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Prabhu Guptara

University of St. Gallen, Ifb, board of directors

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Executive Director, Global Resilience Publishing, 2021-; Publisher, Pippa Rann Books & Media, from end-2019 to the present; Distinguished Professor of Global Business, Management and Public Policy, William Carey University, India (from 2010 to 2018);

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Papers by Prabhu Guptara

World Literature Today, 1978

Songs and villains

Index on Censorship, Oct 24, 2007

Unacceptable philosophies are stifled by social rather than official pressures

Editor: Susheila Nasta Creative Writing Literary Criticism Teaching: Theories into Practice Essays on Film, Art and Cultural Events Reviews

The Lotus : an anthology of contemporary Indian religious poetry in English

Writers Workshop eBooks, 1988

Towards Creating the Right Kind of Globalisation –Why it does not happen, and what to do about it

Springer eBooks, 2009

ABSTRACT

The Basic Arts of Marketing

World Literature Today, 1978

India: C.F. Andrews: His Life and Times By P.C. Roychaudhary. Somaiya, Bombay. 1971. vi, 200 p. Rs 20

India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs, 1971

The student of Gandhi and his ideas will no doubt be interested in these Ictters and in the factu... more The student of Gandhi and his ideas will no doubt be interested in these Ictters and in the factual information given in this book on many matters. For in\t:incc Gnndhi‘s activities in South Africa were vcry trying to General Smuts. When he lcft South Africa, Smuts, with a sense of relief, said : “The saint has lcft 0111‘ shores I sincerely hope for cvcr”. Horace Alexander also reports that Smuts made a passionate outburst againd Gnndhi’s policies during the second world war. Hut, the author says, though Gandhi and Smuts fought each other politically for years and though each was inclined to siiqxcl the olhcr of sharp practice on occasion, yet each saw the greatness i n the other. N o wondcr that on Gandhi’s death Smuts declared : “A prince among men has passed away and wc g r h e with India in her irreparable loss”. Another encounter, which Alexander narrates, is bctwccn King George V and Gandhi during the time of the Round Table Conference. There was, howevcr, nothing great in the gentleman who occupied the throne. On the other hand, as Alexander comments, “Kings share the frailities of other mortals”. And perhaps, George V had niore than his share. Another interesting account which Alexander gives is about the relations between Gandhi and Irwin. When they first met each was disappointed with the other. As we noted earlier some other interesting parts of the book deal with other anccdotcs relating to Gandhi’s meeting with the common people of London. On Gandhi’s political campaigns, Alexander has very few new things to say. But his assessments of Gandhi given both in the preface and in the epilogue are noteworthy. He strcsscs the point t h u t i t was scarcely possible to disentangle Gandhi’s principles of action from his daily political activity. “Truth was God to him. In this sense he was a scientist. When he was sciLcd with a fresh hypothesis, . . . .he started next morning to see how it workcd in practice. Therefore, to understand his experiments in non-violence, it is important to study his whole life”. The book makes an important contribution to lhc understanding of a liinitcd part of that whole life.

Towards Creating the Right Kind of Globalisation –Why it does not happen, and what to do about it

The Role of Law and Ethics in the Globalized Economy, 2009

ABSTRACT

Regulation vs. Transformation of Our Financial and Economic System

Finance & Bien Commun, 2005

Why Knowledge Management Fails

Case Studies in Knowledge Management

Knowledge is increasingly recognized as providing a foundation for creating core competencies and... more Knowledge is increasingly recognized as providing a foundation for creating core competencies and competitive advantages for organizations, thus effective knowledge management (KM) has become crucial and significant. Despite evolving perspectives and rigorous endeavors to embrace KM intentions in business agendas, it is found that organizations cannot capitalize on the expected benefits and leverage their performances. This is a case study of an organization in Hong Kong. It is a typical organization with a strong awareness and expectation of KM, yet its program failed within two years. Our findings show that KM activities carried out in the organization were fragmented and not supported by its members. Based on this failure case, four lessons learned are identified for use by management in future KM initiatives.

The Limits of Corporate Social Responsibility in India

Sustainable Public Finances with Sub-Federal Fiscal Autonomy: The Case of Switzerland

Beyond the Right and the Left in Social Progress: Evaluating Three Alternative Approaches

What constitutes progress is contested. Most economists simply take to GDP-type figures. Some eco... more What constitutes progress is contested. Most economists simply take to GDP-type figures. Some economists question whether this is sensible, not to mention other social scientists. Much of the debate is a political football beyond left and right. The paper proposes and evaluates three alternative approaches.

