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Destruction of ayodhya mosque, hinduism case study–violence & peace | 2018.

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No religion is inherently violent or peaceful.  However, religions are powerful forces.  They can inspire horrific violence.  They can also inspire nearly unfathomable acts of love and peacebuilding. The Hindus described here span a wide range of values regarding the intersection of their religion and violence.  Some are the perpetrators of violence, some are working to end violence and promote peace, many more are bystanders, who may build up cultural violence, cultural peace, or even both.

As always, when thinking about religion and conflict, maintain a focus on how religion is internally diverse, always evolving and changing, and always embedded in specific cultures.

India is a religiously diverse country, home to millions of Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jains and more.  Most of the country is Hindu (about 74%), while Muslims are the most significant minority (about 14%).

While many Indian Hindus live in peace with their neighbors, some have also been the perpetrators of extreme violence against minority groups, particularly Muslims.  These conflicts are rooted in long standing hostilities, particularly after the violent partitioning of colonial India into the modern countries of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh in 1947.

An example of this violence has centered around the city of Ayodhya in a conflict that has lasted decades.  Ayodhya is a holy city of Hinduism which many Hindus believe to be the birthplace of Rama: the divine hero of the Ramayana, a Hindu holy epic.  In 1992, an organized mob of at least 75,000 Hindus descended on one of Ayodhya’s mosques—the Babri Masjid—and tore it to the ground using hammers, rods, and shovels, while Indian authorities watched.  In the aftermath of this attack, interreligious rioting engulfed several Indian cities, and by the end of the violence, over one thousand people, most of them Muslim, were dead.   In some cities, like Mumbai, indiscriminate shooting of peaceful Muslims by police was reported. 

The destruction of the Babri Masjid and subsequent massacres were not random, but the culmination of a long campaign of directed Hindu anger towards their Muslim neighbors.  Many Hindus trace the conflict back to 1528, when they claim that Mughal emperor Babur ordered a mosque built overtop a temple to Rama, which had been built on the precise place of the god’s birth.  The facts of this story are disputed; rumors of the historic temple were spread by British colonizers who intended to “divide and conquer” the people of Ayodhya.  In fact, while Hindus and Muslims used to worship at the site together, British authorities literally divided them in 1859, using a fence to separate Hindus from Muslims.   For some, by independence in 1947, divisions between the communities had grown from distrust to rage.

In 1949, this anger led a group of Hindu nationalists—conservative Hindus who favor a solely Hindu India—to break into the mosque and place a small idol of Rama inside.  They claimed it was a miracle the next morning, and a large crowd of amazed Hindus gathered, much to the offense of many local Muslims, who authorities did not allow into their own mosque.  Soon, fearing further unrest, the government permanently closed the mosque, only allowing Hindu priests to enter in order to take care of the idol.  Most local sadhus—Hindu holy men—supported the new idol.  However, some sadhus, such as Rama devotee Akshaya Brahmachari were angered, saying that Hindus had spread “communal poison” in Ayodhya that day.  

Soon, three legal cases were filed, each side claiming they were the true owners of the site: one from local Hindus, one from Muslims, and one from the god Rama himself.  In Indian law, Hindu deities are recognized as “juristic persons,” and a god’s “friend” can file lawsuits on their behalf.  Retired Hindu judge Deoki Nandan Agarwal did just that, claiming Rama as true owner.   Hindu politicians also stepped into the debate, especially members of India’s Hindu nationalist party: the BJP.  From the 1980s onward, BJP politicians advocated building a Hindu temple on the site.  In 1984, the head of the BJP, L. K. Advani organized a traditional ritual procession in a chariot from Somnath temple to Ayodhya, symbolizing their commitment to constructing the temple.  Clearly intending to link the BJP to Rama, the symbols and decorations used by the procession drew heavily from an extremely popular retelling of the Ramayana which was airing on state television at the time.   The party’s focus on Ayodhya paid off.  In 1984, the BJP had two seats in the federal legislature.  Five years later, they had 85.  By 1991, a year before the mosque’s destruction and subsequent killings, Ayodhya had become the biggest political issue in India. 

In 2002 violence erupted again when the BJP organized tens of thousands of Hindu nationalists to march to Ayodhya to build the foundation of a Rama temple.  After the event, a train carrying Hindus returning from Ayodhya was bombed; the attack was blamed on Muslims, causing more rioting, centered around the BJP-controlled state of Gujarat.  Nearly 2,000 people were killed, mostly Muslims.   Many accused the BJP of allowing the violence.  However, BJP promises to build the Rama temple continued to bear political fruit; Gujarat’s BJP leader in 2002, Narendra Modi, was elected Prime Minister of India in 2014.  Still, many Hindus have been horrified by the violence, and other Hindus—particularly in south India— do not see it as a major issue. 

After decades of litigation, in 2010 the Allahabad High Court ruled that all three claimants deserved to split the site at Ayodhya into three parts of equal area, though the Hindus received the section where the mosque had stood, and had the right to build a temple. In a judgement based in Hindu theology, not secular law, judges stated that Rama had been born at the site 900,000 years ago.  The decision was quickly appealed to the Supreme Court.  In late 2017, the Supreme Court gave officials ten weeks to gather and translate the 90,000 pages of evidence written in eight languages that have been submitted over three generations of court battles over Ayodhya.   They will then begin hearings on this contentious and historic site. 

