THE PHILOSOPHY OF KELEBUTAN AS BALI’S BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CULTURE

Going concern is a fundamental concept in business development. The means to flourish a potential business must be coupled with the preservation of environmental quality functions through local wisdom in economic, environmental, socio-cultural, and even spiritual aspects. There is an interesting Balinese business development concept called kelebutan or sumber mata air in Indonesian.

Kelebutan means water resources located in various locations on Earth, including lowlands, highlands, mountain cliffs, and even rock gaps. This concept is interpreted as providing benefits first to those around the spring, then giving them to those that are more distant. Just like a spring, the flow of water wets the nearest location of the source of the spring, then the water flows even further. Unlike the piping system, for example the piping of a Regional Drinking Water Company (PDAM), the drinking water is flowed from a distribution plant to a certain area. The piping system does not give priority to the immediate environment, but the benefits are directly distributed to the main destination of the pipeline.

            Water is the essence of everything and has become a very important need for human life and other living things, especially for Hindus in Bali. Balinese Hindus believe that water inherit the characteristics of Vishnu, the God of life caretaker, with water as his symbol. Hence, the kelebutan concept should be applied in business. It carries three key benefits of water, namely (1) kelebutan as water resources, (2) kelebutan as resources for botanical life and irrigation system, and (3) kelebutan as resources for holy water and medicine. 

1.    Kelebutan as water resources

            Kelebutan as water resources for the community has many benefits, including to be consumed as drinking water, processed for cooking ingredients, and even used to clean our body and our items. This concept can be applied in business as a comparative advantage that benefits many people. Based on the theory of comparative advantage, a business can increase its standard of living and income if the business specializes in the production of goods or services that have high productivity and efficiency. In other words, comparative advantage emphasizes on the fact that production process of products or services will be more efficient if carried out in the most suitable place, even though the actual production can be carried out anywhere else.

            Comparative advantage is not intended to compete with each other and bring down other competitors, but aims to find business opportunities and strive to increase productivity and efficiency. The concept of comparative advantage will create a good impression for all stakeholders in the business, so that a sense of belonging will arise within them. The sense of belonging here means a situation where stakeholders feel the benefits of the comparative advantage, therefore they feel like “owning” the business and will wholeheartedly protect and preserve it. In line with the kelebutan concept, if the community gets many benefits, they tend to reciprocate by maintaining, preserving, and protecting the spring.

2.    Kelebutan as resources for botanical life and irrigation system

            Kelebutan as resources for botanical life and irrigation system means providing benefits to the surrounding environment in meeting daily needs. The benefits in this case can be seen from two sides, namely internal and external. Internally, the surrounding botanical life has the ability to store water through their roots, thus even in the dry season, the immediate land still has water reserves that can deliver benefits to the community, especially agriculture. From the external side, water provides benefits to nourish the surrounding botanical life and for the irrigation process. Water is an important element in the growth of botanical plants and agriculture, so it is beneficial for the survival of the surrounding community.

            The benefits of kelebutan certainly need to be applied by a business, which it must be able to have an impact on the surrounding community, especially in terms of meeting their basic needs so that the community takes initiatives to help the sustainability of the business. In this case, the botanical life is symbolized as an immune system that is able to maintain business under any circumstances, be it the dry season or the rainy season. The botanical life is symbolized as the community around the kelebutan, while the kelebutan itself is symbolized as the business. The mutualistic symbiosis that occurs between business and society will create a bond leading to the concept of dependency and going concern.

3.    Kelebutan as resources for holy water and medicine

            Kelebutan can be used by the community as resources for holy water and medicine, especially the Balinese as spiritual cleansing water. For Balinese people, water is sacred because water is always present in every ceremony. It is believed that the water comes from kelebutan said to be efficacious as a deterrent to distress. If kelebutan is believed to have many benefits in terms of spirituality and health, then many people are willing to go to there, be it from the surrounding community or even from the distant ones. In accordance, a business must have a competitive advantage over a product or service produced in order to create more value. Competitive advantage is a uniqueness in business that is created through owned resources, which in turn produces financial efficiency for the business.

            Based on the three benefits above, then a business should apply the kelebutan concept, which is part of Bali’s local wisdom. The benefits of business activities must be prioritized towards their immediate environment in order for a business to get more support.