Nga kai arahi tuitui Maori : Maori entrepreneurship : the articulation of leadership and the dual constituency arrangements associated with Maori enterprise in a capitalist economy : a thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Massey University, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand
Entrepreneurial leadership is today developing as a significant factor in efforts among tribal Maori to maximise and consolidate their resources assets. Maori have come to recognise that to attain economic viability and take advantage of marketplace opportunities requires calculated risk-taking. Individuals who can assess, manage and contain risk and have the capacity and audacity, it would seem, to turn ideas into real, tangible commercial success. The current groundswell of tribal entrepreneurship has been spurred on by the increasing number of successful localised Maori businesses; changes in government economic policy; a predominant increase in the numbers of Maori members of parliament and a review of significant legislation that has historically impeded Maori economic self-determination. As Treaty of Waitangi settlements and fisheries entitlements claims have in one sense compelled the long standing Maori Trust Boards to reconstitute themselves to provide mechanisms of controlling, managing and investing it capital, it has also necessitated the need to adapt western styles of financial and managerial accountability. This study aims to examine the significance of entrepreneurship as a level of leadership required to assist Maori, in particular tribal iwi, to move into what is widely described as the era of "neo-tribal" post-modernism. The 'tribal entrepreneurs', as distinct from those 'Maori' who happen to be entrepreneurs, are by definition individuals who simultaneously walk two distinct, complex and yet significantly complementary cultural/economic pathways. What ultimately sets such leaders apart is their distinct bicultural position, the manner in which they attempt to negotiate their 'identities' and realities and meaning and significance of a set of unique ethical considerations. Within this study the notions of network systems, stakeholders and dual constituency arrangements are addressed. The importance of these is seen in the fact that entrepreneurs work between a complex set of arrangements and engage primarily in problem-solving, identifying gaps, managing change and weighing up options. This study also takes the view that the positivist and non-positivist arguments concerning research and theory validate each other as they both require explanations and justifications of the other. It follows that even for entrepreneurs, there is reason to accept and adopt a rational positivist framework and integrate this into 'human factors' that revolve around their intuition, feelings, hunches and emotions. Entrepreneurs are seen as risk takers in an intellectual, financial and interpersonal sense who pursue opportunities when all else seems uncertain. Their very livelihoods depend on their abilities to respond quickly and positively to market gaps and to market opportunities and as such they are architects and controllers of their destinies. This study aims to capture the tensions, relationships and commercial realities of Maori entrepreneurs as they go about their activities. They, it is argued, provide the necessary tier of business leadership, complementary to that of tribal political leadership required to make economic development and commercial investments viable options.
Entrepreneurship, Maori entrepreneurs, Maori in business
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