Additional Resources

Primary sources:.

• Artistic depictions of violence from the Ramayana from different historical periods and cultures (1750/1850): http://bit.ly/2w48aiz ; (1801/1899): http://bit.ly/2uE76OF ; (1980): http://bit.ly/2wGQwiJ 
• “Sita Sings the Blues” an artistic retelling of the Ramayana by Jewish-American cartoonist Nina Paley (2008): http://bit.ly/1IvTuZN 

Secondary Sources:

• Clear timeline on political, religious, and violent events at Ayodhya: http://bbc.in/1KJ8Qcu 
• WSJ reporting on the conflict at Ayodhya (2012): http://on.wsj.com/2wSj2gw 
• India’s NDTV documenting the close connections between Hindu behavior in Ayodhya and Indian electoral politics (2015): http://bit.ly/2wVkNd8 

Discussion Questions

• How does the violence at Ayodhya show how Hinduism changes over time?
• In what ways do Hindu reactions to the situation at Ayodhya show how Hinduism is internally diverse?
• Who has significant power in India and who does not?  How does this affect the situation at Ayodhya?
• Look at the artwork in the primary sources depicting scenes from the Ramayana.  Many religions have violence in their scriptures.  How might literary and artistic depictions of violence like those above impact movements for violence in the real world?  How might they impact movements for peace?
• Watch NDTV’s reporting on connections between new building work being done near the Ayodhya site and electoral politics.  Contemplating questions of violence and peace, how are Hindu religious beliefs situated within an Indian political context, and vice versa?

This case study was created by Kristofer Rhude, MDiv ’18, under the editorial direction of Dr. Diane L. Moore, faculty director of Religion and Public Life.

• 1. World Religion Database, ed. Todd M. Johnson and Brian A. Grim (Boston: Brill, 2015).   
• 2.  Krishna Pokharel & Paul Beckett, “Ayodhya: the Battle for India’s Soul,” Wall Street Journal, Dec. 10, 2012. http://on.wsj.com/2w1KOej
• 3.  Stanley J. Tambiah, Leveling Crowds: Ethnonationalist Conflicts and Collective Violence in South Asia, (Berkeley: UC Press, 1996), 254.
• 4.  Sushil Srivastava, “How the British Saw the Issue,” in Anatomy of a Confrontation: The Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhumi Issue, ed. Sarvepalli Gopal (Delhi: Penguin Books India, 1991), 45-49; Vasudha Narayanan, “The Strains of Hindu-Muslim Relations: Babri Masjid, Music, and Other Areas Where the Traditions Cleave,” in Hinduism and Secularism, ed. Arvind Sharma, (New York: Palgrave, 2001), 162. 
• 5.  Pokharel and Beckett, “Ayodhya: the Battle for India’s Soul,”
• 7.  Arvind Rajagopal, Politics after Television: Hindu Nationalism and the Reshaping of the Public in India, (New York: Cambridge UP, 2001), 15, 193.
• 8.  Tambiah, Leveling Crowds, 247.
• 9.  Pokharel and Beckett, “Ayodhya: the Battle for India’s Soul,” ; “Timeline: Ayodhya holy site crisis,” BBC News, Dec. 6, 2012. http://bbc.in/1KJ8Qcu 
• 10.  Pokharel and Beckett, “Ayodhya: the Battle for India’s Soul,”; Narayanan, “The Strains of Hindu-Muslim…,” 167-8.
• 11.  Harish V. Nair, “Lord Ram Makes His Case before India’s Supreme Court…” The Daily Mail, Aug. 11, 2017. http://dailym.ai/2uTToqe
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Divine yet Human Epics: Reflections of Poetic Rulers from Ancient Greece and India

Citation:   Pathak, Shubha. 2014. Divine Yet Human Epics: Reflections of Poetic Rulers from Ancient Greece and India . Hellenic Studies Series 62. Washington, DC: Center for Hellenic Studies. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.ebook:CHS_PathakS.Divine_Yet_Human_Epics.2014 .

Introduction. Defining Epics through Comparison

The inheritance, influence, and independence of epics, the genesis of the homeric and cyclic epics.

In my own inheritance study, I assume that the Homeric and Cyclic epics came to be called by the same name because they shared features passed down to them from their common poetic predecessors. But this resemblance between the Homeric and Cyclic epics cannot be confirmed, for the Cyclic poems no longer exist. Any information about the Epic Cycle must be gleaned from the criticism composed about it. Thus, as I will discuss in Chapter 1, ancient critics clearly used the same term to classify the Cyclic poems and the Homeric poems, but the common characteristics of these poems no longer can be compared directly. Their “likeness” is accessible only through the assessments of their earlier interpreters, even as “corroborative evidence” of this similarity between the Homeric and Cyclic epics exists in their shared classification. Therefore, my genetic comparison differs from the kind that Freeman has in mind, not only in considering literary works produced by speakers of the same language, but also in being limited by a lack of comparanda themselves rather than by a lack of evidence of how they were classified by their early critics.

The diffusion of the Homeric and Sanskrit epics

The analogy of the homeric and sanskrit epics, defining greek and sanskrit epics via identity, metaphor, and ideals.

