Unfolding of a Holistic Vision of the World: Towards New Directions for Development of Management Thought

Management thought has been largely rooted in the capitalistic vision of society. A correction in the capitalistic vision was introduced through the notion of ‘sustainable development’. Now the need to move towards a holistic development paradigm is being felt. In the holistic vision, spiritual and ethical concerns are given due considerations in addition to efficiency and equity. This vision could be referred to as the MS (Material-Spiritual) vision wherein an integral and integrative view of life is taken through an unfolding of the material and spiritual dimension of life. While the two views have been unfolding as independent paths, the need for their convergence is being felt to achieve a balance between ‘per capita income’ and ‘per capita happiness’. In the capitalistic vision, business organizations are viewed as ‘economic entities’. In contrast, the holistic vision considers business as ‘sacro-economic activity’ and organizations as ‘sacro-economic entities’. Thus, the holistic vision takes us in the direction of sacro-civic society and an ecoterian view of the world. The paper explores the historical unfolding of this vision through MS matrix. It also explores the implications of the holistic vision for the future development of management thought and suggests three fundamental equations of holistic development to convert this vision into reality.