Balancing cultural and commercial imperatives : a study of Māori and Aboriginal entrepreneurs : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management, School of Management, Massey Business School, Massey University, Palmerston North

Abstract

Indigenous entrepreneurship is increasingly establishing itself as a legitimate research discipline, with theoretical development as one of the priorities. This thesis seeks to explain how Māori and Aboriginal Australian entrepreneurs balance cultural and commercial imperatives in their entrepreneurial practice. The research is contextualised around Ngāti Porou entrepreneurs in the Tairāwhiti East Coast region of Aotearoa New Zealand, and Noongar, Wanghkatha and Gumbaynggir entrepreneurs located in the Perth locality of Western Australia. The research is approached with an integrated research epistemology consisting of Kaupapa Māori, Indigenous standpoint theory and Western methods including semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis. The thesis finds that Māori entrepreneurs negotiate cultural and commercial imperatives whilst Aboriginal entrepreneurs navigate cultural and commercial imperatives. Negotiation is taken to mean an ongoing interaction to reach an acceptable accommodation of both cultural and commercial imperatives; and navigation suggests a process of overcoming or working around barriers to achieve cultural and commercial imperatives. A conceptual framework of reconciling cultural and commercial imperatives is developed that illustrates the process of reconciling imperatives in Indigenous entrepreneurship. The thesis suggests that identity and contextual factors inclusive of Indigenous culture, colonial and postcolonial structures such as racism, mainstream attitudes, and discrimination, play a significant role in determining how Māori and Aboriginal entrepreneurs balance imperatives.