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This fall, students in harvard university will study indian epics mahabharata and ramayana. the course in question is "indian religions through their narrative literatures" which will be taught by anne e. monius, who is the professor of south asian religions at the university..

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Listening to a Different Voice: Gendering Dharma Through Sita of the Ramayana

• First Online: 22 December 2023

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• Joseph Martin M. Jose   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3888-0739 4  

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Dharma is one of the foundational concepts of Hindu philosophy and religion. Some recent scholars argued that a more nuanced understanding of it could be based on the Itihasas : the Mahabharata and Ramayana . Such an understanding moves away from dharma ’s traditional cosmic and formalistic analysis. However, a closer examination of these recent efforts shows that this kind of analysis is more philological rather than philosophical. It returns to a formalistic understanding of the concept , defeating the analysis’s original purpose. In light of this, this paper aims to mend the nuanced understanding of dharma by focusing on the character of Sita in the Ramayana . Through Carol Gilligan’s ethics of care, Sita will be shown to have a different moral voice and a unique way of approaching her moral/ dharma dilemmas, contrasting with how Rama approaches his own. This difference can pave the way for understanding dharma as a gendered concept, thus contributing to a more nuanced understanding of dharma.

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There is an on-going discussion among scholars regarding the inter-relationship of each Purushartha . The issue is whether only artha, kama, and dharma are Purusharthas ; thus called trivarga, or all four remain as the Purusharthas or caturvarga. The motivation for the former is that scholars think that moksha can be achieved even by pursuing either artha, dharma, or kama alone. Thus, we can say that the issue revolves around the reducibility of Purusharthas to one another (Prasad, 1981 ).

Of course, karma is not without critics. Critics often claim that karma is said to be (1) “fatalistic,” (2) “immoral,” (3) “unduly egoistic,” (4) “unrealistic,” and (5) “objectionably naturalistic” (Potter, 2001 ).

Carol Gilligan’s ethics of care has received praise and criticisms from feminists, moral philosophers, and moral psychologists, especially during the intellectual debates in the 1980s and 1990s. Those who praise Gilligan argue that Gilligan is a forerunner of a new moral theory and that her work is a final blow to the masculinist tradition in moral philosophy (Hekman, 1995 ). On the other hand, critics argue that her work is methodologically confused, and theoretically unsound. Some further claim that it is anti-feminist because it emphasizes women’s traditional difference from men; hence perpetuates women’s inferiority (Hekman, 1995 ).

Despite these criticisms, Gilligan’s framework is still useful since it guards against siding with any feminist or anti-feminist philosophy camp, especially concerning the Ramayana. Note that Gilligan did not frame her project as feminist since a feminist philosophy is critical of a bigger philosophical, intellectual tradition. The claim that her work is a feminist one is only a label attached to her work by readers and critics and is never hers. Moreover, her framework has not always been used to analyze literary texts such the Ramayana . As such, her work has insights that can shed light to understanding the idiosyncrasies of women characters, especially their moral dilemmas and personal journeys, which other frameworks might misinterpret or distort in their insistence of some feminist “ideals” or “propagandas.”

In philosophy, the existentialist philosopher Gabriel Marcel ( 1950 ) laments that the brokenness of this world is brought about by separation and detachment of people from each other, which in turn is brought about by a mechanical existence. Healing can only happen when relationships become mended.

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Potter, K. (2001). How many Karma theories are there? Journal of Indian Philosophy, 29 , 231–239.

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Radhakrishnan, S., & Moore, C. (1967). A source book in Indian philosophy . Princeton University Press.

Sarma, D. S. (2001). Srimad Ramayana . Sri Ramakrishna Math.

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About this chapter

Jose, J.M.M. (2023). Listening to a Different Voice: Gendering Dharma Through Sita of the Ramayana . In: Hongladarom, S., Joaquin, J.J., Hoffman, F.J. (eds) Philosophies of Appropriated Religions. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-5191-8_27

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3 Rāmāyaṇa Textual Traditions in Eastern India

• Published: October 2004
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This chapter reviews the forms and versions in which the Rāmāyana has appeared in eastern India, specifically in Assam, Bengal, and Orissa, since medieval times. It shows that although these versions were derived from Valmiki's Sanskrit poem, they reflect local religious and social influences. Tracing both bhakti and and sakta sources, such as the Adhyatma Rāmāyana, Tulsidas's devotional Rāmāyana, and the Adbhuta Rāmāyana, in the eastern Rāmāyanas, it is argued that the story of Rāma thereby became the major and most widely accessible repository of religious and social ideas for mass audiences in eastern India.

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Do Your Students Know How to Analyze a Case—Really?

Explore more.

• Case Teaching
• Student Engagement

J ust as actors, athletes, and musicians spend thousands of hours practicing their craft, business students benefit from practicing their critical-thinking and decision-making skills. Students, however, often have limited exposure to real-world problem-solving scenarios; they need more opportunities to practice tackling tough business problems and deciding on—and executing—the best solutions.

To ensure students have ample opportunity to develop these critical-thinking and decision-making skills, we believe business faculty should shift from teaching mostly principles and ideas to mostly applications and practices. And in doing so, they should emphasize the case method, which simulates real-world management challenges and opportunities for students.

