Conceptualizing and Measuring Gunas.pdf

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ManagementInternational Journal of Cross Cultural

DOI: 10.1177/14705958060663262006; 6; 169International Journal of Cross Cultural Management

Kanika T. Bhal and Nivedita DebnathProfessionals

Conceptualizing and Measuring Gunas: Predictors of Workplace Ethics of Indian

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Growth of the Indian Information Technol-

ogy (IT) sector and the government policies

of globalization and opening up of the econ-

omy have seen a remarkable increase in the

number of Indian professionals working

across cultural boundaries in multinational

companies in India as well as abroad. Besides

the multinational, the rise of IT and ITES

Conceptualizing and MeasuringGunasPredictors of Workplace Ethics of Indian

Professionals

Kanika T. Bhal

Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi

Nivedita Debnath

Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi

ABSTRACT Researchers in the field of cross cultural research have highlighted the need to

study one culture in depth particularly to understand the complex causes of behaviors thosemanagers in a culture manifest. This article reports the conceptualization and measurement

of the Indian personality construct of Gunas; a possible predictor of ethics of Indian

managers. The Indian scripture The Gitaidentifies three personality constructs, collectively

referred to as Gunas, that are considered relevant for understanding ethical behavior. The

article reports the development of a scale to measure three Gunas Illumination, Passion

and Dullness, through a four-step process. In the first step, construct definitions and items of

the three Gunasare generated. The second, third and fourth steps report empirical studies

conducted on different samples to assess the factor stability, reliability, discriminant validity,

and other validities of the scale. The scale is used to predict spirituality, ethical frameworks

and acts of software piracy in organizations. Implications for cross cultural research as well

as practice are discussed.

KEY WORDS Gunas ethical frameworks spirituality

Copyright 2006 SAGE Publications

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DOI: 10.1177/1470595806066326

CCM International Journal of

Cross CulturalManagement2006 Vol 6(2): 169188

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sectors (call centers and other BPOs) has

significantly increased the cross cultural

interaction of Indian professionals as service

providers to the companies operating in dif-

ferent parts of the world. In light of these

changing socioeconomic configurations, it isbecoming increasingly important to under-

stand the individual side of these profes-

sionals and their personalities for effective

cross cultural management. One of the criti-

cisms of cross cultural research has been that

it has focused predominantly on exploring

American theories and how they work in

different countries instead of looking at the

theories indigenous to a culture and explor-

ing them in depth (Lowe, 2002; Sekaran,

1983). Further, cross cultural research has

found evidence for differences in managerial

behavior across different cultures, especially

in the situations involving an ethical dimen-

sion (e.g. Jackson and Artola, 1997), and

understanding the causes and correlates of

these behaviors requires a culturally rooted

explanation. Some researchers (Roberts,

1970) hence suggest that more effort should

be put into understanding behavior in a

single culture in depth before studying it

across cultures. The issue of understanding

culturally rooted personality assessment

assumes greater significance in areas of ethics

and morality in the workplace, as moral/

ethical codes are most significantly deter-

mined by the cultural context and are deeply

rooted in the history and philosophy of a

culture. It is worth noting that although there

has been some work on culturally rooted

ethical conduct, like Guanxi in the Chinesecontext (e.g. Dunfee and Warren, 2001;

Millington et al., 2005), there are few (e.g.

Chakraborty, 1991) conceptual and empiri-

cal studies that have looked at these issues in

the cultural context of India. This article

looks at a personality construct of Gunas,

described in the traditional Indian philo-

sophical literature, which may be used to

understand the ethical conduct of Indian

professionals in the workplace and conse-

quently help in the cross cultural manage-

ment of these professionals.

Understanding and predicting employ-

ees ethicality in a multicultural organization

where different cultural values and beliefs

merge is an important task confronting theorganizations operating in multicultural con-

texts. Virtues ethicists (e.g. MacIntyre, 1981;

Pincoffs, 1986) focus on the traits and char-

acter of the actor, which requires identifying

the personality traits of the actor that can be

related to ethics and ethical conduct that

hold promise for understanding and pre-

dicting behavior at work (Hartman, 1998;

Solomon, 1992). The human traits associated

with ethics are discussed as Gunasin The Gita.

Much in line with the ethics of virtues, Gunas,

if literally translated, would mean inherent

attributes or character (or psychogenic sub-

stances; Chakraborty, 1985). Based on

descriptions given in the Indian scripture

Bhagvad Gita, in this research we first develop

an understanding and conceptualization of

Gunas. After developing construct definitions

and items under each construct, the article

reports the systematic process through which

a scale to measure three Gunas Illumina-

tion, Passion and Dullness is developed.

Through this research we try to incorporate

the Indian view of ethical virtues with con-

temporary understanding and analysis of

ethics in business.

Virtues ethics has long focused on moral

individuals. Aristotle gave the principle of

golden mean (a mean between two vices or

extremes) as a virtue that aims at achieving a

mean or a balance in feelings and actions(Rackham, 1952; Sherman, 1989). St Thomas

Aquinas, a philosopher of the Middle Ages,

went one step beyond logic and reason and

added the theological or Christian virtues of

faith, hope and charity, the virtues that

enable a person to achieve a union with God

(Porter, 1990). Thus religion and religious

philosophies are closely associated with the

concept of virtue and the moral character of

individuals socialized in different cultures.

International Journal of Cross Cultural Management6(2)170



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The need however is to bring the concepts

from the realm of religion and develop a

scientific understanding of these concepts

and constructs as understood and used in

that cultural context.

The Concept of Gunas

Religious, cultural and social factors in ethics

have been found relevant in the Indian con-

text too (Beverly et al., 2002; Christie et al.,

2003; Worden, 2003). The ethical and reli-

gious philosophy, developed in ancient India,

provides a rich discussion on Gunas, which

have been identified as personality constructs

relevant for the study of ethical behavior.

The philosophy embodied in the Indian

scripture Bhagavad Gita (often referred to as

The Gita), has been applied most to social and

management thought (e.g. Chakraborty,

1987, 1991; Narayana and Krishnan, 2003),

owing primarily to the fact that it is set in the

midst of struggle, failure and triumph; situa-

tions descriptive of modern business reality.

The scripture uses the ethical struggle of war

among family members as an occasion to

develop the message. The Gita presents a

moral/ethical view of human life and living

and is perennial in nature (Huxley, 1942).

