Islam and Management - Essay Example

Islam and Management Table of Contents Sl no Particulars…………………………………………………………… Page no Executive summary 2 1 Introduction 3 2 Quran 3 3 Science and Quran 3 4 Islam and Management 4 5 Getting things done 5 6 Avoiding wastage 6 7 Respect for Authority 7 8 Equality 7 9 Motivation 8 10 Toyota Motors and Islamic rules of management. 9 11 Management by Islam (MBI) 10 12 Conclusion 12 13 References 14 Executive summary The ever increasing population of Muslims shows the growing acceptance of Islam in the world. Its principles are compatible to trade and commerce also. The Islam that means peace and brotherhood is a religion following the Qur’an handed down from God to Prophet Muhammad. Qur’an has proved its genuineness and authenticity of Godly origins by having in its fold some of the proven scientific facts of today even about 1400 hundred years ago. As only the creator could know these facts, there is no doubt Qur’an is the prescription for the welfare of the human beings. It is not just the religion of rituals but a guide to life. It is secular because it shows tolerance to knowledge gatherings outside Islam. It is magnanimous because it accepts Jesus as one of the God’s messenger prior to Prophet Muhammad. It can be well perceived that all principles of Islam equally apply in business administration also. Introduction This research paper aims to go into the aspects of Islam for justification that it is not a standalone institution only for spiritual well being with dogmatic ideas but a comprehensive set of ideologies for practical way of life including as a guide for the conduct of trade and commerce and business administration. Islam means peace and subservience to God. The religion of Islam is the source for rules of human conduct and political governance for Islamic nations. Muhammad born in 570 AD established this religion in 610 following an invocation from God. (Landschedidt and Wollny, 2004, p 9) 2. Quran Quran was literally recited by God to Prophet Muhammad which he memorized and revealed to his followers who put it writing. From the beginning till today, vast majority of people have memorized Qur’an. Many of them achieve it by the age of ten and Quran remains in its original form unaltered till today. (Ibrahim, Peachy and Kuofi, 1997) 3. Science and Qur’an Revealed exactly fourteen centuries ago, Quran contains facts proven by scientists, evidence that it must have come from the God and is not a version of Muhammad or any other human being. It is quite impossible that any human being could have then known these facts scientifically proved only now. For example, according to Qur’an 23:12-14, God created man from an embryo which got its nourishment from mother’s blood just like the leech feeding on others’ blood. (Ibrahim, Peachy and Kuofi, 1997) Similarly Quran also has something to say about the origin of the Universe in verse 41:11 as God turned to the Heaven when it was smoke. This is what has been stated by the modern science as once the universe had been a cloud of smoke. As the earth and heavens consisting of the sun, the moon, stars, planets and galaxies were formed from the smoke, the earth is said to have connections with heaven which verse 21:30 of Qur’an states that heavens and earth were once together and got separated later by God. (Ibrahim, Peachy and Kuofi, 1997) 4. Islam and management The five pillars of the faith informed to him by God are bearing witness, praying five times a day, giving one fortieth of savings to charity, fasting for 30 days of Ramadan and pilgrimage to Mecca. While Islam abhors violence and oppression, it offers compassion, mercy, peace and forgiveness. (Maqsood, 1995, p 4) In business administration, it is in the form of corporate social responsibility thus exhorting trading community to be of service to society. Within the business administration context, the Islam’s teaching of fostering brotherhood, implies corporate governance. Its ban on interest is what is now known as modern Islamic banking or finance which even corporate form of western the countries are adopting in their respective ventures in Islamic countries. They subject themselves to Islamic arbitration. The basic tenets of management principles such as planning, organizing, leading, co-coordinating, controlling, staffing and motivating all find a place in the Islamic teachings. Islam emphasizes not to maximize profit by exploitation of others. It recommends division of labor much earlier to the introduction of scientific management by the western world. Unity of command as part of organizing and control has been in Islamic way of life even earlier. Thus Islam is an all comprehensive prescription for conduct of individual living as well as a guide for management principles that are compatible with the modern principles of management of the western world. It is safe