on this world with the sheer use of their witty brains.

Krati Vyas said...

Entrepreneur is an Innovator who can work on products , services and individuals to show his/her capability to manage and give recognizable returns or benefits .Gandhi was a Social entrepreneur who ventured on the citizens of this country . He was also able to create his own BRAND INDIA and was also successful in getting the title of "FATHER OF THE NATION". He was intelligent to understand the perceptions and knew the method to mobilize the illiterate, poor Indians for their own benefits and create History.
Gandhi is Immortal as a brand image representing the Great Indian Freedom Struggle.

Sarath said...

This view point has been repeatedly heard among the western philosophers vehemently opposing the Nobel Prize candidature of Gandhiji. The same view point expressed again under this context is lamentable. Some of the statements expressed during moments of high emotional turmoil (where rational thinking is uncommon), should not be interpreted this way. Selective observation and over generalization taught as errors occurring in research is very much visible here. Gandhiji’s ideas and weapons were his strong beliefs and ideals; they were not in any case some entrepreneurial ideas created for freedom struggle.

sandeep kumar jha said...

Gandhi knew his strengths and weaknesses and new which weapon therefore identified which weapons can be instrumental in imparting social change (freedom struggle). Gandhi knew that Indians are deficient in arms and clashes in such circumstances will lead to mass bloodshed and Gandhi will be seen as the provoker who caused it. By using nonviolence as his weapon for freedom struggle and giving it moral clothing he was able to inflict change in the society. Hence he can be identified as a social entrepreneur.

mainaz said...

What if Gandhi or his followers had a gun.. In fact during that era British had biggest gun of the world. Gandhi had to fight British and a violent resistance could have led to a Brutal crush of Indians. Gandhi got a business sense and entrepreneur skills. He estimated risk and his available resources and chalked out most viable and sustainable approach for resistance which led to satyagraha .which people call a passive resistance but it was actually risk averting strategy devised by Gandhi, a true Guajarati!

Jyotsana said...

Gandhi was a practical politician and he was a social entrepreneur in true sense. His principles and ideologies are at par. He was an extraordinary expert in taking the decisions regarding how and when to start a venture whether it being Dandi Yatra, Charkha revolution, Champaran revolution or non-cooperation revolution. He had tactics to mobilise the public for any such action. And we can feel that Gandhism i.e. ideology of truth and non-violence is still in existence.

Abhijit P31058 said...

Gandhian principles are bigger than Gandhi himself, he learnt the tool of styagraha or passive resistance from his own experiences at South Africa. One may agree or disagree but his ability to mobilize masses were unparallel and he commanded great respect and trust. He was farsighted and knew violent struggle would not last long and dealt with iron hand by Britishers. His social engineering skills and tactful understanding of situation and opposition sets him ahead in league. So, he can be called social entrepreneur as his ideas were ahead of time.

neelambharti said...

Gandhi brought revolution in the society,changed the thinking of people in society.He mobilised the people for making mass movement a successful.His iedeologies were followed by the people.Gandhi as s entrepreneur in a sense as he created new ideas, new policy to achieve the goal of entire nation.

Pankaj31078 said...

An entrepreneur is a person who brings out the best from the available resources. Gandhi had people, who were not people, they were Hindus and Muslims, and he had soldiers who did not have guns, they had hunger. He united the Hindus and Muslims into 'oppressed' being oppressed by a common oppressor and he used hunger as a weapon to stand against the Britishers. People united against the common oppressor were motivated to fight to get rid of hunger. What a strategy!

shaleen singhvi said...

An entrepreneur leads the firm and demonstrates leadership qualities, has a strong management and team building skill. He also perceives opportunity available and is ready to take risks.In gandhi also, these qualities were quite visible. He led the freedom struggle, and under his able leadership,many other great leaders fostered.Whether, it is a historical gandhi or a modern gandhi, his ideologies will be intact and would guide us forever

Anusha Chaitanya said...

In retrospect, we love to interpret for we are safely guarded by the impossibility of knowing the reality. We don’t have Gandhi to testify any of our arguments or interpretations about him. He did use tactics. But whether he consciously strategized or this simply occurred in the flow of his philosophy is free for interpretation (rather a futile exercise?). I say this in the context of the arguments made about his use of non-violence as a strategy for unarmed India. In my opinion, calling it a strategy dilutes the significance of his philosophy of non-violence for the sake of non-violence.

Anu Ann Alexander said...

Gandhi is a successful entrepreneur in the sense that he could very well market the inadequacies of the nation within the facades of a moral garment. India at the time of independence, did not have much access to the sophisticated machinery employed by the imperialist. These deficiencies were marketed in the form of ideals of non-violence, truth etc..thus gaining world wide support for the ideologies .The British themselves on account of their moral superiority and world wide support had to succumb to the demand for a sovereign state.

Remya said...

Entrepreneurs are a particular class of people who always start with the ends in mind rather than constricting their dreams with only the resources they have right now. Go ahead with whatever we have is a typical phrase repeated by any entrepreneur. One of the perfect example of such a person that Indian History shows us is that of Gandhi. He believed in making his own clothing, not depending up on others. He envisaged the same for India, not only on clothing, but all necessities of life. He always upheld Self-reliance- may it be for a person or a village.

RISHABH JAIN 31036 said...

GANDHI appears to be quiet capable as an entrepreneur as its all about having an idea ,believing in it and believing with such a conviction that others start believing in it too .This becomes all the more significant whwn we talk in parlance of a collective action like our independence struggle .Its also about being innovative and Gandhi was ingenious in devising newer ways of achieving it in form of satyagraha ,non violent struggle unlike other independence movements(say AMERICAN independence struggle) which involved bloodbath .

sandeep said...