The term Guna, used in The Gita, indicates

the basis of attitudes with which the mind

functions. The psychological being in all

individuals comes under the influence of

three different climatic conditions prevalent

in our minds, under which mind and intellect

live (Chinmayanand, 1992). The three Gunas

identified in The Gitaare Sattva (translated asIllumination by Radhakrishnan, 1948, and

as Purity by Chinmayananda, 1992), Rajas

(translated as Passion and/or Activity) and

Tamas (translated as Dullness and/or

Inactivity). Since the Gunasare discussed as

virtues/vices in the ethical context, in this

article we use the terms Illumination for

Sattva, Passion for Rajas and Dullness for

Tamas. According to The Gita, Illumination is

clarity of the mind; it is the power of har-

mony, balance, knowledge and intelligence

the higher or spiritual potential. Passion is

the power of energy, action, change and

movement. Dullness is the power of darkness,

inertia, sloth and inactivity. The most widely

used and acknowledged description andinterpretation of The Gitaand Gunasare those

by two authors in two different realms

Radhakrishnan (1942) and Chinmayanand

(1992). The former is academic and the latter

is more prescriptive in nature. The following

description of the Gunas is a convergence of

these two interpretations.

Illumination

Illumination is absolutely pure in character,

and is untainted by any form of evil; hence it

is illuminating and free from morbidity of

any kind. It lends illumination to the mind

and the senses, uprooting evil propensities

and vices (14.6, The Gita). Evil is anything

whereby we try to satisfy the appetites of the

flesh, the selfish agitations of the mind and

the egocentric desires of the head. Illumina-

tion is a state of knowledge and peace, where

the mind is purified from all its agitations and

the intellect is cleansed of passions and crimi-

nal lust. There is inward peace and happi-

ness. The ego is dissolved and actions are

purely for the sake of actions, and agitation

and volatility are completely absent.

Passion

Desire is the basic element of Passion, and

motivates people to look for satisfaction of all

their desires. Desire is the mental relationship

with those objects that have not yet beenacquired by us, and with which there is a

strong attachment. These two factors desire

for the acquisition of things and attachment

to the things so acquired characterize a

person with Passion. Such a person is con-

stantly guided by desire for things not

acquired, and ambition to climb to a higher

status in life at every opportunity. This

attribute is often accompanied by hard work,

lack of peace, and volatility of the mind. At

Bhal & Debnath: Conceptualizing and Measuring Gunas 171



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the subjective level, attachment and desire

are the causes of Passion, which, in turn,

result in ambition, motivation that causes

activity, and sensual enjoyment leading to

further attachment and desire. It is likely that

these people believe in ethical principles, butwhen their ego and achievement are involved,

these principles might be bypassed.

Dullness

This corresponds to lack of activity and the

inability to perceive. It is a mental state

where there is ignorance. Dullness, as the

name indicates, creates laziness, sleep and

inattention. It involves lack of mental activity

and insensitivity. People high on Dullness do

not initiate anything useful or new. Those

who are of this nature tend toward procrasti-

nation and are resistant to change. They lack

motivation and ambition, and have a very

narrow worldview, and a value system that is

totally body- and self-centered.

Gunas, hence, are attitudinal dimensions

that influence the behavior of the body and

the mind in different proportions, and the

unique combinations of these influences

provide a distinct flavor in each personality.

The differences in the character, conduct

and behavior of each individual may partly

be explained by these influences. The fact

that the three Gunascan coexist in one indi-

vidual suggests that they are interdependent.

Gunas, Spirituality, Cognitive

Ethical Frameworks and

Ethical BehaviorVirtues are seen as the closest manifestation of

spirituality (Cavanaugh and Bandusch,

2002). Since spirituality is mystic and trans-

personal (MacDonald, 2000), it is beyond the

realm of sensory perceptions. Spirituality has

been shown to have a high degree of import

for human beings and is associated with

mental health (Koeing, 1998; MacDonald

and Holland, 2002, 2003), human behavior

and attitudes. Its study is, therefore, practical

and relevant in understanding human behav-

ior. Based on an extensive literature survey

(e.g. MacDonald and Friedman, 2002;

MacDonald et al., 1999a; MacDonald et al.,

1999b; and MacDonald et al., 1995) and

rigorous empirical research, MacDonald(2000) proposed a multidimensional con-

ceptualization of spirituality consisting of five

dimensions. These are: cognitive orientation

towards spirituality (perceptions of spirituality

and spiritual beliefs having direct influence on

day-to-day functioning), experiential/pheno-

menological (i.e. spiritual) experience, exist-

ential well-being (i.e. sense of inner strength to

cope with existential issues in life), para-

normal beliefs (belief in validity of para-

normal phenomenon), and religiousness

(intrinsic religious beliefs and religious prac-

tices).

Roland (1988), based on a psychoanalytic

study of Indians, concludes that the Indian

self has a significant component of spiritu-

ality, which is concerned with the indi-

viduals attempt at uncovering the deeper

reality. Gunas, too, have been discussed in the

context of spirituality. The individual, in The

Gita too, is conceptualized as a multi-

dimensional entity that comprises the body

and the soul. The body manifests itself

through Gunas. Gunas have been conceptual-

ized in The Gitaas a part of the individual that

is tied with the soul. Gunas are seen as the

manifest and worldly side of an individual

who is essentially a spiritual being; however,

people with different Gunas have varied

understanding and experience of spirituality.