To help educators facilitate this shift and help students get the most out of case-based learning, we have developed a framework for analyzing cases. We call it PACADI (Problem, Alternatives, Criteria, Analysis, Decision, Implementation); it can improve learning outcomes by helping students better solve and analyze business problems, make decisions, and develop and implement strategy. Here, we’ll explain why we developed this framework, how it works, and what makes it an effective learning tool.

The Case for Cases: Helping Students Think Critically

Business students must develop critical-thinking and analytical skills, which are essential to their ability to make good decisions in functional areas such as marketing, finance, operations, and information technology, as well as to understand the relationships among these functions. For example, the decisions a marketing manager must make include strategic planning (segments, products, and channels); execution (digital messaging, media, branding, budgets, and pricing); and operations (integrated communications and technologies), as well as how to implement decisions across functional areas.

Faculty can use many types of cases to help students develop these skills. These include the prototypical “paper cases”; live cases , which feature guest lecturers such as entrepreneurs or corporate leaders and on-site visits; and multimedia cases , which immerse students into real situations. Most cases feature an explicit or implicit decision that a protagonist—whether it is an individual, a group, or an organization—must make.

For students new to learning by the case method—and even for those with case experience—some common issues can emerge; these issues can sometimes be a barrier for educators looking to ensure the best possible outcomes in their case classrooms. Unsure of how to dig into case analysis on their own, students may turn to the internet or rely on former students for “answers” to assigned cases. Or, when assigned to provide answers to assignment questions in teams, students might take a divide-and-conquer approach but not take the time to regroup and provide answers that are consistent with one other.

To help address these issues, which we commonly experienced in our classes, we wanted to provide our students with a more structured approach for how they analyze cases—and to really think about making decisions from the protagonists’ point of view. We developed the PACADI framework to address this need.

PACADI: A Six-Step Decision-Making Approach

The PACADI framework is a six-step decision-making approach that can be used in lieu of traditional end-of-case questions. It offers a structured, integrated, and iterative process that requires students to analyze case information, apply business concepts to derive valuable insights, and develop recommendations based on these insights.

Prior to beginning a PACADI assessment, which we’ll outline here, students should first prepare a two-paragraph summary—a situation analysis—that highlights the key case facts. Then, we task students with providing a five-page PACADI case analysis (excluding appendices) based on the following six steps.

Step 1: Problem definition. What is the major challenge, problem, opportunity, or decision that has to be made? If there is more than one problem, choose the most important one. Often when solving the key problem, other issues will surface and be addressed. The problem statement may be framed as a question; for example, How can brand X improve market share among millennials in Canada? Usually the problem statement has to be re-written several times during the analysis of a case as students peel back the layers of symptoms or causation.

Step 2: Alternatives. Identify in detail the strategic alternatives to address the problem; three to five options generally work best. Alternatives should be mutually exclusive, realistic, creative, and feasible given the constraints of the situation. Doing nothing or delaying the decision to a later date are not considered acceptable alternatives.

Step 3: Criteria. What are the key decision criteria that will guide decision-making? In a marketing course, for example, these may include relevant marketing criteria such as segmentation, positioning, advertising and sales, distribution, and pricing. Financial criteria useful in evaluating the alternatives should be included—for example, income statement variables, customer lifetime value, payback, etc. Students must discuss their rationale for selecting the decision criteria and the weights and importance for each factor.

Step 4: Analysis. Provide an in-depth analysis of each alternative based on the criteria chosen in step three. Decision tables using criteria as columns and alternatives as rows can be helpful. The pros and cons of the various choices as well as the short- and long-term implications of each may be evaluated. Best, worst, and most likely scenarios can also be insightful.

Step 5: Decision. Students propose their solution to the problem. This decision is justified based on an in-depth analysis. Explain why the recommendation made is the best fit for the criteria.

Step 6: Implementation plan. Sound business decisions may fail due to poor execution. To enhance the likeliness of a successful project outcome, students describe the key steps (activities) to implement the recommendation, timetable, projected costs, expected competitive reaction, success metrics, and risks in the plan.

“Students note that using the PACADI framework yields ‘aha moments’—they learned something surprising in the case that led them to think differently about the problem and their proposed solution.”

PACADI’s Benefits: Meaningfully and Thoughtfully Applying Business Concepts

The PACADI framework covers all of the major elements of business decision-making, including implementation, which is often overlooked. By stepping through the whole framework, students apply relevant business concepts and solve management problems via a systematic, comprehensive approach; they’re far less likely to surface piecemeal responses.

As students explore each part of the framework, they may realize that they need to make changes to a previous step. For instance, when working on implementation, students may realize that the alternative they selected cannot be executed or will not be profitable, and thus need to rethink their decision. Or, they may discover that the criteria need to be revised since the list of decision factors they identified is incomplete (for example, the factors may explain key marketing concerns but fail to address relevant financial considerations) or is unrealistic (for example, they suggest a 25 percent increase in revenues without proposing an increased promotional budget).

In addition, the PACADI framework can be used alongside quantitative assignments, in-class exercises, and business and management simulations. The structured, multi-step decision framework encourages careful and sequential analysis to solve business problems. Incorporating PACADI as an overarching decision-making method across different projects will ultimately help students achieve desired learning outcomes. As a practical “beyond-the-classroom” tool, the PACADI framework is not a contrived course assignment; it reflects the decision-making approach that managers, executives, and entrepreneurs exercise daily. Case analysis introduces students to the real-world process of making business decisions quickly and correctly, often with limited information. This framework supplies an organized and disciplined process that students can readily defend in writing and in class discussions.

