Findings show that good alignment between personal and corporate values or objectives usually results in beneficial consequences such as increased commitment and performance. An example of bad alignment is the mismatch of talent - i.e. placing a high-performing person in a situation that is not clear of his or her values or talents - which leads to disengagement, so-called underemployment or underutilisation of talents, and eventual loss of talents. The notion of loyalty that is usually hailed as a virtue among employees turns out to be a two-edged sword, as it brings about loyalty and determination, but it can also lead to unethical silence or maintenance of bad elements in the staff in an ill-conceived sense of duty . Talking about these results, we use the story of Karna as a good metaphor to say that the HR leaders should strike a balance between thankfulness and loyalty, meritocratic alignment and ethical clarity.
Karna, Mahabharata, Dharma, Loyalty, Leadership, Ethics, Strategy, HR, Modern Human Resource Management, Decision Making, Talent Misalignment.
Colonel Prof Dr. N N Murthy, Dr. Harikumar Pallathadka. Karna’s Relevance to Strategic HR in Corporate Corridors. Indian Journal of Modern Research and Reviews. 2026; 4(5):43-48
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