In Chapter XVIII, verses 37 to 39 of TheGita, it is mentioned that those high on

Illumination derive happiness by getting in

touch with their spiritual or higher selves

whereas those high on Passion and Dullness

derive happiness by associating with worldly

and bodily pleasures. Thus people high on

Illumination are likely to be high on Spiri-

tuality as a whole. Not only do the three

Gunasvary in terms of the extent of spiritual

orientation, their manifestations of spiritu-




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ality too may be different. The knowledge

and awareness of spirituality in the three

Gunasvary, which may be equated to the first

dimension of spirituality; that is, cognitive

orientation towards spirituality. People high

on Illumination are most likely to be cogni-tively aware and conscious of spirituality

(Chapter XIV, verses 11 and 13). In Chapter

VIII verses 26, 27 and 28 it is mentioned that

those high on Illumination have no egotism,

are full of resolution and zeal, and remain

unmoved by success and failure. These

people, hence, are likely to be high on

existential well-being whereas those high on

Passion are likely to be low on it, as they are

very attached to the results and are likely to

become either too happy or unhappy in

success or failure, respectively. Chapter

XVII, verse 4 indicates that those high on

Dullness worship ghosts and spirits, and if

paranormal beliefs are taken to mean the

existence of ghosts, then those high on

Dullness are likely to be high on paranormal

beliefs. The religiousness of the three Gunas

too is supposed to vary. In the same verse

(verse 4 of Chapter XVII), it is mentioned

that people high on Illumination have a

positive faith but those high on Dullness do

not. In this light, although people high on

Illumination are likely to be high on reli-

giousness, people high on Passion too are

likely to be high on religiousness, but their

religiousness is more ritualistic in nature

instead of real realization. For those high on

Passion, religiousness may be perceived as a

way of achieving worldly success. Spirituality

hence provides a base for rooting the threeGunas, and we expect an association of the

three Gunaswith spirituality as a whole and

with different dimensions of Spirituality

uniquely.

As mentioned earlier, the main reason for

operationalizing and measuring Gunas is to

predict ethical conduct and ethical frame-

works. The entire philosophy in The Gita in

general and the concept of Gunasin particu-

lar has an ethical orientation. The ethicality

and the ethical cognitive frameworks operat-

ing in the three types of Gunastoo have been

discussed. Early research by psychologists in

the field of moral judgment indicated that

individuals making judgments about the

same person or situation arrive at differentconclusions because they use different cogni-

tive processes (Sharp, 1898). Subsequently

many psychologists have offered different

approaches to explain these differences.

Forsyth (1980) proposed a model of assessing

the cognitive philosophies used by indi-

viduals by taking into account two basic

factors. The first assesses the universal versus

relative aspects of moral decision-making.

This dimension assesses the extent to which

the individual uses universal moral values as

opposed to relative ones. The second dimen-

sion assesses the extent of idealism in ones

moral attitude. High idealists would assume

that the right action always leads to desir-

able consequences; however low idealists

would believe that even the right actions

have a mix of desirable and undesirable

consequences, and vice versa. These moral

philosophies influence ethicality/morality in

the workplace too (Forsyth, 1992), and can

be assessed as a function of the three Gunas.

In Chapter XVIII verses 29 to 32, it is

mentioned that those high on Illumination

are clear about the right way and they follow

an idealistic approach. Those high on

Passion are likely to be confused about the

moral values, whereas those high on Dullness

are low on idealism. There is no discussion

on relativism as an ethical framework in the

context of Gunas, hence we would like toexplore whether there is any relationship at

all between the two.

It is important that the Gunaspredict not

only ethical frameworks but ethical conduct

too. Based on the description of the three

Gunas, it may be appropriate to conjecture

that Illumination is likely to lead to behavior

that is in conformance with the societal

standards and norms. Since people high on

Passion are driven by achievement and




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ambition, they may indulge in unethical

behavior for the sake of goal accomplish-

ment; however those high on Dullness are

body-centric and they may indulge in un-

ethical acts for their own and their bodys

sake. The three Gunas hence are likely topredict ethical behavior uniquely in the

workplace.

Although Gunas may be an important

personality concept for studying ethical

behavior, their adequacy cannot be exam-

ined until they are operationalized. Though

many modern-day management thinkers

and practitioners (e.g. Chakraborty, 1987;

Sharma and Bhal, 2004) have found Gunas

particularly relevant in studying the behavior

of managers, a systematic assessment of the

same is missing. It is important for any

attempt at measuring these aspects to be

rigorous and systematic. To the best of

our knowledge, no systematic and scientific

effort has been made to develop a scale for

measuring Gunas.

Thus the prime objective of this article is

to develop a scale to measure the three Gunas.

The scale can be used to assess the personal-

ity orientation of Indian managers and to

predict their behavior in ethically loaded

situations. Understanding the individuals

personality in this way will help in effective

management of Indian professionals working

in cross cultural contexts. The rest of the arti-

cle describes the steps taken to develop this

scale. Its adequacy is verified by examining

its relationship with other related concepts of

spirituality, ethical cognitive frameworks and

ethical conduct in the workplace.

Method and Results

The scale was developed through four phases.

In the first phase, construct definitions and

items were identified. In the second phase,

the construct validation was conducted to

prune out wean the weak and poor perform-

ing items. In the second, third and fourth

phases construct, convergent, divergent and

criterion/predictive validity and other psy-

chometric properties of the scale were assessed.

Phase 1: Construct Definitions

and Item Development

At the very outset the aim was to developconceptually consistent theoretical defini-

tions of the three types of Gunas. The con-

struct definitions that follow are based on

the discussion of Gunas by Radhakrishnan

(1948), Chinmayanand (1992) and Chakra-

borty (1987).

IlluminationThe moral standards of these individuals areclear and they have no hesitation in makingdecisions in situations of ethical dilemma.

Their emotions are under control and theydont experience extreme sorrows or joys.Their mind is at peace and there is no agita-tion, mental, verbal or physical. Though theyare hard working, they work for the inherent

joy of working and the work itself becomessatisfying. They work without any attachmentwith the results and the outcomes. They arecalm and mellow.

PassionThis is a state where the mind is agitated.

These individuals are under the control ofworldly desires. They are caught in ambition,and motivation that cause activity and sensualenjoyment. They are very active, constantlyworking but for material pleasures andrewards. They are attached to the results andexperience extreme sorrows and joys. Thoughthese people might have a sense of right andwrong, they are likely to compromise theirideals in the pursuit of worldly and materialbenefits. These people are aggressive.

Dullness

This is a state of ignorance where the mind isunclear. The moral standards are not clear.These people lack motivation and ambition.They are lazy and resistant to change. Theyare careless and lack attentiveness. They tendtoward procrastination and self-centric behav-ior. They display lack of peace, agitation and

volatility. Such people have a very narrowworldview, and a value system that is totallymaterialistic and body centered.




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Item generation and preliminary con-

struct validation On the basis of these

construct definitions of Illumination, Passion

and Dullness a pool of 45 items was gener-

ated with 15 items in each dimension. The

items were worded in the form of interroga-tive statements. The items were reviewed and

judged at this stage for content validity.