PACADI in Action: An Example

Here’s an example of how students used the PACADI framework for a recent case analysis on CVS, a large North American drugstore chain.

The CVS Prescription for Customer Value*

PACADI Stage

Summary Response

How should CVS Health evolve from the “drugstore of your neighborhood” to the “drugstore of your future”?

Alternatives

A1. Kaizen (continuous improvement)

A2. Product development

A3. Market development

A4. Personalization (micro-targeting)

Criteria (include weights)

C1. Customer value: service, quality, image, and price (40%)

C2. Customer obsession (20%)

C3. Growth through related businesses (20%)

C4. Customer retention and customer lifetime value (20%)

Each alternative was analyzed by each criterion using a Customer Value Assessment Tool

Alternative 4 (A4): Personalization was selected. This is operationalized via: segmentation—move toward segment-of-1 marketing; geodemographics and lifestyle emphasis; predictive data analysis; relationship marketing; people, principles, and supply chain management; and exceptional customer service.

Implementation

Partner with leading medical school

Curbside pick-up

Pet pharmacy

E-newsletter for customers and employees

Employee incentive program

CVS beauty days

Expand to Latin America and Caribbean

Healthier/happier corner

Holiday toy drives/community outreach

*Source: A. Weinstein, Y. Rodriguez, K. Sims, R. Vergara, “The CVS Prescription for Superior Customer Value—A Case Study,” Back to the Future: Revisiting the Foundations of Marketing from Society for Marketing Advances, West Palm Beach, FL (November 2, 2018).

Results of Using the PACADI Framework

When faculty members at our respective institutions at Nova Southeastern University (NSU) and the University of North Carolina Wilmington have used the PACADI framework, our classes have been more structured and engaging. Students vigorously debate each element of their decision and note that this framework yields an “aha moment”—they learned something surprising in the case that led them to think differently about the problem and their proposed solution.

These lively discussions enhance individual and collective learning. As one external metric of this improvement, we have observed a 2.5 percent increase in student case grade performance at NSU since this framework was introduced.

Tips to Get Started

The PACADI approach works well in in-person, online, and hybrid courses. This is particularly important as more universities have moved to remote learning options. Because students have varied educational and cultural backgrounds, work experience, and familiarity with case analysis, we recommend that faculty members have students work on their first case using this new framework in small teams (two or three students). Additional analyses should then be solo efforts.

To use PACADI effectively in your classroom, we suggest the following:

Advise your students that your course will stress critical thinking and decision-making skills, not just course concepts and theory.

Use a varied mix of case studies. As marketing professors, we often address consumer and business markets; goods, services, and digital commerce; domestic and global business; and small and large companies in a single MBA course.

As a starting point, provide a short explanation (about 20 to 30 minutes) of the PACADI framework with a focus on the conceptual elements. You can deliver this face to face or through videoconferencing.

Give students an opportunity to practice the case analysis methodology via an ungraded sample case study. Designate groups of five to seven students to discuss the case and the six steps in breakout sessions (in class or via Zoom).

Ensure case analyses are weighted heavily as a grading component. We suggest 30–50 percent of the overall course grade.

Once cases are graded, debrief with the class on what they did right and areas needing improvement (30- to 40-minute in-person or Zoom session).

Encourage faculty teams that teach common courses to build appropriate instructional materials, grading rubrics, videos, sample cases, and teaching notes.

When selecting case studies, we have found that the best ones for PACADI analyses are about 15 pages long and revolve around a focal management decision. This length provides adequate depth yet is not protracted. Some of our tested and favorite marketing cases include Brand W , Hubspot , Kraft Foods Canada , TRSB(A) , and Whiskey & Cheddar .

Art Weinstein , Ph.D., is a professor of marketing at Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He has published more than 80 scholarly articles and papers and eight books on customer-focused marketing strategy. His latest book is Superior Customer Value—Finding and Keeping Customers in the Now Economy . Dr. Weinstein has consulted for many leading technology and service companies.

Herbert V. Brotspies , D.B.A., is an adjunct professor of marketing at Nova Southeastern University. He has over 30 years’ experience as a vice president in marketing, strategic planning, and acquisitions for Fortune 50 consumer products companies working in the United States and internationally. His research interests include return on marketing investment, consumer behavior, business-to-business strategy, and strategic planning.

John T. Gironda , Ph.D., is an assistant professor of marketing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. His research has been published in Industrial Marketing Management, Psychology & Marketing , and Journal of Marketing Management . He has also presented at major marketing conferences including the American Marketing Association, Academy of Marketing Science, and Society for Marketing Advances.

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Leadership Lessons from Ramayana

Embark on a unique journey of leadership exploration with our distinguished instructor, Shantanu Gupta, Author, and TEDx Speaker. This enlightening course delves into the timeless epic of Valmiki Ramayana, dissecting its six significant Kandas to extract profound leadership lessons. Uncover the principles of effective leadership as narrated through the captivating stories of Bala Kanda, Ayodhya Kanda, Aranya Kanda, Kishkindha Kanda, Sundara Kanda, and Yuddha Kanda. 

