Chapter – 4 Business Administration of the Spiritual Centers (Sansthans)
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Chapter – 4 Business Administration of The Spiritual Centers (Sansthans) 4.1 Business: Any Business activity that generates the economic opportunities can be categorized in to two sectors, the first being the “Manufacturing Sector” and the second being the “Service Sector.” Manufacturing Sector: The firms engaged in the business of producing - buying - selling the products. Service Sector: The firms engaged in the business of providing the services are the “Service Organizations”. It is absolutely immaterial whether it is a company, a corporation, partnership, or has any such formal organization, but it can either be a street peddler or the big Multinational Corporate Entity.1 The Spiritual Centers (Sansthans) being the organizations engaged in the activity (function) of service providing has been considered as the „Service Sector‟. 4.1.1 Forms of business The business can be developed in many ways taking into account the involvement of the promoters, the requirement of the capital, the motive of profit or not for profit and so on. Based on these facts a Business can broadly be described into various forms which are as follows --- Sole proprietorship Partnership Corporation Cooperative Franchises A company limited by guarantee A company limited by shares 1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business browsed on 22 June 2018. 129 4.1.2 Classification of Business The business can be broadly categorized and classified as under – Agriculture Financial services Entertainment Industrial manufacturers Real estate Trading Transportation Utilities 4.1.3 The major factors affecting how a business is organized are usually: The size and scope of the business firm, its structure, management and the ownership, broadly analyzed in the theory of the firm. Generally, a smaller business is more flexible, while larger businesses, or those with wider ownership or more formal structures, will usually tend to be organized as corporations or (less often) partnerships. In addition, a business that wishes to raise money on a stock market or to be owned by a wide range of people will often be required to adopt a specific legal form to do so. Private profit-making businesses are different from government-owned bodies. In some countries, certain businesses are legally obliged to be organized in certain ways. Different structures are treated differently in tax law and may have advantages for this reason. Different business structures may be required to make less or more information public (or report it to relevant authorities) and may be bound to comply with different rules and regulations. 130 4.2. Non Profit making Organization A non-profit organization (NPO) is an organization which comes under the Service Sector. A non-profit organization (NPO) is one which is not driven by profit but by dedication to a given cause that is the target of all income beyond what it takes to run the organization2. Non-profit organizations are often used for trusts, cooperatives, advocacy and charity, environmental and religious groups. Many but not all NPOs have paid staff in management positions; almost all use volunteers. NPOs have no owners for surplus profits to go to and any surplus after operating expenses are used to further its goals instead of being distributed between members or employees of the organization. For an NPO to qualify as a government-recognized and tax-exempt organization it has to fulfill conditions set out by government agencies. In the United States, the IRS determines the validity and tax status of NPOs. NPOs often rely on the dedication of employees who believe in their cause because it‟s hard for them to compete with private sector wages. On the other hand, executive salaries are often quite high as a means of competing with equivalent positions in the private sector. Funding can be an issue for non-profits as they often rely on external sources, such as donations. Scrupulous accounting, transparency and accountability are essential to continuation of operations, as mismanaged or misdirected funds could result in the loss of funding from both public and private sources and loss of status. The terms NPO and NGO (non-government organization) are also often used interchangeably but they are different. NGOs are separate from government and require no government council but depend on the government for funding. However, most NGOs are also non-profit organizations. The terms of nonprofit making organization would be different, as it differently focuses the various aspects of NPO. Some of the NPO‟s usually focus its Functions and Features, 2 https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/non-profit-organization-NPO Browsed on 22 June 2018. 131 while the others focus on its objectives and Missions. The concept of “nonprofit” can be better understood from - Taxation perspective - The NPO is an Organization that enjoys the special tax status as well as the status of an organization not distributing any profits. Functional perspective - An organization engaged in performing the public tasks such as protection of the environment, social service providing, and an organization also engaged in performing the tasks for which there is a great demand from the society but at the same time there is no supply from the “organizations for profits” and also no supply at all from the government, such as Religious activity, Art and Museum etc. So, it is clear from the above mentioned different perspectives that, the NPO‟s are definitely not formed for the purpose of profit making, meaning thereby the NPO‟s are not commercially motivated and also not committed to distribute the profits to the different stakeholders of the NPO. The NPO‟s are on the other hand formed with the very basic objective of serving the common public. In nut shell the NPO is a self governing and voluntary type of organization operating for the benefit of the public. 4.2.1 Other terms popularly used for NPO . Independent Sector . Nongovernmental Organization . Third Sector . Nonproprietary Organization . The Commons . Voluntary Sector . Peoples Organization . Charitable Sector . Civil Society . Community Organization 132 4.2.2 Why Non profits? According to the Economic Theory, there emerge and establish the NPO basically due to the following reasons more specifically which can be described as either due to the Market failure or due to the Government failure.3 4.2.2.1 Formation of NPO due to the Market failure – The kind of services offered and the types of services provided to the society in general are managed mostly by the “Not for Profit organizations” simply because the “For Profit Organizations” are usually not interested in such social activities. It is because such social activities are not generating any revenues and obviously such activities do not enjoy any economic and financial potential for the organization engaged in such activities. Rather it is worth to mention the fact that neither any organization without a profit motive can establish on its own nor can it have the strong success in the future. An organization can be formed with an intention to serve the society purely on not for profit basis but it will have to face the evils of the financial stability on account of “Market Failure”. 4.2.2.2 Formation of NPO due to the Government failure – A very high cost structure along with very limited response by the public are the main reasons why the Government is not interested in providing the services to the public. In the absence of the large part of the population demanding the services, the Government is unlikely to enter the service providing area to the common public. In such a situation a small group of individuals form an organization not for profit to provide the services to the public. The Government usually does not prefer to involve into the activity of service providing to all the community. The community at the same time also assumes the reluctant approach of the Government in the active participation of the service providing in each and every aspect of the society. This situation gives the booster dose to the process of formation of the NPO. 3 www.learningtogive.org/resources/npo 133 4.2.3 Features of NPO • Special Tax Status is enjoyed. • The profits (if any) are not distributed. • Focus mostly the Social Activities. • Serves the common public and not to generate the Revenue. • Self Governing voluntary organization. 4.2.4 Area of working of NPO • Promotion of education for women, children and the deprived sections of society. • Arrangement of Food for the hungry and needy. • Pollution control and the Environment Protection. • Promotion of health services. • Water Conservation. • Protection of the depletion of the Natural Resources. • Protection of human rights and to fight against its violations. • Rehabilitation of the victims of the displaced people due to the development projects • Plantation of the trees. • Disposal of the wastes. 4.2.5 Advantages of NPO • More Human Face to it. • Much effective as it is Volunteer based. 134 • The Team of expert Volunteers. • Field based development activity. • Commitments for the fairly long period of time. • Present where the Government is unable to reach. • Low cost structure. 4.3 The „Spiritual Centers (Sansthans)‟ In a country like India, having a multi- dimensional culture and multi- religious background the existence and widespread growth of the Worship centers is obvious in nature. Here the researcher has classified the worship centers into two broad categories viz. Deosthans and Sansthans. 4.3.1 Deosthans:- A worship center in the form of the Temple of the “Deities”, God and Goddesses is categorized as the “Deosthans.” The Deosthans are the worship centers where the “Antiquated Deities” are worshipped. The most of the Temples in India especially the Hindu Temples are dedicated to Lord Shiva, Lord Ganesha, Lord Hanuman, Lord Vishnu, Lord Krishna, Lord Rama, Goddesses Laxmi, Saraswati, Durga, and Kali.