Content validation was performed in two

phases. First, the authors along with two

other experts served as judges to evaluate

each of the 45 items to be identified in the

three dimensions. This exercise was also

geared towards recommending modifications

(change, drop, add) and identifying unclear

items. It resulted in 10 confusing, unclear

and inappropriate items, thus reducing the

size of the scale to 35 items for further assess-

ment. After this stage of item generation and

pruning, the researchers (authors) were not

involved in subjective evaluation of the items

and experts from five diverse disciplines

(philosophy, management, psychology, soci-

ology and anthropology) were given con-

struct definitions. The task of the judges was

to sort the various statements on the basis of

item descriptions, and to match them with

the construct definitions. Each item was

followed by the following four choices: 1

Illumination, 2 Passion, 3 Dullness, and 4

None of the above. They were asked to rate

each item as belonging to one of the four

categories described. The statements on

which there was an agreement of 80% (i.e. at

least four judges rated it as belonging to the

same category) were accepted as items of that

category. In this way the total number ofitems was reduced to 27; of these 8 belonged

to Illumination, 9 to Passion and 10 to

Dullness.

Phase 2: Construct Validation,

Item Reduction and Content

Adequacy

Next, the factor structure of the proposed

measure was examined by identifying poorly

performing items. In this phase a survey of

the MBA students was conducted. The study

results were further discussed with construct

validation experts to include the right items

and delete the confusing and poor perform-

ing ones, as suggested by Schreisheim et al.

(1999).

Respondents and instrument used Since

the objective is to understand the personality

constructs of Indian managers, a question-

naire survey was conducted on 108 MBA

students of a major engineering and manage-

ment institute in India. Of these 81 were

male and 27 were female, and 98 were in the

age group of 20 to 30 years and the remain-

ing 10 were in the range of 30 to 40 years.

The 27 items identified in the first stage

were given to the respondents and they were

asked to rate how true each item was to them

on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = not at all true;

5 = very true).

Using SPSS version 9.0, the responses to

the 27 items were subjected to an exploratory

factor analysis as a partial test of construct

validation. For retaining a factor two criteria

were used: (a) the eigenvalue of the factor was

greater than 1, and (b) more than three items

loaded heavily on a factor. At this stage the

results of this factor analysis were used for

initial screening of the items, hence any item

that showed a factor loading in the range of

.45 and cross-loading below .35 was in-

cluded. The factor loadings, mean, standard

deviation and percentage variance explained

are contained in Table 1.

The factor analysis results were discussed

with two experts one from the discipline ofphilosophy and the other from management

before eliminating or including items at this

stage.

It can be seen that the first factor con-

tained six items (including the item that

cross-loads on factor 2). All these items

belonged to the Dullness dimension of our

scale. They represent general inactivity of

the mind and body, an inability to make

decisions, carelessness and negligence.




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Five items loaded clearly on the second

factor. All the items belonged to the Passion

dimension. The items indicate restlessness,

intense activity, obsession for worldly posses-

sions, agitation and extreme emotions. Item

6 showed a cross-loading on this factor too.

We can see that this item is about lack of

activity, motivation and drive that represent

Dullness, but loads negatively on Passion, asextreme activity is the characteristic feature

of people with Passion. Hence we decided to

include this item on both the dimensions as a

positive indicator of Dullness and a negative

indicator of Passion.

Four items loaded on the third factor. All

the items loading on this dimension belonged

to the Illumination dimension, and hence the

factor was labeled Illumination. The items

indicated predictability of behavior, control

of emotions, consistency and detachment

from the results.

Factor analysis results reveal that Indian

managers manifest these three distinct Gunas.

The reliability coefficients for the three

dimensions too are acceptable (Table 1).

Further, the literature is clear that

Illumination is the ideal, whereas Dullness is

the extreme opposite, and Passion lies some-where in between. Thus Illumination is

likely to have a negative relationship with

both Passion and Dullness, although the

three are empirically distinguishable from

one another. Dullness showed a correlation

of .078 (not significant) and .188 (p < .05)

with Passion and Illumination respectively,

while Passion showed a correlation of .131

(not significant) with Illumination. The three

dimensions, in most cases, are not signifi-


Table 1 Factor loadings of the items and scale characteristics of Gunas Phase 2

ItemFactor Loadings

nos. Items Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3

1. (D) My faculty of judgment gets blurred often .485 .285 .032. (D) My mind and senses go blank often .744 .07 .18

3. (D) I indulge in frivolous and non serious activities often .62 .137 .027

4. (D) I feel at times my powers of judgment and understanding

get lost .709 .09 .173

5. (D) I often ignore very serious issues .608 .180 .024

6. (D) I often lack motivation and drive .535 .409 .016

7. (P) I take part in various activities otherwise I feel restless .106 .691 .033

8. (P) I have an obsession for accumulating wealth .102 .547 .314

9. (P) I feel the need for various forms of enjoyment in my life .258 .504 .268

10. (P) I get motivated and ambitious to fulfill my desires .184 .509 .122

11. (P) I have a strong desire for material things .150 .597 .289

12. (I) I believe my emotions are always under control .286 .288 .556

13. (I) My behavior is consistent and predictable .354 .200 .499

14. (I) I dont get agitated and violent in my actions .241 .151 .443

15. (I) I dont think about rewards while doing my work .277 .238 .461

Eigenvalue 4.503 2.929 2.458

Percentage variance 16.68 10.85 9.105

Reliability* .7624 .6993 .6486

Note:N= 108; * Cronbachs coefficient alpha is used as the reliability estimate.



10/21

cantly correlated; this shows the indepen-

dence of the three dimensions. However,

there is a negative correlation (though weak,

p < .05) between Illumination and Dullness.

It was an indication that the correlations

were in the right direction. At this stage a setof 15 items were retained for further refine-

ment and validation.

Phase 3: Test of Construct,

Convergent, Divergent and

Criterion Validity

In this phase, we further tested the construct

and divergent validity of the scale through data

collected on another sample. As mentioned

earlier, the information technology sector and

consequently software professionals, are grow-

ing both in significance and size. The fact that

these professionals work almost always in

cross cultural situations, makes them a par-

ticularly relevant sample for this study.

