The book Corporate Chanakya on Management is written by a well-known author Mr. Radhkrishnan Pillai. Through his book he has provided new dimension to the Management field. He is pioneer in introducing Chanakya's teaching to the modern corporate culture. He recasts the principles of statecraft laid down in Chanakya's Arthshastra as management tools. The author of the book comes from management background and is a qualified international management consultant who later turned to explore management from Indian roots and completed his Masters and PhD in Sanskrit. He is fondly known as Chanakya Pillai. The book is divided into four sections i.e. Employees, Finance, Teamwork and Strategy and under each section there are short chapters. It includes guidelines on varieties of topics under these sections. Like it guides about taking care of employees, reducing employee turnover, selecting right business partner, maintaining public relations, constantly educating yourself, working in new regions and time management. In the first section the author suggests managers to work on their people, only then their people will work for them. He explains that it is not the brand nor even the salary that can retain people, organization should be able to give the human touch. For this he asks managers to understand and become totally aware of what the employees think. He clarifies for understanding of people, understanding their minds organization needs to get involved in HR processes and outsourcing it to an agency may not help. Author points out that, people don't leave companies they leave their bosses. That is why top management needs to understand the relationship of employees with their immediate boss. In the second section the author suggests managers to focus on cash flow. He states that managers should be sure of their plan and build a model where the cash flow is regular and sustainable. Besides making a model managers should properly implement them by training the employees and audit it from time to time to ensure that things are in place. Author cautions managers about abusing the credit card, the "buy now, spend later" philosophy encourages to spend in reckless manner and can be dangerous if bills are not paid in time. The idea that he communicates in finance section is to create financial stability so that you can take bigger risks, invest in new ventures for strategic benefit.

ResearchGate Logo

Discover the world's research

  • 20+ million members
  • 135+ million publications
  • 700k+ research projects

Join for free

Book review: Radhakrishnan Pillai's "Corporate Chanakya on Management"

Nitesh Kumar Shah

The book Corporate Chanakya on Management is written by a well-known author Mr.

Radhkrishnan Pillai. Through his book he has provided new dimension to the Management field.

He is pioneer in introducing Chanakya's teaching to the modern corporate culture. He recasts the

principles of statecraft laid down in Chanakya's Arthshastra as management tools. The author of

the book comes from management background and is a qualified international management

consultant who later turned to explore management from Indian roots and completed his Masters

and PhD in Sanskrit. He is fondly known as Chanakya Pillai.

The book is divided into four sections i.e. Employees, Finance, Teamwork and Strategy and

under each section there are short chapters. It includes guidelines on varieties of topics under

these sections. Like it guides about taking care of employees, reducing employee turnover,

selecting right business partner, maintaining public relations, constantly educating yourself,

working in new regions and time management.

In the first section the author suggests managers to work on their people, only then their people

will work for them. He explains that it is not the brand nor even the salary that can retain people,

organization should be able to give the human touch. For this he asks managers to understand

and become totally aware of what the employees think. He clarifies for understanding of people,

understanding their minds organization needs to get involved in HR processes and outsourcing it

to an agency may not help. Author points out that, people don't leave companies they leave their

bosses. That is why top management needs to understand the relationship of employees with

their immediate boss.

In the second section the author suggests managers to focus on cash flow. He states that

managers should be sure of their plan and build a model where the cash flow is regular and

sustainable. Besides making a model managers should properly implement them by training the

employees and audit it from time to time to ensure that things are in place. Author cautions

managers about abusing the credit card, the "buy now, spend later" philosophy encourages to

spend in reckless manner and can be dangerous if bills are not paid in time. The idea that he

communicates in finance section is to create financial stability so that you can take bigger risks,

invest in new ventures for strategic benefit.

In the third section the author emphasizes on teamwork. For this he clarifies managers must have

great PR (Public Relations), it encompasses relationships that you maintain with your clients,

suppliers, shareholders, employees, and every other person you come in contact with. He states

that to excel in teamwork managers must be clear about what they want and they should be able

to communicate the same to bring alignment. The most important lesson he provides is that too

much dependency on one person is very dangerous.

In the fourth section the author explains about the need of strategy to succeed in any business. He

guides how one can become more strategic and plan his or her own and company's growth. He

adds that the mind is like a parachute, it works only when it is open. He also advises how to

handle multiple projects in this competitive world. He elaborates the need of learning politics,

and also shows the way how managers can learn that. Besides that author explains the need of

disaster management, managers should remain proactive and prepare for both man-made and

natural calamities.

He has already written many books based on Chanakya's teachings. All of his books have been

bestselling. Like in his other books the use of lucid language can help the book to reach larger

audience. The best thing about the book is that the author has kept things simple, relevant, and

contemporary. The lessons he has given is supported by mentioning the verses from the

Kautilya's/Chanakya's Arthshastra. Moreover, he has also provided relevant examples,

quotations and views of other management guru and well-known books.

Western way of management has remained the only blueprint for managers; Pillai provides a

new perspective and tools for bringing change following the eastern way. The book tries to

convince the reader that the ancient knowledge which originated in Indian subcontinent is

comprehensive and has the answers for almost every situation a leader may come across. I

personally like his series of books because he has given us indigenous ways of management and

has resurrected our glorious roots.

This book can be read for tips to solve day-to-day problems that arise in modern businesses. The

principles discussed here can help you in becoming a proactive manager who can foresee the

problematic scenarios.

ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.

ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.