DBA THESIS (2008) OK Baji as an Exemplar of Phronetic Leadership Hideki Kawada DBA Program in International Business Strategy Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy Hitotsubashi University 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 10 Phronesis: practical wisdom to serve social good ................................................................ 10 Three elements of phronesis ................................................................................................. 13 Thesis Overview ................................................................................................................... 15 Part One: Theoretical basis of phronesis.................................................................................. 18 Chapter 1 Literature Review .................................................................................................... 19 1.1 Emerging social awareness ........................................................................................ 19 1.2 Management and Society ........................................................................................... 22 1.3 Theory of Knowledge Creation ................................................................................. 24 Chapter 2 Methodology ........................................................................................................... 44 2.1 Research procedures .................................................................................................. 44 2.2 Reliability, Validity and Sources of data ................................................................... 46 2.3 Analysis...................................................................................................................... 49 Part Two: Description of OK Baji’s way of living ................................................................... 51 Chapter 3 OK Baji’s Life ......................................................................................................... 52 3.1 OK Baji’s first step towards social services ............................................................... 53 3.2 OK Baji’s pleasure ..................................................................................................... 61 Chapter 4 The Village of Bhalaytar in Eastern Palpa .............................................................. 66 4.1 Bhalaytar .................................................................................................................... 66 4.2 Organizations to improve the villages ....................................................................... 78 Chapter 5 Firsthand experience alongside OK Baji ................................................................. 83 5.1 First time experiencing OK Baji’s social services: The four-day trek of 2001 .......... 84 5.2 Second time experiencing OK Baji’s social services: The seven-day trek of 2004 ... 97 5.3 OK Baji’s busiest morning of 2006 ......................................................................... 105 5.4 Insights from observing OK Baji’s way of living .................................................... 112 Part Three: OK Baji’s phronesis ............................................................................................ 118 Chapter 6 Social good served by OK Baji ............................................................................. 119 6.1 Overview of social good served by OK Baji ........................................................... 120 6.2 Medical Support ....................................................................................................... 124 6.3 Educational support ................................................................................................. 134 6.4 Others projects ......................................................................................................... 148 6.5 Nepalese perspectives on the social good served by OK Baji ................................. 152 6.6 Summary of the social good served by OK Baji ...................................................... 159 Chapter 7 OK Baji’s virtuous habits for decision-making and taking action ........................ 162 3 7.1 Examples of OK Baji’s decisions ............................................................................ 162 7.2 Examples of OK Baji’s actions ................................................................................ 171 Chapter 8 OK Baji’s Values and Ethics ................................................................................. 186 8.1 Becoming selfless .................................................................................................... 187 8.2 Becoming useful ...................................................................................................... 195 8.3 Summary of OK Baji’s values and ethics ................................................................ 198 Chapter 9 Extension of OK Baji’s phronesis ......................................................................... 201 9.1 OK Baji’s extending influence in Nepal .................................................................. 201 9.2 OK Baji’s extending influence in Japan ................................................................... 210 9.3 OK Baji’s influence on my life ................................................................................ 212 9.4 The process of change in my life ............................................................................. 219 Chapter 10 Case Study: OK Baji Cup volleyball tournament ............................................... 223 10.1 Background .............................................................................................................. 223 10.2 The first OK Baji Cup .............................................................................................. 231 10.3 The second OK Baji Cup ......................................................................................... 235 10.4 The third OK Baji Cup ............................................................................................. 239 10.5 The fourth OK Baji Cup .......................................................................................... 242 10.6 Future tournaments .................................................................................................. 245 10.7 Extending phronesis through Ba .............................................................................. 248 Part Four: Summary and Conclusion ..................................................................................... 253 Chapter 11 Findings and learning from OK Baji ................................................................... 254 11.1 A way of life that creates social knowledge to better society .................................. 256 11.2 Cultivating phronesis over time ............................................................................... 266 11.3 Limitation of thesis and future challenges ............................................................... 269 11.4 Personal takeaways .................................................................................................. 271 11.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 280 Appendix A: Unedited Diary Transcripts of the Seven-day Trek of 2004 ......................... 283 Appendix B: Projects OK Baji has completed in Eastern Palpa (as of March 2004) ........ 293 Appendix C: Construction of the Shree Krishna Devi Secondary School ......................... 296 Appendix D: The Collapse of Local NGOs ....................................................................... 297 Appendix E: Sample Applications to the Himal Scholarship Fund ................................... 298 Appendix F: Himal Scholarship Fund Application Data: 2003 to 2007 ............................ 299 4 Acknowledgements - To my friends, mentors, and loved ones - It has been a long, long journey to develop this thesis. Throughout the process of the field study to develop a thesis, I have come to realize that I am such a lucky guy. I have been supported and encouraged by an indescribable number of people in this process. I would like to thank deeply the following people: people who supported my safe and comfortable stays while conducting this field research in the heart of the mountains of Nepal, people who gave me intellectual support, and people who have encouraged me from the very beginning and all the way through to the completion of this thesis. I would like to give my deepest and sincerest acknowledgements to the following tremendous individuals. First, I would like to thank Kazumasa Kakimi (OK Baji) who served as the exemplar for this field research as well as my role model. Direct experiences with him in the heart of the mountains of Nepal were the genesis of this research. Without meeting him, I would have never come to visit Nepal regularly and had such impressive experiences with the children and villagers in Nepal. Through direct interaction with him, I have learned new perspectives as well as important values in my life that I will always hold dear. I am deeply grateful to those children at Shree Krishna Secondary School in Bhalaytar Village, Nepal. It