Respondents and procedure The sam-

ple for this study consisted of 273 working

professionals from two geographical regions

in India, one from the west (120 respondents)

and the other from the south (153 respon-

dents). There were 205 males and 68 females

in the sample, with 259 of the respondents in

the age range of 20 to 30 years and 14

between 30 and 40 years of age.

The questionnaire contained 15 items of

Gunas that resulted from our previous study

and demographic factors like age and gender

of the respondents.

Results and discussion In this section wediscuss the results in terms of construct valid-

ity/factor stability, scale characteristics, and

discriminant validity of the Gunasscale.

To test for construct and convergent

validity a principal components factor analy-

sis was conducted, but before analyzing

the results of factor analysis, a KMO sam-

pling adequacy test was conducted to assess

whether there were sufficient correlations

among the items to perform principal com-

ponents factor analysis. The KMO coeffi-

cient was .675 (the usual cut-off point for

KMO and anti-image correlation is .6) and

hence we proceeded with factor analysis.

Only those factors that had eigenvalues over

1 were included. Items in a factor wereretained only when the factor loadings were

above .50 and cross-loadings were generally

below .35. Subsequently, the data from two

geographical regions West and South India

were independently subjected to the same

method of factor analysis. In line with the

recommendations of Schwab (1980) and

DeVellis (1991) factor analysis was con-

ducted on each sample separately, to test for

factor stability and convergent validity. The

results of factor analysis for the combined

data, and for the data from West and South

India separately are given in Table 2.

It can be seen from Table 2 that for the

first two factors, the same items emerged

from all three analyses. In this analysis too

Dullness emerged as the first factor that

consisted of five items. Passion was again the

second factor, also with five items. The third

factor was that of Illumination, with three

items emerging from the overall data and for

the respondents from West India. However,

for the third factor in the analysis of the data

from South India, only two items showed

clear factor loadings; one did not show high

loadings. We retained the third item in our

final scale as the factor analysis for the total

sample showed high loading, despite the fact

that the sample from South India was the

larger of the two and was more likely to influ-

ence the overall results. The emergence ofthe same factors with same items provided

proof of factor stability.

Table 3 lists the descriptive statistics of

the items and inter-item correlations. It can

be seen from Table 3 that the items within a

factor showed high correlations, as opposed

to the items across factors.

The three subscales were not correlated

(see Table 4), thereby showing subscale inde-

pendence. However, the sample from South




11/21


Table 2 Factor loadings of the Gunas measure (South, West and combined samples)

Phase 3

Items Combined West India South India

F1 F2 F3 F1 F2 F3 F1 F2 F3

D1: My faculty of judgment .611 .278 .09 .719 .204 .137 .609 .186 .05

gets blurred often

D2: My mind and senses .651 .258 .08 .742 .118 .09 .552 .205 .328

go blank often

D3: I feel at times my .732 .33 .02 .731 .172 .223 .746 .319 .165

powers of judgment and

understanding get lost

D4: I often ignore very .698 .29 .09 .717 .01 .366 .599 .413 .216

serious issues

D5: I often lack motivation .640 .16 .02 .649 .09 .235 .539 .264 .290

and drive

P1: I take part in various .251 .554 .08 .226 .657 .216 .06 .566 .03

activities otherwise I feel

restless

P2: I have an obsession .462 .550 .129 .238 .600 .311 .520 .547 .03

for accumulating wealth

P3: I feel the need for .270 .670 .157 .09 .737 .03 .498 .552 .168

various forms of enjoyment

in my life

P4: I get motivated and .382 .692 .160 .01 .781 .05 .597 .555 .05

ambitious to fulfill my

desires

P5: I have a strong desire .118 .762 .119 .101 .810 .168 .158 .738 .01

for material things

I1: I believe my emotions .02 .224 .771 .247 .198 .658 .21 .425 .702

are always under control

I2: My behavior is .08 .07 .814 .388 .193 .618 .38 .196 .748

consistent and predictableI3: I dont get agitated and .02 .05 .512 .238 .03 .716 .07 .04 .06

violent in my actions

Eigen value 2.879 2.589 1.763 3.260 2.811 1.825 3.061 2.465 1.551

Percentage of variance 19.191 17.261 11.755 21.731 18.738 12.169 20.406 16.433 10.339

Reliability coefficients .778 .759 .569 .801 .780 .650 .754 .743 .474

(Cronbachs coefficient )

Note:N= 273.



12/21

India showed a negative correlation between

Illumination and Dullness at the .05 level,

which is the same as the result of the previous

study (Phase 2).

The concept of discriminant validity, in

part, assumes that the focal construct(s)

should be weakly related or unrelated to dis-

similar constructs (Schwab, 1980). Hence, it

was hypothesized that the three focal con-

structs should be unrelated to the gender of

the respondents. To assess this, a t-test was

conducted for all the three constructs

Dullness, Passion and Illumination. Table 5

contains the result of the t-test. It can be seenfrom the table that there is no significant dif-

ference between men and women for any of

the three dimensions. This provided support

for the discriminant validity of the scale.

Phase 4: Further Test of

Construct, Convergent, and

Predictive/Criterion Validity

In this phase too an empirical study was con-

ducted. To begin with, the factor structure of

the Gunasscale was reassessed as a partial test

of construct validity. Since spirituality, cogni-

tive ethical frameworks and ethical conduct

have close association with the three Gunas,

their relationships with Gunas were assessed

as a test of predictive and convergent validity.

Respondents and procedure The sample

for this study consisted of 114 respondents

who were alumni of a major management

department. Data were collected during an

alumni gathering. Of the respondents 99

were male and 15 were female, and their

mean age was 26.16 years (sd of 3.98) with arange of 22 to 42 years. The average work

experience of the respondents was 3.14 years

(sd of 3.88) with a range of 1 to 20 years.

Gunaswere measured through a 13-item

scale developed in the previous studies (of

which three corresponded to Illumination,

five to Passion and five to Dullness).

