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Sacred activism through seva and khidmat: Contextualising management and organisations in South Asia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2014

Edwina Pio  and
Jawad Syed
Edwina Pio*
Affiliation:
Department of Management, School of Business & Law, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
Jawad Syed*
Affiliation:
Department of People, Management and Organisations, The Business School, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK
*
Corresponding authors: edwina.pio@aut.ac.nz, j.syed@hud.ac.uk
Corresponding authors: edwina.pio@aut.ac.nz, j.syed@hud.ac.uk
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Abstract

What if our actions were imbued with the sacred? What if activism in organisations evokes better local society and responsible global community? What if sacred activism signals the performance of a deeper understanding and mindful actions for contextualising management and organisations in South Asia? These are some of the questions we pose to scholars and practitioners as we seek to present the multiplexities and singularities that epitomise South Asia. We address the braided realities and opportunities presented by religion, culture, ethnicity, gender and governance to contextualise organisations and management among the 1.67 billion people who constitute South Asia. We calligraph our interpretations and future possibilities based on historical traditions and extant data, mindful that some parts of this vast region are grappling with religious radicalisation, East–West tensions, underdevelopment, low literacy rates, violence against women, and international debts and handouts. This heterogeneous region also has a major BRICS country (i.e., India), provides CEOs to the world, scientists to NASA, outsourcing facilities to global corporations, has a young population, a huge middle class, and is actively participating in mergers and acquisitions in the global corridors of commerce. Our poignant hope is to inform and suggest possibilities for constructing enriching engagements and research in this region.

Keywords

management and organisationkhidmatsacred activismsevaSouth Asia
Type
Invited Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 20 , Issue 5 , September 2014 , pp. 572 - 586
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2014 

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