What Will You Learn?

• Bala Kanda - Foundations of Leadership: - Understand the fundamentals of leadership as depicted in the early life and formative experiences of Lord Rama.
• Ayodhya Kanda - Visionary Leadership: - Explore the qualities of a visionary leader through Rama's commitment to dharma and his responsibilities as the heir to the throne.
• Aranya Kanda - Resilience and Decision-Making: - Learn the art of resilience and effective decision-making amidst challenges, drawing inspiration from Rama's exile in the forest.
• Kishkindha Kanda - Team Building and Collaboration: - Analyze the dynamics of team building and collaboration through the alliance formed between Rama, Lakshmana, and Hanuman.
• Sundara Kanda - Strategic Leadership: - Uncover strategic leadership principles exemplified in Hanuman's journey to Lanka in search of Sita.
• Yuddha Kanda - Courage and Ethical Leadership: - Examine the role of courage and ethical leadership in the epic battle between Rama and Ravana, drawing parallels to contemporary leadership challenges.
• Interactive Discussions and Case Studies: - Engage in interactive discussions and case studies to apply the leadership lessons from Ramayana to real-world scenarios.

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Rama In Ramayana

• Harvard Case Studies

Harvard Business Case Studies Solutions – Assignment Help

In most courses studied at Harvard Business schools, students are provided with a case study. Major HBR cases concerns on a whole industry, a whole organization or some part of organization; profitable or non-profitable organizations. Student’s role is to analyze the case and diagnose the situation, identify the problem and then give appropriate recommendations and steps to be taken.

To make a detailed case analysis, student should follow these steps:

porter’s five forces model

STEP 1: Reading Up Harvard Case Study Method Guide:

Case study method guide is provided to students which determine the aspects of problem needed to be considered while analyzing a case study. It is very important to have a thorough reading and understanding of guidelines provided. However, poor guide reading will lead to misunderstanding of case and failure of analyses. It is recommended to read guidelines before and after reading the case to understand what is asked and how the questions are to be answered. Therefore, in-depth understanding f case guidelines is very important.

Harvard Case Study Solutions

STEP 2: Reading The Rama In Ramayana Harvard Case Study:

To have a complete understanding of the case, one should focus on case reading. It is said that case should be read two times. Initially, fast reading without taking notes and underlines should be done. Initial reading is to get a rough idea of what information is provided for the analyses. Then, a very careful reading should be done at second time reading of the case. This time, highlighting the important point and mark the necessary information provided in the case. In addition, the quantitative data in case, and its relations with other quantitative or qualitative variables should be given more importance. Also, manipulating different data and combining with other information available will give a new insight. However, all of the information provided is not reliable and relevant.

When having a fast reading, following points should be noted:

• Nature of organization
• Nature if industry in which organization operates.
• External environment that is effecting organization
• Problems being faced by management
• Identification of communication strategies.
• Any relevant strategy that can be added.
• Control and out-of-control situations.

When reading the case for second time, following points should be considered:

• Decisions needed to be made and the responsible Person to make decision.
• Objectives of the organization and key players in this case.
• The compatibility of objectives. if not, their reconciliations and necessary redefinition.
• Sources and constraints of organization from meeting its objectives.

After reading the case and guidelines thoroughly, reader should go forward and start the analyses of the case.

STEP 3: Doing The Case Analysis Of Rama In Ramayana:

To make an appropriate case analyses, firstly, reader should mark the important problems that are happening in the organization. There may be multiple problems that can be faced by any organization. Secondly, after identifying problems in the company, identify the most concerned and important problem that needed to be focused.

• Pest analysis

Firstly, the introduction is written. After having a clear idea of what is defined in the case, we deliver it to the reader. It is better to start the introduction from any historical or social context. The challenging diagnosis for Rama In Ramayana and the management of information is needed to be provided. However, introduction should not be longer than 6-7 lines in a paragraph. As the most important objective is to convey the most important message for to the reader.

After introduction, problem statement is defined. In the problem statement, the company’s most important problem and constraints to solve these problems should be define clearly. However, the problem should be concisely define in no more than a paragraph. After defining the problems and constraints, analysis of the case study is begin.

STEP 4: SWOT Analysis of the Rama In Ramayana HBR Case Solution:

SWOT analysis helps the business to identify its strengths and weaknesses, as well as understanding of opportunity that can be availed and the threat that the company is facing. SWOT for Rama In Ramayana is a powerful tool of analysis as it provide a thought to uncover and exploit the opportunities that can be used to increase and enhance company’s operations. In addition, it also identifies the weaknesses of the organization that will help to be eliminated and manage the threats that would catch the attention of the management.  This strategy helps the company to make any strategy that would differentiate the company from competitors, so that the organization can compete successfully in the industry. The strengths and weaknesses are obtained from internal organization. Whereas, the opportunities and threats are generally related from external environment of organization. Moreover, it is also called Internal-External Analysis.

In the strengths, management should identify the following points exists in the organization:

• Advantages of the organization
• Activities of the company better than competitors.
• Unique resources and low cost resources company have.
• Activities and resources market sees as the company’s strength.
• Unique selling proposition of the company.