To assess spirituality, the 30-item scale by

MacDonald (2000) was used, which assessed

the five dimensions of spirituality (i.e. Cogni-


Table 3 Scale characteristics and inter-item correlations Phase 3

D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 I1 I2 I3

D1 1.00

D2 .47 1.00

D3 .50 .45 1.00

D4 .34 .29 .54 1.00

D5 .25 .30 .36 .57 1.00

P1 .07 .07 .00 .00 .04 1.00

P2 .11 .15 .13 .11 .13 .35 1.00

P3 .05 .05 .03 .00 .08 .29 .32 1.00

P4 .08 .05 .02 .10 .09 .27 .53 .49 1.00

P5 .03 .12 .16 .12 .01 .34 .32 .47 .48 1.00

I1 .00 .01 .06 .06 .02 .10 .05 .03 .09 .15 1.00

I2 .02 .12 .01 .05 .01 .12 .00 .05 .08 .07 .56 1.00

I3 .19 .07 .05 .08 .07 .00 .10 .02 .05 .17 .15 .20 1.00

Mean 2.77 2.92 2.74 2.44 2.41 3.27 3.12 3.60 3.23 3.63 3.71 3.68 3.72

sd .99 1.05 1.05 1.07 1.03 1.06 1.10 .89 1.05 .96 .91 .92 .89

Note:N= 273; D1 to D5 = five items of Dullness, P1 to P5 = five Items of Passion, I1 to I3 = three items of

Illumination (these items correspond with items in Table 2).



13/21

tive orientation towards spirituality, Experi-

ential/Phenomenological Dimension, Exist-

ential Well-being, Paranormal Beliefs and

Religiousness). Each dimension contained six

items. The respondents were asked to rate

their agreement (1 = Not at all agree; 5 =Strongly agree) in terms of whether they

described themselves.

Ethical frameworks/logics were assessed

using the 20-item scale developed by Forsyth

(1980). Of these, 10 belonged to Idealism and

10 to Relativism. The respondents were asked

to rate their agreement (1 = Not at all agree;

5 = Strongly agree) in terms of whether they

described themselves.

Ethical conduct was assessed through two

vignettes on software piracy; one describing

software piracy for the organization and the

other for the self. Each vignette was followed

by three items on their perception of the

ethicality of the act, and three items on their

likelihood of indulging in the act of piracy.Thus we assessed perceived ethicality and

likelihood of piracy both for self and the

organization (please see Appendix 1 for the

vignettes and the items).

Results and discussion In this section we

first discuss the results of confirmatory factor

analysis of the Gunasscale as further proof of

factor stability and construct validity. Subse-

quently the scale properties (reliability coeffi-


Table 4 Correlations among the three dimensions of Gunas Phase 3

Dullness Passion Ilumination

Passion .052(273)

.002(120)

.105(153)

Ilumination .001(273) .063(273)

.154(120) .089(120)

.176*(153) .036(153)

Notes: Numbers in parentheses are the sample size N. Numbers in bold are for the data from the West and those in

italics are for the data from the South. * = p < .05.

Table 5 Means and t-tests for Gunas for male and female Phase 3

Gunas Gender N Mean Standard deviation t

Dullness Male 205 2.65 .77.456

Female 68 2.69 .71

Passion Male 205 3.40 .741.036

Female 68 3.29 .68

Illumination Male 205 3.73 .67.959

Female 68 3.64 .65

Note: tis not significant for any of the three Gunas.



14/21

cients means and sds) are discussed. This is

followed by a test of convergent and predic-

tive validity of the scale.

Confirmatory factor analysis of the Gunas

was conducted as a test of the construct validity

of the scale. The hypothesized three-factormodel was tested against a one-factor model

using Amos 5.0 software. The one-factor

model provided poor fit indices (2 =

185.549, df = 65, p = .000, GFI = .779,

AGFI = .691, CFI = .538 and RMSEA =

.128); however, the hypothesized model pro-

vided very good fit indices (2 = 70.829, df =

65,p = .290, GFI = .915, AGFI = .881, CFI

= .978, and RMSEA = .028). Compared to

the one-factor model, the three-factor model

provided much-improved fit indices (2 =

114.70,p = .000). All the items were signifi-

cant predictors of their respective latent

dimensions.

For convergent and criterion validity were

tested using spirituality, ethical frameworks

and ethical behavior. The inter corelations,

means, sds and reliability of the study vari-

ables is given in Table 6.

It can be seen that all the relationships

are in expected directions.

As has been mentioned earlier, the five

dimensions of spirituality are likely to associ-

ate uniquely with the three Gunas. To test for

this assertion, zero order, partial and multi-

ple correlations were conducted and are

reported in Table 7. Partial correlations were

conducted by assessing the relationship of

each Gunaafter controlling for the other two.

Multiple correlations were calculated by

combining all five dimensions of spiritualityand assessing the correlations with each of

the three Gunas.

Illumination shows a positive relationship

with cognitive orientation towards spiritu-

ality and religiousness dimensions. This is

much in line with the expected relationship

as mentioned earlier. Passion did not show

any relationship with any dimension of

spirituality. Dullness showed a negative cor-

relation with existential well-being. Further,

the total spirituality score showed a signifi-

cant positive relationship with Illumination.

Though not all the hypothesized relation-

ships found support, all the results were in

the expected direction. This provides some

proof of the convergent validity of the scale.Predictive/criterion validity of the three

Gunas scale was tested by predicting ethical

frameworks and ethical conduct. Multiple

regression analysis was conducted.

First, relativism was regressed on the

three Gunas dimensions; the model was not

significant (p = .221) and none of the Gunas

predicted relativism. Next, idealism was

regressed on the three Gunasand the model

was significant (R2 = .119,p = .003), and the

standardized beta coefficients for Illumina-

tion, Passion and Dullness were .236 (p =

.010), .01 (p = .813) and .228 (p = .013),

respectively. Both Illumination and Dullness

predict idealism significantly, and although

Illumination shows a positive relationship,

Dullness shows a negative one. The results

are evidence of the predictive validity of the

scale. Finally, and most significantly, ethical

attitude and conduct in the workplace was

predicted using the newly developed scale,

for which perceived ethicality and likelihood

of piracy for self and for the organization

were regressed on the three Gunas. The

results are contained in Table 8.

It can be seen from Table 8 that,

although perceived ethicality of piracy for the

organization is not predicted by any of the

three Gunas, Passion does predict the likeli-

hood of indulging in piracy for the organiza-

tion. Dullness predicts both perceived ethi-cality and likelihood of piracy for self. Results

show that those high on Dullness do not

consider software piracy for self as unethical

and that they are also likely to indulge in it.

All the results are in the expected direction

and provide evidence of the predictive

validity (predicting job-related attitudes and

behavior) of the scale.




