Zubin R. Mulla

Karma-Yoga, the Indian Work Ideal, and its Relationship with Empathy

Karma-Yoga, the technique of performing action such that the soul of the actor is not bound by the results of the action, constitutes the Indian work ideal. The relationship of Karma-Yoga with the dimensions of empathy was explored through a study done on 108 students in a postgraduate programme of business management. Karma-Yoga was found to be related to some dimensions of empathy. The results highlighted the differential impact of dimensions of empathy. Empathic concern was found to be related to Karma-Yoga only for those individuals who were low on personal distress. For individuals high on personal distress, empathic concern was not related to Karma-Yoga. Findings indicate that Karma-Yoga is very similar to altruism motivation in the Indian context. Individuals who are high on empathic concern and low on personal distress are more likely to take actions for the benefit of others rather than for their own benefit.

Do Karma-Yogis Make Better Leaders?: Exploring the Relationship between the Leader's Karma-Yoga and Transformational Leadership

This article validates James MacGregor Burns’ hypothesis that moral development is a critical qualification of transformational leaders. In India, morality is conceptualized as Karma-Yoga, a technique for performing actions such that the soul is not bound by the results of the actions. Karma-Yoga has three dimensions—duty-orientation, indifference to rewards, and equanimity—and constitutes a comprehensive model for moral development in the Indian context. We studied 205 leader–follower pairs to investigate the impact of a leader’s Karma-Yoga and a follower’s belief in Indian philosophy on the follower’s perception of transformational leadership. We found that a leader’s duty-orientation was related to a leader’s charisma and inspirational motivation. The relationship was strengthened when a follower’s belief in Indian philosophy was high. The findings support a model of Indian transformational leadership built on the fundamental beliefs in Indian philosophy and duty-orientation.

Transformational Leadership Do the Leader’s Morals Matter and Do the Follower’s Morals Change?

In a study of 205 leader–follower pairs, we investigated the impact of the leader’s values and empathy on followers’ perception of transformational leadership and the effect of transformational leadership on followers’ values and empathy. The moderating effect of leader–follower relationship duration on the effect of transformational leadership on followers’ values and empathy was also investigated. We found that the leader’s values were related to transformational leadership and transformational leadership was related to followers’ values. Over time, the relationship between transformational leadership and followers’ empathy and values became stronger.

Do Emotionally Intelligent People do Well in all Jobs? Exploring the Moderating Role of Inter-Personal Interaction

This paper studies the impact of Emotional Intelligence (EI) on job performance on a sample of 101 working executives in a pharmaceutical company in Mumbai, India. The impact of EI on job performance is studied while controlling for General Mental Ability (GMA) and the personality factor of conscientiousness. The paper also investigates the moderating effect of job characteristics (specifically, the extent of interpersonal interaction required on the job) on the relationship between EI and job performance. Analysis of the data showed that EI did not show significant impact on job performance for the entire sample. However, for individuals having high interpersonal interaction on their jobs, EI was significantly related to job performance. On the other hand, for individuals having low interpersonal interaction on their jobs, EI was not related to job performance.

Can an Entrepreneurial Personality Compensate for a Boring Job? The Influence of Proactive Personality and Job Characteristics on Employee Engagement Levels

We examined the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and employee engagement by studying 101 Indian managers across three companies. In addition, we studied the moderating role of three job characteristics (autonomy, skill variety and task feedback) on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and employee engagement. The results of this study show that individuals who score high on entrepreneurial orientation are likely to score high on employee engagement. In addition, we found that individuals high on entrepreneurial orientation experienced high engagement levels when their jobs were characterised by low levels of autonomy, low levels of skill variety and high levels of task feedback. The findings indicate that a proactive personality does compensate for some non-motivating elements of job design.

Transformational Leadership and Karma-Yoga: Enhancing Followers’ Duty-orientation and Indifference to Rewards*

This article attempts to validate James MacGregor Burns’s hypothesis that transformational leaders raise followers to higher levels of morality. Morality in the Indian context is conceptualised as Karma-Yoga, the Indian work ideal. Karma-Yoga is defined as a technique for performing actions such that the soul is not bound by the results of the actions and is operationalised in the form of three dimensions, viz., duty-orientation, indifference to rewards and equanimity. We hypothesised that transformational leaders move followers towards the Indian work ideal, that is, Karma-Yoga, and this relationship is moderated by the duration of the leader–follower relationship and the frequency of leader–follower interaction. We studied 329 executives across India. Regression analysis showed that transformational leadership was significantly related to two of the three dimensions of Karma-Yoga (viz., duty-orientation and indifference to rewards). Analysis of split samples of high/low duration of leader–follower relationship and high/low frequency of leader–follower interaction showed that the duration of leader–follower relationship and frequency of leader–follower inter-action moderated the relationship between transformational leadership and follower’s Karma-Yoga such that high duration of leader–follower relationship and high frequency of leader–follower interaction enhanced the impact of transformational leadership on follower’s Karma-Yoga.

Impact of a Sudarshan Kriya-based Occupational Stress Management Intervention on Physiological and Psychological Outcomes

In a field experiment with 72 participants, we study the impact of Sudarshan Kriya on participants’ physiological and psychological variables. The intervention significantly reduced participants’ stress levels and blood cortisol levels and increased their life satisfaction, emotional intelligence and emotional stability. The results of the field experiment were triangulated with an open-ended survey of participants, and we found that the effects of the programme were sustainable after a year, especially for those who continued to practise the technique learned in the programme.

Leader Motives, Impression Management, and Charisma

Charisma is an essential part of transformational leadership; however, there are hardly any reliable ways of predicting leader charisma in an organizational context. Using a qualitative-descriptive study of two leaders—Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, we compare their charisma and impression management styles. Through a content analysis of their public speeches, we determine their motives. We find evidence to validate our proposition that a high power motive and acquisitive impression management techniques are related to charisma. Specifically we characterize Steve Jobs as a personal-power manager and Bill Gates as an achievement oriented manager. Implications for practice are discussed.

Business School Research in India: Seeking the Why of Management

Business schools have of late been questioned about the value that they add to society through their research activities. Traditionally research in organizational sciences has been skewed in favor of empirical studies with too little focus on consolidation and theory building. Management education in India is booming and this is the time for young professors to choose their path. There are three options available (i) focus on teaching and consulting, (ii) conduct empirical studies, and (iii) focus on building relevant theory grounded in the Indian context. The choice will have critical implications to the future of management in our country.

Emotional labour of policing Does authenticity play a role

Managing emotions in the workplace is an indispensable requisite for organizational efficiency. Displaying organizationally desired emotions by controlling one’s private feelings is called emotional labour. This study is a sharp departure from the overemphasis placed on the emotional labour–management of positive emotions relationship. This study focuses predominately on the management of negative emotions. By adopting a concurrent embedded mixed-method design, this article explores the mechanism by which different strategies of emotional labour lead to positive or negative outcomes for individuals within the context of the negative display rule. Using a survey method and interview, we studied 152 police officers in Kolkata, India. We found that the deep acting emotional regulation strategy leads to personal accomplishment, whereas surface acting leads to emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Moreover, we show that the negative outcomes of emotional labour can be minimized by enhancing organizational identification and job control.