Determinants Of Success Among Indigenous Enterprise In The Northern Territory Of Australia

William Nikolakis

doi:10.29173/jaed274

Authors

William Nikolakis

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29173/jaed274

Keywords:

Business And Economics, Consent, Culture, Data collection, Economic development, Entrepreneurship, Ethnic Interests, Generalizations, Indigenous peoples, Interviews, Literature reviews, Native peoples, News, Participatory research, Policy making, Political leadership, Reciprocity, Research design, Social problems, Success

Abstract

The focus of this research is on nous development (IED) in the Northern Territory of Australia, much of it on inalienable and communal Indigenous land. Indigenous enterprise development is said to be different from other forms of enterprise development because of the legal rights of Indigenous peoples and because of particular cultural attributes, which are found to shape notions of success and approaches to development. A total of fifty six in-depth, face-to-face interviews were conducted with experts or opinion leaders on IED in the region. The findings in this research emphasize that certain cultural attributes may act to constrain successful enterprise development, but can be integrated into an enterprise through changes in enterprise structure, or practice, to support successful economic outcomes. Four categories of factors that support the development of successful Indigenous enterprise are identified: developing business acumen, integrating culture within the enterprise, separating business from community politics, and greater independence from government. While definitions of success varied across the region there were common objectives for Indigenous enterprise, such as eliminating welfare dependency and maintaining a link to land. Ultimately, success for Indigenous enterprise was deemed to be business survival, but in ways that are congruent with each Indigenous community's values.

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