15/21

Table 6 Means, sds, inter corelations, and reliabilities of the study variables Phase 4

Mean(sd) PES LS PEO LO Ill Pass Dull COS EDS EWS

PES 2.33 .94(1.12)

LS 3.32 .45*** .95

(1.20)PEO 2.67 .45*** .03 .97

(1.19)LO 3.58 .22*** .48*** .32*** .95

(1.15)Ill 3.53 .04*** .01 .04 .04 .52

(.80)Pa 3.49 .17 .19* .00 .14 .03 .72

(.71)Du 2.47 .09 .09 .19* .20 .10 .05 .75

(.74)

CO 3.57 .21* .13 .03 .00 .23* .01 .04 .76(.72)ED 2.84 .10 .00 .01 .07 .15 .11 .10 .54*** .85

(.83)EW 3.62 .07 .24** .07 .18 .09 .11 .54*** .16 .36*** .83

(.78)PB 2.57 .07 .12 .05 .07 .17 .01 .08 .32*** .37*** .36***

(.72)

R 3.53 .13 .09 .01 .02 .33*** .11 .10 .64*** .43*** .09(.78)

EOR 3.41 .15 .15 .19* .25** .09 .15 .09 .06 .19* .07(.75)

EOI 3.89 .08 .09 .16 .13 .26** .04 .25** .26** .21* .05(.51)

Note:N= 114. Figures along the diagonal are reliability coefficients (alpha). Abbreviations: PES and LS = Perceived Ethicality and Li

= Perceived Ethicality and Likelihood of Piracy for Organization. Ill = Illumination, Pa = Passion, Du = Dullness, CO = Cognitive

Dimension, EW = Existential Well-being, PB = Paranormal Beliefs, R = religiousness, EOR = Ethical OrientationRelativism, EOI

atMADURAIKAMRAJUNIVonJune18,2009

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Discussion and Conclusions

Most of the research on cross cultural under-

standing of ethics in the workplace has either

focused on behavioral responses of managers

(to the situations of ethical dimension) across

different cultures/nations, or on testing

American models across different cultures.

All these researches provide useful insights

into what people across different cultures do

when confronted with situations involving

ethical decision making, however under-

standing causes of these behaviors in terms of

culturally rooted explanations is likely to pro-

vide more significant understanding for

many reasons. First, it lets us know the origin

of the behavior; second, it provides for

exploring more than one reason for a par-

ticular behavior (Kumar, 2004). In this

research we have tried to understand the

behavior of managers in terms of the person-ality construct of Gunas explicated in tradi-

tional Indian philosophy. As has been men-

tioned earlier, although the interpretation

and prescriptive use of Gunas in the work-

place have been studied by some thinkers,

almost no systematic account of any empiri-

cal work in the organizational setting is avail-

able. We had started with the objective of

conceptualizing and measuring the three

Gunas personality factors identified in

Indian scriptures as predictors of ethical con-

duct and rooted in the concept of spirituality.

Researchers and practitioners have empha-

sized the relevance and importance of study-

ing these Gunas in the context of the work-

place, but most of the efforts have been

focused on prescribing the right or correct

way to live and act. Despite having under-

stood its importance, these constructs have

not been precisely defined or adequately

measured. This research shows the develop-

ment of a valid and reliable scale to measure

the three dimensions of Gunas.

The conceptualization of the three Gunas

in literature (The Gita) finds support in the

empirical evidence in this article. The emer-

gence of the same three factors in the same

order from different samples at different

points in time provides strong evidence for

construct validity and factor stability.

Of the three dimensions we started with,we realized Illumination was the most diffi-

cult to tap and hence it emerged as a third

factor. Illumination showed a positive rela-

tionship with spirituality and idealism, pro-

viding strong evidence of predictive and

convergent validity. As has been mentioned

in the earlier sections, thinkers and experts

on Indian philosophy feel that Illumination is

difficult to assess as it does not relate only to

here and now but is transcendental in nature.


Table 7 Zero-order, partial and multiple correlations among Spirituality and Gunas dimensions

Phase 4

Illumination Passion Dullness

Cognitive Orientation .231* (.229) .007 (.001) .038 (.015)

Experiential Dimension .152 (.162) .114 (.117) .104 (.127)

Existential Well-being .095 (.055) .114 (.168) .536** (.541)

Paranormal Beliefs .174 (.183) .013 (.012) .081 (.100)

Religiousness .331** (.324) .113 (.106) .103 (.071)

Multiple Correlation .340** .048 .170

Note:N= 114. Numbers in parentheses indicate partial correlation. Multiple correlations of aggregated Spirituality

score with each dimension of Gunaare reported.

* =p < .05, ** =p < .01.

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17/21

Spirituality too includes experiences that are

religious . . . mystical, transpersonal and

transcendental (MacDonald, 2000: 158).

The fact that spirituality and its dimensions

correlate positively with Illumination and

that it also predicts the use of idealism as an

ethical framework indicate that the items

used to measure Illumination capture the

essence of the construct as envisaged in TheGita.

Passion and Dullness have clear behav-

ioral manifestations and it is easier to tap

them on a personality scale. The results of

factor analysis from different samples provide

strong evidence of factor stability and con-

struct validity. However, Passion showed no

association with either spirituality or ethical

frameworks. Passion is closely associated with

modern-day managers. Chakraborty (1987:79) also observed that correspondence could

be seen between the attitude of the modern

man towards life and some of the characteris-

tics of Passion. These include love of fame,

pride, and display of power. However, Passion

predicts job-related attitudes and behavior,

though not for self. Results indicate that those

high on Passion (driven by fame and ambi-

tion) are likely to indulge in software piracy if

the organization expects them to.

Dullness showed strong factor stability

and some evidence of convergent validity. Its

negative association with one dimension of

spirituality provides some support for con-

vergent validity. Dullness also predicts job-

related attitude and behavior. People high on

Dullness do not consider software piracy as

unethical and are likely to indulge in it for

their personal benefit.Dullness and Illumination showed a

negative correlation in both the studies. As

explained earlier, Dullness was characterized

by lethargy, confusion and ignorance; where-

as Illumination is characterized by purity, and

clarity of thought and action (Chakraborty,

1985: 1878). It has been mentioned in The

Gita that strengthening of Illumination

hastens our approach towards a pure mind,

which means reducing or going away fromDullness, and that might be an explanation

for a negative relationship between the two.