WEAKNESSES:

• Improvement that could be done.
• Activities that can be avoided for Rama In Ramayana.
• Activities that can be determined as your weakness in the market.
• Factors that can reduce the sales.
• Competitor’s activities that can be seen as your weakness.

OPPORTUNITIES:

• Good opportunities that can be spotted.
• Interesting trends of industry.
• Change in technology and market strategies
• Government policy changes that is related to the company’s field
• Changes in social patterns and lifestyles.
• Local events.

Following points can be identified as a threat to company:

• Company’s facing obstacles.
• Activities of competitors.
• Product and services quality standards
• Threat from changing technologies
• Financial/cash flow problems
• Weakness that threaten the business.

Following points should be considered when applying SWOT to the analysis:

• Precise and verifiable phrases should be sued.
• Prioritize the points under each head, so that management can identify which step has to be taken first.
• Apply the analyses at proposed level. Clear yourself first that on what basis you have to apply SWOT matrix.
• Make sure that points identified should carry itself with strategy formulation process.
• Use particular terms (like USP, Core Competencies Analyses etc.) to get a comprehensive picture of analyses.

STEP 5: PESTEL/ PEST Analysis of Rama In Ramayana Case Solution:

Pest analyses is a widely used tool to analyze the Political, Economic, Socio-cultural, Technological, Environmental and legal situations which can provide great and new opportunities to the company as well as these factors can also threat the company, to be dangerous in future.

Pest analysis is very important and informative.  It is used for the purpose of identifying business opportunities and advance threat warning. Moreover, it also helps to the extent to which change is useful for the company and also guide the direction for the change. In addition, it also helps to avoid activities and actions that will be harmful for the company in future, including projects and strategies.

To analyze the business objective and its opportunities and threats, following steps should be followed:

• Brainstorm and assumption the changes that should be made to organization. Answer the necessary questions that are related to specific needs of organization
• Analyze the opportunities that would be happen due to the change.
• Analyze the threats and issues that would be caused due to change.
• Perform cost benefit analyses and take the appropriate action.

PEST FACTORS:

• Next political elections and changes that will happen in the country due to these elections
• Strong and powerful political person, his point of view on business policies and their effect on the organization.
• Strength of property rights and law rules. And its ratio with corruption and organized crimes. Changes in these situation and its effects.
• Change in Legislation and taxation effects on the company
• Trend of regulations and deregulations. Effects of change in business regulations
• Timescale of legislative change.
• Other political factors likely to change for Rama In Ramayana.

ECONOMICAL:

• Position and current economy trend i.e. growing, stagnant or declining.
• Exchange rates fluctuations and its relation with company.
• Change in Level of customer’s disposable income and its effect.
• Fluctuation in unemployment rate and its effect on hiring of skilled employees
• Access to credit and loans. And its effects on company
• Effect of globalization on economic environment
• Considerations on other economic factors

SOCIO-CULTURAL:

• Change in population growth rate and age factors, and its impacts on organization.
• Effect on organization due to Change in attitudes and generational shifts.
• Standards of health, education and social mobility levels. Its changes and effects on company.
• Employment patterns, job market trend and attitude towards work according to different age groups.

case study solutions

• Social attitudes and social trends, change in socio culture an dits effects.
• Religious believers and life styles and its effects on organization
• Other socio culture factors and its impacts.

TECHNOLOGICAL:

• Any new technology that company is using
• Any new technology in market that could affect the work, organization or industry
• Access of competitors to the new technologies and its impact on their product development/better services.
• Research areas of government and education institutes in which the company can make any efforts
• Changes in infra-structure and its effects on work flow
• Existing technology that can facilitate the company
• Other technological factors and their impacts on company and industry

These headings and analyses would help the company to consider these factors and make a “big picture” of company’s characteristics. This will help the manager to take the decision and drawing conclusion about the forces that would create a big impact on company and its resources.

STEP 6: Porter’s Five Forces/ Strategic Analysis Of The Rama In Ramayana Case Study:

To analyze the structure of a company and its corporate strategy, Porter’s five forces model is used. In this model, five forces have been identified which play an important part in shaping the market and industry. These forces are used to measure competition intensity and profitability of an industry and market.

porter’s five forces model

These forces refers to micro environment and the company ability to serve its customers and make a profit. These five forces includes three forces from horizontal competition and two forces from vertical competition. The five forces are discussed below:

