Research in the field of indigenous value chains is limited in theory and empirical research. The purpose of this paper is to interpret values that may inform a new approach to…
Abstract
Purpose
Research in the field of indigenous value chains is limited in theory and empirical research. The purpose of this paper is to interpret values that may inform a new approach to considering value chains from New Zealand Maori kin community contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper derives from research that develops Indigenous research methods on positionality. By extending the “included researcher” (Kawharu, 2016) role, the research recognises the opportunity of being genealogically connected to one of the communities, which may enable “deep dive research” relatively easily. Yet practical implications of research also obligate researchers beyond contractual terms to fulfil community aspirations in innovation.
Findings
Research findings show that a kin community micro-economy value chain may not be a lineal, progressive sequence of value from supplier to consumer as in Porter’s (1985) conceptualisation of value chains, but may instead be a cyclical system and highly consumer-driven. Research shows that there is strong community desire to connect lands and resources of homelands with descendant consumers wherever they live and reconnect consumers back again to supply sources. Mechanisms enabling this chain include returning food scraps to small community suppliers for composting, or consumers participating in community working bees, harvesting days and the like.
Social implications
The model may have implications and applicability internationally among indigenous communities who are similarly interested in socio-economic growth and enterprise development.
Originality/value
The apper’s originality, therefore, derives from addressing a research gap, showing that indigenous values may provide a new approach to conceptualising value chains and developing them in practice.
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Merata Kawharu, Paul Tapsell and Christine Woods
Exploring the links between resilience, sustainability and entrepreneurship from an indigenous perspective means exploring the historic and socio-cultural context out of which a…
Abstract
Purpose
Exploring the links between resilience, sustainability and entrepreneurship from an indigenous perspective means exploring the historic and socio-cultural context out of which a community originates. From this perspective, informed insight into a community’s ability to adapt and to transform without major structural collapse when confronted with exogenous challenges or crises can be gained. This paper explores the interplay between resilience and entrepreneurship in a New Zealand indigenous setting.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors provide a theoretical and case study approach, exploring four intersecting leadership roles, their guiding value system and application at a micro kin family level through a tourism venture and at a macro kin tribal level through an urban land development venture.
Findings
The findings demonstrate the importance of historical precedent and socio-cultural values in shaping the leadership matrix that addresses exogenous challenges and crises in an entrepreneurship context.
Research limitations/implications
The research is limited to New Zealand, but the findings have synergies with other indigenous entrepreneurship elsewhere. Further cross-cultural research in this field includes examining the interplay between rights and duties within indigenous communities as contributing facets to indigenous resilience and entrepreneurship.
Originality/value
This research is a contribution to theory and to indigenous community entrepreneurship in demonstrating what values and behaviours are assistive in confronting shocks, crises and challenges. Its originality is in the multi-disciplinary approach, combining economic and social anthropological, indigenous and non-indigenous perspectives. The originality of this paper also includes an analysis of contexts that appear to fall outside contemporary entrepreneurship, but are in fact directly linked.
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In 2012, I wrote an article titled ‘Māori research collaborations, Mātauranga Māori science, and the appropriation of water in New Zealand’.1 The article attempted to critique…
Abstract
In 2012, I wrote an article titled ‘Māori research collaborations, Mātauranga Māori science, and the appropriation of water in New Zealand’.1 The article attempted to critique Vision Mātauranga (VM)2 policy by examining the relationship between Ngā Pae ō te Māramatanga,3 Ngāi Tahu iwi (tribe) and scientists with interests in freshwater. Seven years on, I admit to having barely scratched the surface regarding the multiple ways the policy is used as a mechanism to advance and create relationships between scientists and Māori communities in the co-production of new knowledge. Back then my commentary was somewhat sceptical of the policy’s design which does not deal with the unequal power relationships created between science experts and flax-root communities. I argued that VM had been created to commodify and globalise Māori knowledge that belongs to Māori communities and had become the expected mechanism for all engagement between university researchers and Māori communities. Much of the risk associated with forming new collaborations rested with Māori communities, and even more so with the Māori researchers who act as intermediaries and brokers between the communities and research teams. Back then, as a scholar trained in social anthropology, the way I understood knowledge transmission and the research part of my world was disconnected from the rest of my life. The probing and critical perspectives I had developed by privileging anthropological ideas and theory overshadowed other ways of interacting and understanding people and place. Like many of my anthropological colleagues I had learnt to be an ‘objective’ participant observer. The aim of participant observation is to gain a close and intimate familiarity with a given group of individuals through intensive involvement with people in their cultural environment, usually over an extended period of time. This method is highly regarded by social and cultural anthropologists around the globe. Now as the Director of a Māori research centre, I am expected to participate in all manner of engagements with Māori and non-Māori groups, and I am constantly confronted by ethical questions when undertaking research projects. VM as a process forces me to ask questions that I never did when I was trying my hand at being a bona fide anthropologist. The questions that shape my scholarship now are as follows: Who will benefit from this research and what will my legacy be?
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Rod B. McNaughton and Brendan Gray
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue on links between entrepreneurship and resilience.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue on links between entrepreneurship and resilience.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors discuss some key themes in this emerging area of research and reflect on how the papers in the issue contribute to debates in the literature on resilience.
Findings
While the papers in the special issue make important contributions, there is still scope for more research.
Originality/value
This is one of the first issues of a journal devoted to investigating this topic.