Gandhi was entrepreneur in the sense that he understood the general demand well and designed the products with available resources and successfully sold them. To become effective he changed his dressing style and acted differently in different contexts as a true marketeer.He could plan utilisation of resources well, as true entrepreneur.He useed politics and poloiticians to acheive his goal without getting engaged in it.

Priyadarshini said...

The most striking feature, while studying Gandhi is that he not only preached but also lived his words. This quality made him the perfect leader in a time when the whole country was under foreign rule. He formulated the structure of non-violence methods in his agitations and his success as an entrepreneur lies in the fact that he was able to convince people to follow him. He structured the very novel idea of non-violence in movements which was a totally new concept for the world. His innovative ideas and aggressive leadership structure makes him a world class entrepreneur.

jasbeer singh said...

Entrepreneurs are known to mould themselves according to the situation to derive the maximum benefit for them and there enterprise. Gandhi's enterprise was the social up liftment of the people and their freedom from British hegemony.To execute that, he went about in a non-violent way not just out of strategy, but also because it was the most practical thing to do.

satyaranjan said...

Gandhiji mobilized the masses, with non-violence as the DNA, to fight against the British atrocities and to break the shackles imposed on the Indians. His way of aggregating people was unique and involved a lot of courage and perseverance. And finally he succeeded in his intents. This inimitable effort of Gandhiji draws out the very sense of entrepreneurship in him. Apart from this, his association with the Charkha, a way to self employment for large mass of people, gives strength to the fact – Gandhi as entrepreneur.

gole said...

Gandhi had all characteristics of an Entrepreneur. He managed and mobilized more people than ever. His new techniques and innovations like Civil Disobedience, Salt March, Non Co-operation movement made India achieve her goals. He also stressed on ethical a morale ways of protesting with peace and nonviolence. All these attributes, label him as a successful entrepreneur and a great leader.

Saurabh Sharma said...

An entrepreneurship may be called as someone who strives for an objective employing an innovative approach, taking into account the perils attached to it, & is persistent in his endeavours towards the objective. Thus on the same lines Gandhi can be called a social entrepreneur who worked for independence & subsequent establishment of a just nation, taking social mobilization as his way forward & made every possible attempt which was in tune with his approach.

Vaibhav Gupta said...

Entrepreneurship is not always individual effort but is also collective efforts at times. Gandhi as a social entrepreneur did the same thing. He mobilised the masses to come together for the cause of freedom. And this he did without undertaking any violent means. He was an entrepreneur in the sense that he tried an entirely new strategy and was even successful with it. He created a structure where every individual saw an incentive of getting independent and thus worked whole heartedly towards the new process. Thus Gandhi could truly be characterized as a social entrepreneur.

vaibhav rai said...

An entrepreneur innovates and bears the risk for the same; Gandhi can be classified as one because he innovated with his weapon of militant nonviolence and taught people to retain their humanity even when faced with unqualified inhumanity risking their lives. His methods threatened the status quo and were underestimated by many but ultimately it was his unique method which helped India win its freedom.

raj said...

An entrepreneur is a passionate individual who recognises a problem, sees a new solution, takes an initiative to correct it and is accountable for the inherent risk and outcomes. Entrepreneurs act boldly without worrying about the scarce resources at hand. This is what Gandhi did, he realised that with the resources at hand fighting British was impossible and came up with an innovative concept of non-violence. He provided a sustained focus to overcome the resistance. The social capital that he created is his greatest achievement as an entrepreneur.

Manoj Kumar 31082 said...

There are different books and the author which says this "Gandhi as Entrepreneur". An entrepreneur is a person who has possession of a new enterprise, venture or idea and is accountable for the inherent risks and the outcome.(Wikipedia definition ) on this basis Gandhi was a entrepreneur as he was working on different ideas and his own beliefs for the freedom of the country with calculated risks. For example Gandhi takes back his movement after Chora Chori kand but that was a entrepreneurial decision.

Tejas said...

To think of Gandhi as an entrepreneur would not be a far stretched thought, as like any entrepreneur he was ambitious, a visionary and had belief in his brainchild. He believed in investing the powers of discipline and perseverance as an initial transaction cost and expected the freedom, equality and the change as the final return on investment. The results he got are open for debate even today, but it does not diminish the amount of effort involved in achieving the same.

Sapna Agrawal said...

I think of Gandhi as a social entrepreneur.He aimed at the freedom on India by framing social values of non-violence. To achieve the mission,he constantly improved upon his methods of achieving the ends, not forgoing the values underneath. According to Mahatma Gandhi, ‘as soon as a man looks upon himself as a servant of society, earns for its sake, spends for its benefit, then his value system automatically improves and there is ahimsa in his venture’.

Shantanu said...

As this brilliant write up mentions Gandhiji was a free spirit who would rather have the people working to attain self sufficiency rather than have government force feeding with their centrally planned diktats. A simple charka which became a symbol of self sufficiency and defiance in the face of the mighty British industries is perhaps one of the greatest examples of self entrepreneurship. His frequent rejection of commonplace imported commodities and developing home grown substitutes mentioned in the article is a further testament to his entrepreneurial streak.

ENVENOMED said...

Gandhi as a social entrepreneur was very successful. With his personal experiences of South Africa he very well recognized the problems in the society then and dealt with them in a very strategic manner. His success lied in the fact that he was much aware of his strengths and resources. He was determined, and thus he not only mobilised the people of the nation in the right direction but also became a part of them. The methodologies he adopted took the competitors (Britishers) for surprise. The social upliftment he brought about in the society is unparalleled.