Indigenous Entrepreneurial Orientation: Exploring Entrepreneurial Orientation with Māori Entrepreneurs

Abstract

Entrepreneurial orientation (EO) refers to policies and business practices that are entrepreneurial and reflected through five dimensions: innovativeness, risk taking, proactiveness, autonomy and competitive aggressiveness. While existing studies research EO, most do not recognise contextual differences. Thus, in an Indigenous context, EO has not been adequately studied and therefore this thesis focuses on exploring entrepreneurial orientation from an Indigenous Māori perspective. An Indigenous perspective on EO, recognises contextual factors that influence the mental modes and behaviour of Indigenous entrepreneurs. Existing theories of EO suggest that EO is a disposition and behaviour, and this thesis combines both views to develop a model for exploring EO in an Indigenous context. The antecedents of EO were drawn from existing Indigenous entrepreneurship literature on the socio-cultural, political, economic and environmental factors that influence Indigenous entrepreneurs and their business practices. Two main antecedents comprised of seven factors were identified as influencing Indigenous entrepreneur’s perception of EO in their specific worldview and the entrepreneurial ecosystem within which they operate. The notion of worldview encapsulates Indigenous views of existence, self-determination, social network, and environment. The entrepreneurial ecosystem includes influencing factors from government policies, economic and market opportunities. These theories and factors inform the theoretical framework for exploring an Indigenous view of EO in this thesis. As a non-Indigenous researcher, I acknowledged my position and adopt research processes that enabled me to approach participants as a learner. In creating the research design to gain Indigenous insights and perspective, a cross-context approach suggested by Kovach (2010) was adopted. A cross-context approach uses methods and concepts within Indigenous contexts to explore a Western concept/theory to construct new meanings. This research utilised a social constructivist paradigm using an open structured conversational method commonly used in Indigenous studies, primarily drawing on interview data from 31 Māori entrepreneurs from across New Zealand. The interviews were analysed using thematic analysis and narratives to interpret individual stories and experiences of EO and the antecedents.

The findings showed that Indigenous worldview had a strong influence on all five dimensions of EO because Māori entrepreneurs draw meaning from their worldview and local entrepreneurial ecosystem. A key contribution of this thesis is the identification of Indigenous Entrepreneurial Orientation (InEO). InEO reflects Indigenous entrepreneur’s disposition and behaviour of EO, and this is evident in their business practices, leading to three InEO typologies. The first typology is a kaupapa Māori entrepreneurial orientation that integrates cultural values into business practices. The second typology is a Western entrepreneurial orientation that reflects largely Western business practices. The third typology is a hybrid entrepreneurial orientation that combines cultural values and Western business values. InEO indicates that an Indigenous view of EO exists and as more researchers adopt cross context approaches to research, the discourse on the lack of compatibility between some Indigenous cultural values and aspects of entrepreneurship can be demystified.