to follow the teachings of private life in business life also. (scribd.com) 5 Getting things done The management theories that appeared in the western world during 16th or 17th century, had already been given by the Holy Quran fourteen centuries ago. Management is basically getting things done through others as defined today. Hence a manager is a person who is knowledgeable of what is to be done as well as being capable of how to get it done through others. Holy Quran says this as in verse 43.32 (scrbid.com) This verse from Surah Al-Zakahraf explains God created some people above the ranks so that they can get things done by those in lower ranks. This is creation of hierarchies and division of labour and responsibilities depending on individual strengths. This can also be attributed to creation of organizational charts depicting flow of work and responsibilities from top to lower levels of management and vive versa. (scribd.com) 6 Avoiding wastage The modern management abhors wasteful expenditure which Quran in verse 17.26 and 17.26. (scribd.com) As a golden rule of Islam, avoiding of wasting any thing implies in management conservation of resources like water, food, electricity and avoiding wastage of resources such as materials at work, man-hours and machine hours. Time management is also for avoiding wastage of time by doing things unplanned. Since total elimination of wastage is not possible, the method of ‘Jihad’ (continuous struggle) suggested by Islam for achievement of anything, can be usefully applied to management of wastage. Verse 5.35 says “You who believe! Have fear of Allah and seek the means of drawing near to Him and strive in His Way, so that hopefully you will be successful.”[5:35] (scribd.com) 7 Respect for authority Respecting authority in management is already enshrined in Islam in verse (scrbid.com)This is considered a commandment rather than a plea and Islam expects voluntary obedience from the employee to make hierarchies in the organizational structure meaningful. Islam verses 42.83 [3:159] are in tune with the modern management’s principle of teamwork and joint consultation, (scribd.com) 8 Equality It is the principle of the management to treat persons in an organization equally so that every one gets fair chance to grow which has been already reflected in the Holy Quran as verse 49.13 (scribd.com) 9 Motivation Motivation theories are very well known in modern management science. Though financial incentives work as motivator at some level, intrinsic motivation derived through job satisfaction is the true motivator. Holy Quran tells in verse 3:159. (scribd.com) This implies that compassion and sympathy shown to workers by adopting participatory approach by consulting the workers would motivate workers for positive results. (scribd.com) 10 Toyota Motors and Islamic rules of management. It is common knowledge that the Japan based Toyota is a multinational corporation having the largest volume of sale of its automobiles. It is the world’s fifth largest publicly traded company. It received its first quality control awards in 1980s. Its management is based on ‘Lean Manufacturing and just in time production’. It became the largest seller of cars in 2007. Toyota’s success is attributed to the golden rules of management such as elimination of wastage/optimum capacity utilization, continuous struggle, total quality management and visual control. These have already been enunciated in the Holy Quran even before 1400 years. 5-S is known as a set of 5 Japanese technologies. (scribd.com) They are as follows. SEIRI: This is the first step of ‘5-S’ process. It advocates discarding unwanted items and keeping absolutely essential items also at a minimum. The Holy Quran says this in verse 2.219. The Holy Quran says that by practicing the above, tasks are simplified and effective use of space is achieved. (scribd.com) SEITON: This means keeping things at the proper places for easy access or retrieval when required. This results flow of work without wastage of time in trying to locate. (scribd.com) SEISO: It advocates cleaning must done by every one at the organization regardless of workers or managers. Each one or group should have allotted places which the individual or group should keep clean. This promotes mutual respect and brotherhood among the employees besides cleanliness. (scribd.com) SEIKETSU: It relates to personal and environmental cleanliness. Personal cleanliness makes one motivated and mentally alert. Known as part of visual management, Seiketsu has rules for cleanliness at all levels of physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual. (scribd.com) SHITSUKU: This means discipline. It signifies elimination of bad habits and constant practice of good things. If Shitsuku is observed, the above four are easily achieved. (scribd.com) 11 Management by Islam (MBI) Ansari says that time has arrived to integrate western management concept with Islamic spirituality resulting in a framework called Management by Islam as can be found in the verse 11, Chapter ArRaad of Quran “Verily never will God change the condition of a people until they change it themselves...