PhD. Thesis Understanding Indigenous Entrepreneurship: A Case Study Analysis. A paper presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Queensland October 2004. Dennis Foley School of Business THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND Accepted for the award of Supervisors: Dr. Maree Boyle Griffith university Dr. Judy Drennan Queensland university of Technology Dr. Jessica Kennedy university of central Queensland CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 6 STATEMENT OF AUTHENTICITY 8 ACRONYMS 9 LIST OF FIGURES 10 LIST OF ATTACHMENTS/APPENDIX 11 ABSTRACT 12 1. INTRODUCTION 14 1.1 THE RESEARCH PROJECT 14 1.2 NEED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN BUSINESSES 15 1.3 THE RESEARCH CONCEPTS 17 1.4 OUTLINE OF THE CHAPTERS: THE RESEARCH PROJECT. 19 2 INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIA & HAWAII 22 2.1 DEFINITION OF AN INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN AND INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC ACTIVITY 22 2.2 AN AUSTRALIAN CULTURAL CONSIDERATION 24 2.3 DEFINITION OF A NATIVE HAWAIIAN AND NATIVE HAWAIIAN ECONOMIC ACTIVITY 25 2.4 AN HAWAIIAN CULTURAL CONSIDERATION 27 2.5 WHO IS AN INDIGENOUS ENTREPRENEUR? 30 2.6 PRE-COLONIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP 34 2.7 CONCLUSION 37 3 LITERATURE REVIEW 40 3.1 INTRODUCTION 40 3.2 INDIGENOUS SMALL BUSINESS THEORY 41 3.3 ETHNIC THEORIES 42 3.3.1 CULTURAL THEORY 42 3.3.2 ETHNIC ENCLAVE THEORY 44 3.3.3 MIDDLEMEN MINORITY/RESPONSE TO CULTURAL ANTAGONISM THEORY 46 3.3.4 OPPORTUNITY/ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION THEORY 47 3.3.5 INTERACTIVE THEORIES 49 3.4 CONCLUSION AND SUMMARY OF ETHNIC SMALL BUSINESS THEORIES IN AUSTRALIA 50 3.5 SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY 50 3.6 CO-CULTURAL THEORY 51 3.7 CONVENTIONAL/CONTEMPORARY ENTREPRENEURIAL DISCOURSE 52 3.8 THE CROSS-CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT OF THE INDIGENOUS ENTREPRENEUR 58 3.9 CULTURAL VALUES 64 3.9.1 INTRODUCTION 64 3.9.2 CULTURE AND VALUES, A DEFINITION AND REVIEW OF LITERATURE 65 3.9.3 CULTURE AND VALUES, A REVIEW IN BUSINESS FOCUSED LITERATURE 66 3.9.4 WHAT ARE CULTURAL VALUES (AS APPLIED TO THIS STUDY)? 68 3.9.5 RELIGION 71 3.9.6 FAMILY 73 3.10 COMPARATIVE PACIFIC ISLAND ENTREPRENEURIAL RESEARCH 76 3.10.1 MICRONESIA 76 3.10.2 MARSHALL ISLANDS 80 3.10.3 WESTERN SAMOA 83 3.10.4 COOK ISLANDS 85 3.10.5 FIJI 87 3.10.6 TONGA 91 3.10.7 SUMMARY OF PACIFIC ENTREPRENEURIAL STUDIES 93 3.11 SUMMARY OF LITERARY REVIEW 95 3.11.1 OUTCOMES FROM LITERATURE SURVEY 97 3.12 RESEARCH QUESTION DEVELOPMENT 100 3.12.1 INTRODUCTION 100 3.12.2 EXPLICIT STATEMENT OF PROPOSITIONS 101 4 METHODOLOGY 103 4.1 THEORETICAL APPROACH TO THE METHODOLOGY 103 4.1.1 INTRODUCTION TO INDIGENOUS RESEARCH CONCEPTS 103 4.1.2 THE EPISTEMOLOGY ARGUMENT 104 4.1.3 SOCIAL THEORY 106 4.1.4 CRITICAL THEORY 107 4.1.5 FEMINIST STANDPOINT THEORY 108 4.1.6 INSIDER-OUTSIDER THEORY 109 4.1.7 INDIGENOUS PHILOSOPHY 11 o 4.1.8 CONTEMPORARY INDIGENOUS APPROACHES TO KNOWLEDGE 112 4.1.9 INDIGENOUS STANDPOINT THEORY 118 4.2 CASE STUDY PROCEDURES 121 4.2.1 INTRODUCTION 121 4.2.2 CASE STUDY PARAMETERS 122 4.2.3 CASE STUDY PROTOCOLS AND ETHICS OF THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 124 4.2.4 THE ANALYTICAL PROCESSES 126 4.2.5 PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH 127 4.2.6 SUMMARY OF CASE STUDY PROCEDURES 128 4.2.7 EXPLAINING HUMAN BEHAVIOUR (I.E. INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN BEHAVIOUR) 129 5 RESEARCH RESULTS 134 5.1 INTRODUCTION 134 5.2 DEMOGRAPHICS 135 5.3 HAWAII 139 5.3.1 HAWAUAN STUDY DEMOGRAPHICS 140 5.3.2 THE HAWAUAN STUDY ^^^ 5.3.3 HAWAIIAN STUDY RESULTS ^42 5.3.4 SUMMARY OF THE HAWAIIAN RESEARCH 175 5.3.5 HAWAIIAN CONTROL STUDY 1'7'7 5.4 THE AUSTRALIAN STUDY 1*9 5.4.1 DEMOGRAPHICS 1^2 5.4.2 OUTSTANDING TRAITS 1^4 5.4.3 CONCLUSION 228 5.5 SUMMARY OF RESEARCH RESULTS 232 5.6 THE EFFECT OF THE RESEARCH FINDINGS ON THE THEMATIC MODEL. 235 5.6.1 THE HAWAIIAN THEMATIC RELEVANCE 236 5.6.2 THE AUSTRALIAN THEMATIC RELEVANCE 238 6 DISCUSSION 242 6.1 APPLICATION OF INDIGENOUS STANDPOINT THEORY 242 6.2 VALUES 245 6.2.1 CULTURE 245 6.2.2 RELIGION 248 6.2.3 FAMILY 250 6.2.4 SUMMARY OF COMPARATIVE VALUES AUSTRALIA AND HAWAII 251 6.3 MICRO-ECONOMIC REFORM - INDIGENOUS ENTREPRENEURS 253 6.4 OTHER FINDINGS 257 6.4.1 ACCEPTANCE INTO THE HAWAIIAN NETWORK 257 6.4.2 MATRIARCHAL, PATRIARCHAL 258 6.4.3 NON-INDIGENOUS SPOUSES 259 6.4.4 THE EFFECT OF THE STOLEN GENERATION 260 6.4.5 EMERGING THEORY 263 6.5 CONCLUSION 264 7 CONCLUSION 265 7.1 SUMMATION OF THE PROJECT AND KEY RESEARCH QUESTIONS 265 7.2 KEY FINDINGS 269 7.3 CONTRIBUTION TO LITERATURE 272 7.4 IMPLICATIONS FOR THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENT 273 7.5 IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTITIONERS AND POLICY MAKERS 274 7.6 RESEARCH LIMITATIONS 276 7.7 FUTURE RESEARCH 279 7.8 RECOMMENDATIONS 280 8 REFERENCES 288 ATTACHMENTS/APPENDIX 311 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Special acknowledgement goes to an Indigenous mentor Uncle John Budby and the late Japanangka errol West for their guidance and inspiration. Special thanks is given to all those Elders who have walked before them that include my Mother's brothers and her Mum, Clarice Lougher, the last matriarch and Koradji of the northern beaches of Sydney. Also my appreciation to Professor Peter Read, Associate Professor Ian Lilley and Dr. Drew Wollin for their kind words, support and inspiration. My sincere thanks also go to Dr. Penny van Toom and the Dean of Arts, Professor Stephen Garton at the University of Sydney for the provision of a study area that allowed me to finish this document within the required timeframe. Without enthusiastic supervisors this work would not have been finalized, Drs Jessica Kennedy, Judy Drennan and Maree Boyle are a part of this document. My supervisors are all non- indigenous academics, Anglo-European women who have inspired me to continue my work in an Indigenous area. This is an area that they approached with some trepidation, yet despite this they have supported and above all allowed me to develop an Indigenous epistemological approach without shackling me to the constraints of western research methodology (although they made sure that I knew and maintained a western academic rigour). The relationship between a student and supervisor is a wonderful experience in academia if it is professional, enthusiastic and knowledgeable. At times we have not understood each other however; they have battled on in their supervision, changing jobs, campuses and all sorts of barriers. Thank you is not enough. I hope that I can display a similar level of scholarship to my future graduate students based on the protocols that you have displayed to me. I see that as my repayment for the loyalty you have shown this work. In my family this is the first attempt at a doctorate in the western sense, it is written on the shoulders of all those that have gone before me. Be they Indigenous Australian, Irish and Welsh, I acknowledge the wealth of knowledge that their spirits have bestowed on me. Special acknowledgement is also given to those institutions that have provided much needed funding, the Australian-American Fulbright Association, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission for their support to the Fulbright Association, the Australian Research Coimcil for their generous funding to enable me to develop as an academic. The Queensland Graduate School of Management Travel Grant that allowed me to extend my Hawaiian research to more than just one island, to these organizations I thank you. My thanks also go to Griffith University in their support of my Fulbright scholarship aspirations and their generous scholarship that enabled me to achieve an MBA with a research project. To the University of Hawaii, specifically to Dr. Tusi and the staff of the Pacific Business Centre, my deepest appreciation for your kind support. Also the School of Pacific Studies, the School of Hawaiian Studies, the Faculty of Business and their School of Entrepreneurship, the Department of English and Anthropology, the East West Centre and all the other areas who allowed me to present papers/symposiums or just listened and interacted with my research in Hawaii. The list of acknowledgements seems endless however there is one of significance, a Hawaiian elder, Mr, William Alia of Waianae. My special thanks, your kindness and knowledge touched my heart and soul, you questioned this work yet you gave so freely. To be able to work with people of your outstanding attributes has been a rare gift, a gift that I will treasure. Also to the Elders of Kauai and Molokai, my sincere appreciation for your time and thoughts, you welcomed me into your land, your homes, and your families, thank you. Above all, in the spirit of Indigenous Standpoint theory, this work is the culmination of success for both Hawaiian and Australian Indigenous people, this work is yours. I thank you for allowing me to be a part of your life, to this I say in my language, 'di-gerry goor, nygalia' (I thank you my fiiends, my allies). Last but not least, I undertook University study as a mature aged student, a great sacrifice on a limited budget, although I skilfully managed study with full-time and part-time employment. My former spouse and children suffered, (perhaps they sacrificed the most) without their support I would have never achieved an undergraduate level let alone at a Doctorate level. This degree is also their achievement for the support and countless hours where I was not a family member, lost in a library or studying for exams.