PUBLISHING NATIONAL DEVLPMT INT'NL RELns

PUBLISHING NATIONAL DEVLPMT INT'NL RELns

PUBLISHING, NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, INT'NL RELns

PUBLISHING, FROM NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Prabhu Guptara

PUBLISHING - NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

PUBLISHING, FROM NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Prabhu Guptara JAPAN SPOTLIGHT

Japan Spotlight, 2021

The history of publishing in any country - in this case, Japan - provides a unique and irreplace... more

World Literature Today, 1978

Songs and villains

Index on Censorship, Oct 24, 2007

Unacceptable philosophies are stifled by social rather than official pressures

Editor: Susheila Nasta Creative Writing Literary Criticism Teaching: Theories into Practice Essays on Film, Art and Cultural Events Reviews

The Lotus : an anthology of contemporary Indian religious poetry in English

Writers Workshop eBooks, 1988

Towards Creating the Right Kind of Globalisation –Why it does not happen, and what to do about it

Springer eBooks, 2009

ABSTRACT

The Basic Arts of Marketing

World Literature Today, 1978

India: C.F. Andrews: His Life and Times By P.C. Roychaudhary. Somaiya, Bombay. 1971. vi, 200 p. Rs 20

India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs, 1971

The student of Gandhi and his ideas will no doubt be interested in these Ictters and in the factu... more The student of Gandhi and his ideas will no doubt be interested in these Ictters and in the factual information given in this book on many matters. For in\t:incc Gnndhi‘s activities in South Africa were vcry trying to General Smuts. When he lcft South Africa, Smuts, with a sense of relief, said : “The saint has lcft 0111‘ shores I sincerely hope for cvcr”. Horace Alexander also reports that Smuts made a passionate outburst againd Gnndhi’s policies during the second world war. Hut, the author says, though Gandhi and Smuts fought each other politically for years and though each was inclined to siiqxcl the olhcr of sharp practice on occasion, yet each saw the greatness i n the other. N o wondcr that on Gandhi’s death Smuts declared : “A prince among men has passed away and wc g r h e with India in her irreparable loss”. Another encounter, which Alexander narrates, is bctwccn King George V and Gandhi during the time of the Round Table Conference. There was, howevcr, nothing great in the gentleman who occupied the throne. On the other hand, as Alexander comments, “Kings share the frailities of other mortals”. And perhaps, George V had niore than his share. Another interesting account which Alexander gives is about the relations between Gandhi and Irwin. When they first met each was disappointed with the other. As we noted earlier some other interesting parts of the book deal with other anccdotcs relating to Gandhi’s meeting with the common people of London. On Gandhi’s political campaigns, Alexander has very few new things to say. But his assessments of Gandhi given both in the preface and in the epilogue are noteworthy. He strcsscs the point t h u t i t was scarcely possible to disentangle Gandhi’s principles of action from his daily political activity. “Truth was God to him. In this sense he was a scientist. When he was sciLcd with a fresh hypothesis, . . . .he started next morning to see how it workcd in practice. Therefore, to understand his experiments in non-violence, it is important to study his whole life”. The book makes an important contribution to lhc understanding of a liinitcd part of that whole life.

Towards Creating the Right Kind of Globalisation –Why it does not happen, and what to do about it

The Role of Law and Ethics in the Globalized Economy, 2009

ABSTRACT

Regulation vs. Transformation of Our Financial and Economic System

Finance & Bien Commun, 2005

Why Knowledge Management Fails

Case Studies in Knowledge Management

Knowledge is increasingly recognized as providing a foundation for creating core competencies and... more Knowledge is increasingly recognized as providing a foundation for creating core competencies and competitive advantages for organizations, thus effective knowledge management (KM) has become crucial and significant. Despite evolving perspectives and rigorous endeavors to embrace KM intentions in business agendas, it is found that organizations cannot capitalize on the expected benefits and leverage their performances. This is a case study of an organization in Hong Kong. It is a typical organization with a strong awareness and expectation of KM, yet its program failed within two years. Our findings show that KM activities carried out in the organization were fragmented and not supported by its members. Based on this failure case, four lessons learned are identified for use by management in future KM initiatives.

The Limits of Corporate Social Responsibility in India

Sustainable Public Finances with Sub-Federal Fiscal Autonomy: The Case of Switzerland

Beyond the Right and the Left in Social Progress: Evaluating Three Alternative Approaches

What constitutes progress is contested. Most economists simply take to GDP-type figures. Some eco... more What constitutes progress is contested. Most economists simply take to GDP-type figures. Some economists question whether this is sensible, not to mention other social scientists. Much of the debate is a political football beyond left and right. The paper proposes and evaluates three alternative approaches.

