Like President Saddam Hussain's "mother of all battles", religion too, is the mother of all of management science. It puts into practice all that management theory has to offer and sometimes disproves standard principles of management with great aplomb. The dictionary defines religion as a set of beliefs that promote the worship of GOD--a supernatural concept. Management is defined as a set of principles and practices (planning, motivation and control) to achieve organizational objectives. Both definitions are deceptively similar. Is religion then a "higher" or a more superior form of management?

There is no doubt that "religion" is marketers' delight! Marketing managers would give their right arms for attaining the kind of cost-effective success that religion achieves in "selling" its "product" (or "service"). Imagine a scenario in which GOD as the executive chairman of this large organization called "Human Being Incorporated" runs the show with his lieutenants--the religious leaders, who in turn, promise their followers of eternal bliss (this is the "product") if they adhere to a certain mode of behavior and rituals. Different religions are like subsidiaries of this huge organization manufacturing the same product, but with different technologies, none inferior to the other. Let us examine why traditional managers would dream of being a part of such a set-up. Remember! You and I are customers using the product that this corporation offers.

Our purpose today is not to belittle religious beliefs, but to discuss how we behave so differently when it comes to matters pertaining to religion.

Lifelong Brand Loyalty:
Most of the customers (you and me) are born into a religion and hardly anything has to be therefore done to get them into the fold. Ask a traditional manager how difficult it is to get a new customer and then to retain his/her loyalty towards your brand of the product. Millions are spent to first create a brand and then to ensure brand loyalty. In religion, everything is automatic and that too without spending a rupee. There are, of course, rare cases of brand switching but those are so few and far between that we can ignore them.

No expenses on advertisement and sales promotion:
Imagine getting such phenomenal brand loyalty without having to spend much on advertising and sales promotion. No T-shirts, no collection of “crown-caps” and no special offers are necessary here. So dedicated is the bank of loyal customers that they take it upon themselves to educate other fellow customers about the "greatness" of the product. Can you show another "self-perpetuating" idea that has been working so successfully for centuries? Every member of the sect is a sales promotion agent himself. It is very difficult for a "customer" to therefore, switch brands and go over to the competition. A marketing manager would love to be in this situation--won't he?

No after sales service, here:
The "product" is such that there is no need for any after-sales service. The product is supposed to be consumed in short doses throughout the lifetime of the customer. We keep looking up to the religious leaders to exhort us in the name of the executive chairman--GOD. The best part is that there is no accountability (demanded from these leaders) for the promised rewards. There are cases where rituals are performed to "appease" someone or to bring good luck to the customer, in one of his projects or ventures; but if the project fails, the giver of the service is not held responsible at all. Now let us compare this to another real life situation. Imagine buying a readymade software from the market, to carry out a particular task and then realizing after purchasing it that it does not do the intended operations. It would not take a moment for the customer to hold the supplier responsible and if he continues to be dissatisfied with the service provided thereafter, the customer ensures that he does not buy from the same source again. Why do we behave so differently when it comes to "religion" and all that it promises?

Customers do no insist on understanding what is going on:
This is so peculiar and different from what we otherwise do, that it has to be “seen, to be believed”. In every Hindu home there have been "kathas" (satyanarayan) or "aartis" which are regularly performed. How many of us understand the significance of the actions that we undertake and the meaning of the words that the "guruji" says or makes us say. The other day I got a shock when I realized that a large percentage of our school going children do no know the full meaning of our national anthem--and they will be singing it for their entire lifetime--with great pride. Imagine being proud of a thing that you do not even understand. What is truly baffling is that little efforts are being made to rectify the situation.

Western nations are "ahead" of us, even here. Recently, when I was interacting with some American teenagers, I was blithely told (by the few who could recite it) that "the star spangled banner" their national anthem, was sung only during football games.

We have thus spawned a society which is argumentative and very aware of its rights when it comes to consumer goods and services, but in matters of religion, they do not mind being strangely passive and ignorant. They would accept many things as gospel (pun unintended) truths just because they have been indoctrinated like that from childhood. Friends, do you realize that we have a "customer" here who does not mind not understanding what the seller is saying and who in spite of this, promises to be loyal. If this is not "marketing utopia", I don't know what else is?

"Mr. Prakash Shesh, the author, has done his MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad after his Masters in Physics from I.I.T. New Delhi. You may send your feedback to him by choosing an option at the top right corner of this page."