• THREAT OF NEW ENTRANTS:
• as the industry have high profits, many new entrants will try to enter into the market. However, the new entrants will eventually cause decrease in overall industry profits. Therefore, it is necessary to block the new entrants in the industry. following factors is describing the level of threat to new entrants:
• Barriers to entry that includes copy rights and patents.
• High capital requirement
• Government restricted policies
• Switching cost
• Access to suppliers and distributions
• Customer loyalty to established brands.
• THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES:
• this describes the threat to company. If the goods and services are not up to the standard, consumers can use substitutes and alternatives that do not need any extra effort and do not make a major difference. For example, using Aquafina in substitution of tap water, Pepsi in alternative of Coca Cola. The potential factors that made customer shift to substitutes are as follows:
• Price performance of substitute
• Switching costs of buyer
• Products substitute available in the market
• Reduction of quality
• Close substitution are available
• DEGREE OF INDUSTRY RIVALRY:
• the lesser money and resources are required to enter into any industry, the higher there will be new competitors and be an effective competitor. It will also weaken the company’s position. Following are the potential factors that will influence the company’s competition:
• Competitive advantage
• Continuous innovation
• Sustainable position in competitive advantage
• Level of advertising
• Competitive strategy
• BARGAINING POWER OF BUYERS:
• it deals with the ability of customers to take down the prices. It mainly consists the importance of a customer and the level of cost if a customer will switch from one product to another. The buyer power is high if there are too many alternatives available. And the buyer power is low if there are lesser options of alternatives and switching. Following factors will influence the buying power of customers:
• Bargaining leverage
• Switching cost of a buyer
• Buyer price sensitivity
• Competitive advantage of  company’s product
• BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIERS:
• this refers to the supplier’s ability of increasing and decreasing prices. If there are few alternatives o supplier available, this will threat the company and it would have to purchase its raw material in supplier’s terms. However, if there are many suppliers alternative, suppliers have low bargaining power and company do not have to face high switching cost. The potential factors that effects bargaining power of suppliers are the following:
• Input differentiation
• Impact of cost on differentiation
• Strength of distribution centers
• Input substitute’s availability.

STEP 7: VRIO Analysis of Rama In Ramayana:

Vrio analysis for Rama In Ramayana case study identified the four main attributes which helps the organization to gain a competitive advantages. The author of this theory suggests that firm must be valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable and perfectly non sustainable. Therefore there must be some resources and capabilities in an organization that can facilitate the competitive advantage to company. The four components of VRIO analysis are described below: VALUABLE: the company must have some resources or strategies that can exploit opportunities and defend the company from major threats. If the company holds some value then answer is yes. Resources are also valuable if they provide customer satisfaction and increase customer value. This value may create by increasing differentiation in existing product or decrease its price. Is these conditions are not met, company may lead to competitive disadvantage. Therefore, it is necessary to continually review the Rama In Ramayana company’s activities and resources values. RARE: the resources of the Rama In Ramayana company that are not used by any other company are known as rare. Rare and valuable resources grant much competitive advantages to the firm. However, when more than one few companies uses the same resources and provide competitive parity are also known as rare resources. Even, the competitive parity is not desired position, but the company should not lose its valuable resources, even they are common. COSTLY TO IMITATE: the resources are costly to imitate, if other organizations cannot imitate it. However, imitation is done in two ways. One is duplicating that is direct imitation and the other one is substituting that is indirect imitation. Any firm who has valuable and rare resources, and these resources are costly to imitate, have achieved their competitive advantage. However, resources should also be perfectly non sustainable. The reasons that resource imitation is costly are historical conditions, casual ambiguity and social complexity. ORGANIZED TO CAPTURE VALUE: resources, itself, cannot provide advantages to organization until it is organized and exploit to do so. A firm (like Rama In Ramayana)  must organize its management systems, processes, policies and strategies to fully utilize the resource’s potential to be valuable, rare and costly to imitate.

STEP 8: Generating Alternatives For Rama In Ramayana Case Solution:

After completing the analyses of the company, its opportunities and threats, it is important to generate a solution of the problem and the alternatives a company can apply in order to solve its problems. To generate the alternative of problem, following things must to be kept in mind:

• Realistic solution should be identified that can be operated in the company, with all its constraints and opportunities.
• as the problem and its solution cannot occur at the same time, it should be described as mutually exclusive
• it is not possible for a company to not to take any action, therefore, the alternative of doing nothing is not viable.
• Student should provide more than one decent solution. Providing two undesirable alternatives to make the other one attractive is not acceptable.

Once the alternatives have been generated, student should evaluate the options and select the appropriate and viable solution for the company.

STEP 9: Selection Of Alternatives For Rama In Ramayana Case Solution:

It is very important to select the alternatives and then evaluate the best one as the company have limited choices and constraints. Therefore to select the best alternative, there are many factors that is needed to be kept in mind. The criteria’s on which business decisions are to be selected areas under:

• Improve profitability
• Increase sales, market shares, return on investments
• Customer satisfaction
• Brand image
• Corporate mission, vision and strategy
• Resources and capabilities

Alternatives should be measures that which alternative will perform better than other one and the valid reasons. In addition, alternatives should be related to the problem statements and issues described in the case study.

STEP 10: Evaluation Of Alternatives For Rama In Ramayana Case Solution:

If the selected alternative is fulfilling the above criteria, the decision should be taken straightforwardly. Best alternative should be selected must be the best when evaluating it on the decision criteria. Another method used to evaluate the alternatives are the list of pros and cons of each alternative and one who has more pros than cons and can be workable under organizational constraints.

STEP 11: Recommendations For Rama In Ramayana Case Study (Solution):

There should be only one recommendation to enhance the company’s operations and its growth or solving its problems. The decision that is being taken should be justified and viable for solving the problems.

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Ramayana (3rd Edition)

An elegant translation of the beloved epic tale of Prince Rama

Few works of literature have inspired so vast an audience across so many radically different languages and cultures as the  Ramayana , written in Sanskrit over 2,000 years ago by a poet known to us as Valmiki. William Buck has retold the story of Prince Rama—with all its nobility of spirit, courtly intrigue, heroic renunciation, fierce battles, and triumph of good over evil—in a length and with a style that make the great epic accessible without compromising the spirit and lyricism of the original.

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