PUBLISHING NATIONAL DEVLPMT INT'NL RELns

PUBLISHING NATIONAL DEVLPMT INT'NL RELns

PUBLISHING, NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, INT'NL RELns

PUBLISHING, FROM NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Prabhu Guptara

PUBLISHING - NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

PUBLISHING, FROM NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Prabhu Guptara JAPAN SPOTLIGHT

Japan Spotlight, 2021

The history of publishing in any country - in this case, Japan - provides a unique and irreplace... more

Review of Jeff Faux THE GLOBAL CLASS WAR

Public Justice, 2006

My review of the book is a wide-ranging discussion of inequality in the USA, its causes, and its ... more

Book Review of DEBATING INDIA by Bhikhu Parekh

My review focuses on three of the themes in Parekh's book. First, Parekh’s imaginary debate bet... more My review focuses on three of the themes in Parekh's book.

First, Parekh’s imaginary debate between Osama bin Laden and Gandhi, conducted through correspondence.

Second, Parekh’s essay “Friendship in classical Indian thought”.

Third, the essay on “Ambedkar and the Pursuit of Fraternity”.

The review mentions but, due to reasons of space, does not cover other fascinating themes in Parekh's book, such as the choice of the National Symbols of India, the debates between Gandhi and Tagore, Einstein on Gandhi’s non-violence, Gandhi and inter-religious dialogue, the unfortunate narrowing of the perception of Gandhi’s philosophy to non-violence, the question of India’s National Philosophy, and reflections on the successes and failures of democratic politics in India.

The Role of Business Schools in Promoting Values in Business: (text of my presentation at The Global Ethics Forum, Geneva

Mr Chairman, many thanks for that very kind introduction. Do allow me to jump straight into my pr... more Mr Chairman, many thanks for that very kind introduction. Do allow me to jump straight into my presentation, starting with the caveat that we have a large topic, in relation to which we have of course only a tiny amount of time, and that will have certain consequences, meaning exaggerations and distortions, instead of the ideal of academic precision. Permit me to say that I see my role today as that of a gadfly, specifically using both exaggeration and distortion for the purpose of provoking thought. After my initial placement of such catalysts-which some may regard as acids-I hope that we can jointly aspire to academic balance and precision in the time available for interaction in this room after the presentation, and we can of course continue more informally for the duration of the Forum, and beyond it. Our topic consists of two parts:-what is the proper purpose of business schools? and-insofar as business schools may be agreed to have any role in promoting anything, how might values be involved? I take it that, given the other presentations that are scheduled, it is not intended for me to focus on the first debate, about the role of business schools. I will therefore take up the second question, regarding values. It appears to me that, in most discussions on the role of business schools in relation to values, three key issues are dodged. The first issue is: WHAT values are we talking about? According to the Koran, a Muslim man is granted permission to have up to four wives, in addition to concubines and " temporary wives " ; and the ideal for Muslim men and women is to have as many male children as possible. I draw attention to that respectfully, and without providing any moral evaluation of it, but simply to contrast that with *a* modern secular materialist view which wants as much sex as possible, perhaps with as many different desirable partners as possible, but does not want even one spouse OR child! I could of course draw many other such humorous contrasts. When confronted by facts like these, some people say: " No, no, by values we don't mean that sort of thing at all, we mean values such as honesty ". I guess that attitude is typical of folks who search for a " Global Ethic " on which people of all backgrounds can agree. Hans Küng and others have at least come up with some lists of " values " , such as " honesty " regarding which they feel that the majority of the important religions (however defined) can agree. However, the problem with lists of such words as " honesty " is that the words mean something different to a traditional Hindu, a traditional Muslim, a traditional Christian, a traditional tribal, a modern or post-modern atheist, and so on. For example, to a follower of Jesus, honesty is a more or less absolute value (I say " more or less " because some of us see extreme circumstances in which it may be necessary to tell an untruth in order to save another individual's life or the lives of groups of people; I reject this position, but I quite understand and sympathise with those who take what I may be allowed to call the more generous position). By contrast with that absolutist or generous position in relation to honesty, however, the Koran permits Muslims to tell lies to advance the cause of Islam. Again, I make no value judgement in relation to that view, nor indeed in relation to the view, typical of the publicly dominant Hindu traditions, that the moment someone achieves " spiritual enlightenment " , he (or nowadays also SHE) is released from earthly moral considerations such as honesty-because he or she is considered to have