There are two kinds of players in any sector: Those who offer high quality at a high price, and those who offer low quality for a low price. A customer chooses depending on his priority.
However, no one can compromise on quality when it comes to critical items like food, beverages and medicines. Otherwise, it could prove fatal for a consumer.
Chanakya not only emphasised on quality checks but also set up government control methods in his day and age to ensure that quality does not suffer: “For perishable goods, a retraction may be allowed with the restriction ‘It shall not be sold elsewhere’. In case of transgression of that, the fine is twenty-four panas or one-tenth of the goods” (3.15.7-8).
In the above verse, we see that—only for perishable commodities—Chanakya sets a policy that it has to be consumed within a particular region. He even defines the punishment if this is not followed.
Now how does one ensure quality for products and services in one’s own organisation? Here are some tips:
Dr Radhakrishnan Pillai is an Indian management thinker, author, and Founder of Atma Darshan and Chanakya Aanvikshiki. Dr Pillai has extensively researched Kautilya’s Arthashastra, the 3rd century BC treatise and incorporated it into modern management.
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