A study of Aotearoa New Zealand enterprises: how different are Indigenous enterprises?

Indigenous literature suggests Maori businesses are distinct within Aotearoa New Zealand, due to facing unique challenges and having different operating preferences. It could also be argued that Maori and non-Maori enterprises in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors are identical as a function of operating in similar markets. However, there is a paucity of empirical evidence, and the present article rectifies this with a study of 230 Aotearoa enterprises, including 24 Maori. We test differences and find Maori enterprises report higher cultural capital, which relates to employees' knowledge and skills towards working with and respecting cultural values. However, we find no differences across human capital, relational capital, entrepreneurial culture, and organisational performance. The findings suggest that apart from a culturally specific factor, Maori and non-Maori enterprises appear to be similarly enabled, which provides a useful benchmark for understanding Maori business. We discuss the implications for research.

Automated summary

Maori businesses in New Zealand face unique challenges and have different operating preferences compared to non-Maori enterprises, with a focus on cultural capital. However, apart from differences in cultural capital, Maori and non-Maori enterprises do not show significant variations in other aspects.