Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam Based Land Acquisition: Toward A Sustainable (Spiritual) Business Through Holistic Stakeholder Management

Abstract

Land has spiritual connotations in India since time immemorial. Whereas business spirituality underlines business as a part of interconnected stakeholders, the current land acquisition for commercial purposes often sidelines the interests of a key stakeholder group-landowners and users-jeopardizing their wellbeing. This has led to poor stakeholder management and lost opportunities both for business and society. Interestingly, there was fierce socio-economic tensions among the masses in the post-independent India, which was streamlined through the Bhoodan (land-gift) movement wherein land transfer from landlords to the landless was attempted through spiritual means. In today's managerial lexicon, it can be seen as a nuance of the strong version of stakeholder management, i.e., making stakeholders full partners and engage in collective decision-making. Drawing similarities between India in the past and India at present, employing historical data and biographical method, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam based land acquisition ethics is conceptualized to create a collective decision-making means to facilitate voluntary land transfer by the land-owners and users for commercial use, thereby accomplishing stakeholder wellbeing, spiritually. While Bhoodan accentuated upon land donation from a resource ownership perspective, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam based land acquisition stresses upon land transfer from the stakeholder concept. Implications for research and practice are discussed. © 2019 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.