It must be noted here that the scales on

ethical framework and spirituality have been

developed for a more universal sample and

the fact that Gunas relate to these scales pro-

vides a measure of cross cultural validity.

However, for a more robust and rigorous

test, cross cultural studies need to be con-

ducted.


Table 8 Regression results for Gunas as predictors of ethical frameworks and ethical

behavior Phase 4

Dependent variable

Predictor EOR EOI PES LS PEO LO

Illumination .099 .236** .016 .05 .043 .00

Passion .149 .021 .010 .15 .176 .198*

Dullness .103 .228** .190* .210* .103 .097

Model statistics R2 .04 .12 .04 .07 .04 .05

F 1.53 4.97** 1.398 2.54 1.585 1.809

df 3,110 3,110 3,110 3,110 3,110 3,110

Note:N= 114. Figures in bold are standardized beta coefficients. * = p < .05, ** =p < .01. For abbreviations,

please see Table 6.



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Limitations, Implications and

Future Research

Though the study provides useful insights

into the studied relationship, the results may

be viewed in the light of possible limitations.To begin with, all the variables were taken

from the same source and there is a possi-

bility of common methods variance (though

no major multicollinearity issues were con-

fronted in the study). Further, since all the

data were cross-sectional and were collected

at the same time (for any one study), the

causality can only be assumed but not con-

firmed. Lastly all the data collected through

self-reports are likely to be influenced bysocial desirability response bias. This bias

cannot be ruled out, but some researches

have shown that social desirability may not

be a source of bias in measuring organiza-

tional perceptions (Moorman and Podsakoff,

1992; Spector, 1987).

The study provides a possible predictor of

the ethical conduct of Indian managers in

terms of Gunas. Future research can take two

possible courses. In the first, the concept of

Gunasand their association with ethical con-

duct can be tested across different cultures in

a traditional cross cultural mode. It needs to

be noted in this context that although the

concept of Gunasis rooted in Indian culture,

it has the possibility of being applied to a uni-

versal sample. A broader cross cultural study

will be able to establish whether Gunas are

applicable universally or are relevant for

studying the Indian managers only. Besides

this, a cross-national study comparing Indianprofessionals working in India and abroad

is likely to establish the importance of the

context (country) in the manifestation and

operationalization of Gunas.

The second line of research would focus

on the aspect of developing a culture-specific

theory in more detail. Some researchers (e.g.

Roberts, 1970) have suggested that before

testing a theory across cultures, it is impor-

tant to understand its manifestation in one

culture in depth, thereby developing a

middle level theory. This middle level theory

once developed can subsequently be tested

across cultures. In this line of thought some

concepts that can be further explored in the

context of Gunas are ethical leadership andmotives of and motivators for Indian man-

agers, as some researchers (e.g. Chakraborty,

1985) suggest a relationship between Gunas,

leadership and drivers of behavior.

One of the objectives of cross cultural

research is to understand what it takes to

successfully manage people and organiza-

tions in different cultures. So what implica-

tions does this study have for managers in

multinational corporations to improve thecross cultural management of Indian pro-

fessionals? To begin with our study provides

personality dimensions of Indian managers,

which can be used for predicting their ethical

conduct. Since Gunas have the potential to

enable the understanding of the psyche of

Indian managers more holistically, using this

framework to understand the mindset of

Indian managers could be useful in devising

strategies and plans to manage and interactwith Indian managers more effectively. The

personality predispositions are also relevant

for understanding motives and motivations;

thus the framework can be used for the

design of human resource management

systems in general, and reward systems for

Indian managers in particular.

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Appendix 1

There are 2 situations in the 2 columns. Each situation has to be addressed in terms of 6 questions,

which are given in the rows. Please tick the answer of your choice for every situation on all 6 questions.

Situation 1 Situation 2

Your company has purchased Your company wishes to provide

a licensed version of the newest word processing capability on all

spreadsheet for use on a company its computers. They buy onePC. Although the license copy of the software package

restricts usage to a single PC, an and ask you to install it on all the

employee makes a copy, which is computers

taken home and installed on

the family PC.

Not Not

Very Not Not at all Very Not Not at all

true True sure true true true True sure true true

1. I think it is correct

to indulge in this activity.2. I consider this.

activity right.

3. I feel there is absolutely

nothing wrong with this

4. I am likely to do this.

5. There is a high

probability that I will

do this activity.

6. There are high chances

that I will do it.



21/21

KANIKA T. BHAL and NIVEDITA DEB-NATH are in the Department of ManagementStudies, Indian Institute of Technology, NewDelhi-110016 India.

All correspondence regarding this article may beaddressed to Dr Kanika T. Bhal, AssociateProfessor in the Department of ManagementStudies. [email: [email protected];[email protected]]


Rsum

Conceptualisation et Mesure des Gunas : Facteurs prdictifs de lthique des

professionnels indiens sur leur lieu de travail (Kanika T. Bhal and Nivedita

Debnath)

Les chercheurs dans le domaine de la recherche cross-culturelle ont mis laccent sur la nces-

sit dtudier en profondeur une culture en particulier pour comprendre les causes complex-

es des comportements que manifeste ses managers dans une culture. Cet article rend compte

de la conceptualisation et de la mesure du construit indien de Gunas li la personnalit;

facteur prdictif possible de lthique des dirigeants indiens. Le livre sacr indien Gitaidenti-

fie trois construits de la personnalit, dsignes collectivement sous le nom de Gunasqui sont

considres applicables la comprhension du comportement thique. Larticle rend compte

du dveloppement dune chelle de mesure des trois Gunas Inspiration, Passion et Morosit,

par un processus en quatre tapes. Dans un premier temps, on gnre les dfinitions des con-

struits et les articles des trois Gunas. Les seconde, troisime et quatrime tapes rapportent les

tudes empiriques entreprises sur diffrents chantillons afin dvaluer le facteur de stabilit,

la fiabilit, le discriminant, et les validits de lchelle. Lchelle est utilise pour prvoir les

cadres spirituels et thiques et les actes de piratage logicielle dans les organisations. On dbat

aussi bien les implications pour la recherche cross-culturelle que celles pour la pratique.

Kanika T. Bhal and Nivedita Debnath

Kanika T. Bhal and Nivedita Debnath

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