Tzu Chi Foundation - Case Study Example

and Section # of Tzu Chi Foundation The happiness and contentment that one feels by helping others and bringing a smile on the needy is priceless. It cannot match up to any other kind of happiness. Humanity is going through a tough time, with so many people in need of support, shelter and love amongst all the depression and economic issues. This is where charity becomes such an important part of this society. The company that I am associated with is Tzu Chi foundation. Tzu Chi foundation is charitable organization that has been working for the cause of humanity for about44 years. What started as a household initiative is now spread across the whole of United States of America. Tzu Chi foundation gives a message of peace and prosperity for all. Tzu Chi foundation is a charity organization. This foundation has started from a household. It was an initiative taken by the house wives, who saved two cents from their grocery shopping in order to help the poor with the various projects. In the start there were only 30 members, all house wives saving money from the grocery. The charity has expanded and now has become a multinational charity, operating in more than 47 countries. The charity today has about 5 million members across the world. Studying the expansion of the organization and the followership, it can be termed as a multinational company, gaining momentum to become the global company. The only difference is that the various initiatives that are being taken by the charity are according to the needs of the various countries in which it is operating. Although it has global presence, it would actually term to be global when the functions are streamlined all across the world. The core value which keeps the drive alive in the people of the Tzu Chi foundation and is the grounding factor of all their endeavors is something that their Master Cheng Yen believed in. According to her, the poverty existing in our world is not because of shortage of funds, or the material deprivation that is faced by many. It is the spiritual and mental deprivation that is the reason behind poverty and suffering. Lack of altruistic love for others, the ones in suffering, is the main reason people are suffering today. She believed that the ones who have are not feeling the pain of those who don’t have and hence there is lack of mutual sharing of resources that would benefit all. This is the basic strategy, purpose and product of the organization. To provide a connection amongst the two classes of people present in the society; the one who have and the ones who don’t have. It acts like an intermediary to re-locate funds from the people who feel altruism in their hearts and makes sure it reaches the ones who need them in the right manner and quantity. The process of benevolent giving is the major product of this organization. However, in addition to the charity-related endeavors, the organization is also providing help in the fields of medicine, environmental protection and International aid and relief work. Tzu Chi foundation is proud to be associated with the establishment of the third largest marrow donor registry in the world. Apart from these activities, the organization promotes volunteerism on community level and the preaching of humanistic values in day to day affairs, paving way for the development of a peaceful society as marked by the teachings of the buddhahood. Identifying the basic services provided by the organization, the main products can be outlined as follows (Tzu Chi Foundation Services, 2010): 1. Charity: Under this service, the organization provides financial, medical, spiritual etc to those in need. This help is sometimes short term and sometimes as long as a decade. There are some familial helps that are going on since a decade. Around 200 volunteers from the United States of America work to help these distressed families out. Tzu Chi also provides relief to those who have been struck with a disaster such as a fire, earthquake etc. Tzu Chi has helped the survivors of 1992 riots in Los Angeles, the 2003 and 2007 Southern California fires, Hurricane Isabelle in 2003, Arkansas tornado in 2009; to name a few. Apart from this, the company volunteers visit homes and provide companionship and spiritual help to those who have been struck with hardships. Homeless services are also provided to the homeless in New York, Washington DC, Honolulu etc, including several meals a day. International relief work started from 1994 in Mexico and since then the organization has been involved in International relief services in Haiti, Mexico, and Afghanistan etc and in the Tsunami devastated areas in Sri Lanka. 2. Medicine: The Tzu Chi Dental Community Clinic, the Tzu Chi Community clinic, The Buddhist Tzu Chi Free clinic; are some of the medical initiatives taken by the Tzu Chi foundation. These clinics provide medical facilities of different sorts to patients without any discrimination. Apart from these, various support programs, mobile dental vans and medical outreach programs are working simultaneously to increase awareness regarding community health. The most notable in the medicine section is the ‘The Tzu Chi International Medical Association’. It is an alliance of over 5000 doctors from all over the world who volunteer to provide their services anywhere in the world. 3. Education: the initiatives taken by Tzu Chi in education are following the four immeasurable teachings of Buddha; Kindness, Compassion, Joy and Unselfish giving. Following these guidelines, the Tzu Chi Academy provides weekend school programs of Chinese language and humanitarian studies as well. Community classes, teacher’s education initiatives and pre-school teaching, all are being provided under different programs and settings, all under the umbrella of Tzu Chi Foundation. 4. Humanistic Culture: the culture of the organization is the culture of humanity, based on the teachings of Buddha. These teachings are what the volunteers experience and these volunteers are actively spreading the culture to those around them. Radio and Da Ai Tv broadcasts interviews and true narratives about the goodness. The organization also publishes a journal by the name of Tzu Chi USA Journal, which was first published in 1990 in Chinese. The first English version was published in 2002. Website was launched in 2007. These initiatives tell the readers about the various initiatives taken by the organization and its volunteers, upcoming events, special reports and all related information. Since it is a charity organization and works as an intermediary, therefore there are a bigger number of volunteers working for the organization. According to official release, there are about 5 million people working as volunteers in the organization all over the world. The organization basically has is working through 62 offices throughout the US. The labor is organized according to the kind of services being provided to their customers, who in this case are the needy. The industry it is working in is termed as a non-profit Organization management (LinkedIn, 2010). The organization’s culture depicts love and care for humanity in all walks of life. It helps instigate the feeling of altruistic love for all. Therefore, the organization works on the principles outlined by their founder. The foundation’s guiding principle is ‘help the poor and educate the rich’. Therefore, in essence the organization is working to educate the ones who have the financial power and develop a sense of giving in them so that in turn the people in need are benefitting. In quintessence, the organization works as an intermediary. Its strategy is to strive to provide love and humanistic values to both the ones of the receiving end and the giving end. The organization achieves this goal by encouraging a humanistic culture in its organization. The culture of the organization is greatly helping in the cause/ purpose of the organization. The culture is something that the volunteers experience and it purifies their minds and souls (Tzu Chi Foundation, 2010). Works Cited Tzu Chi Foundation. “Services”. Tzu Chi Foundation. 15 February 2010. http://www.us.tzuchi.org/usa/home.nsf/service/index Tzu Chi Foundation. “About Us”. Tzu Chi Foundation. 11 February 2010. http://www.us.tzuchi.org/usa/home.nsf/about/index LinkedIn. “Tzu Chi Foundation”. Linked In. 13 February 2010 Read More