--The Quran, Chapter ArRaad Verse 11.” (Ansari) This will give Muslim institutions solutions for the American Muslim struggle. The framework would involve “1) Adopting, implementing and maintaining best practices. 2) Streamlining organizations with process oriented efficient governance models. 3) Training leaders, managers and workers in state-of-the-art management practices with a God-centric frame of reference for creating transparency and accountability.”(Ansari) He states that corporate standards focusing on material gains measured by key performance indicators should have spiritual dimension also. Chapter Hood verse 4.6 says “To God is your return...He knows what they conceal and what they reveal...He knows well the (inmost secrets) of the hearts...All is in a clear Record.” (Ansari) This verse shows the importance of divine guidelines which when practiced in management result in transparency and accountability in all the affairs of corporate governance. Ansari prescribes the model of MBI which enables organizations to shift from short term goal of return on investment to spiritual return on investment. This will revive the forgotten principles of or half-hearted approach to issues on environment, social justice, public service etc. (Ansari) Abuznaid (2009) says “Religion has a major impact on human behavior, social interactions, and social relations. This research article discusses the impact of Islam on managers' behavior. The impact is exerted from the five pillars of Islam: faith, prayer, alms, fasting, and pilgrimage. From the article, it is evident that such pillars have a direct effect on Moslems' behavior. Besides that, the article shows the significant impact of Allah supreme names on managers' behavior and style. Allah names have a direct interrelationship with management functions like planning, organizing, and directing. A Moslem manager, in fact, can use Allah supreme names as a guide to his management style and action” 12 Conclusion The above account of Islamic principles show that management principles of today have long existed even before the advent of scientific management. This study serves two purposes, one, to understand the timeless validity of Islam and second, that its principles are part of the management principles even today. The modern management is just an old wine in a new bottle and the rediscovery of Islam gives the feeling that it has universal application regardless of religious bias. There is nothing in Islamic ideologies that is repugnant t to modern principles of management or even practical way of living for every human being. There are an estimated number of 1.5 billion Islamic followers all over the world and it is predicted that Muslims will outnumber other population within another 40 years. This is ample evidence that Islamic principles are not anathema and that its own people are happy living under its shelter, a reason for its growing popularity. Confining this discussion to management, one can say with authority that Islamic principles reflect the management functions of planning, organizing, and directing etc. References Abuznaid Samir, 2009, Islam and management: What can be learned? Thunderbird International Business Review, vol 48 (1) p 125-139 Ansari Abrar, Organizational Development through Islamic Management Frameworks, viewed 14 July 2009 Ibrahim I.A, Peachy William, and Kuofi S.Harold, 1997, A brief illustrated guide to understanding Islam, Darussalam. Edn 2 Landschedidt Dennis and Wollny Stephan, 2004 ‘The Conflict between Western World and Islam’ viewed 11 May 2009, Maqsood Waris Ruqaiyyaah, 1995, Islam, Edn 2, Heinemann Scribd.com, Management in Islam, Reason for changing the topic of Introduction to Islam to Islam and Management My original paper entitled “Introduction to Islam” dwelt at length mostly on Islamic teachings and its treatment of other religions. It had the detailed account of Prophet Muhammad as a messenger of God and his virtues to be followed for simple and practical way of living. It had very little to do with Management. Because the topic was misleading, it had more of religious orientation than of management as my assignment was to study how Islamic principles are compatible with the present day management practices. I felt that unless the topic is changed, the assignment objective cannot be achieved. Therefore, I have changed the topic as Islam and Management which facilitates free discussion of selected verses of Quran having business management connotations. The paper gives the reader a bird’s eye view of what Islam has for the modern management today. Read More