Category: 24/7

Source: Massey University – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: The Māori economic renaissance

Massey alumnus Mavis Mullins, of Rangitāne, Te Atihaunui-a-Paparangi and Ngāti Ranginui, has forged a hugely successful career in primary industries.

By Dr Jason Paul Mika

Māori businesses now account for an economic asset base of more than NZ$42.6 billion, according to the latest estimates. Small and medium-sized enterprises make up the largest part of the Māori economy. These entrepreneurs are building on a business approach with ancient roots – a Māori way of thinking and doing business and its ability to reconnect with our common heritage as descendants of Papatūānuku, mother earth.

 Drivers of Māori entrepreneurship

A number of developments are likely to be driving this. Chief among them are Māori frustration and anger over the negative effects of loss of land, language, culture and tribal autonomy over successive generations. The response has been a cultural renaissance. It started in the early 1970s and set out to reaffirm Māori as tangata whenua (people of the land) with enduring rights as the indigenous people of Aotearoa.

Out of this period of tumult came the Crown’s attempt at peace and reconciliation with Māori through the Waitangi Tribunal. Settlements under the Treaty of Waitangi, which was signed by Māori chiefs and representatives of the British Crown in 1840, are probably the single-most important factor in changing perceptions of the Māori economy.

However, settlements made up only about one per cent of the NZ$36.9 billion Māori economic asset base in 2010. It is the 15,600 or so Māori small and medium-sized enterprises, managing NZ$26 billion in assets, that make up the largest part of the Māori economy. Bankers, investors and suppliers are drawn to Māori enterprises as potential partners, eager to understand how to modify their offerings and methods with this market in mind.

Air New Zealand’s increasing use of te reo, the Māori language, springs to mind. While casually introduced, it belies a much sterner “behind the scenes” challenge to normalise Māori language and culture within our national carrier. 

Traci Houpapa, pictured after winning a Massey University Distinguished Alumni Service Award for her work in raising the profile of Māori agribusiness.

An ideal model for enterprise assistance

This history shows that public funding of enterprise assistance for Māori ebbs and flows with changing political ideologies. My doctoral research shows that Māori businesses operate on an uneven playing field where Māori providers face a different level of scrutiny as to their value for money. Māori enterprises need both Māori-specific and mainstream support, but the knowledge of what works for Māori has so far been limited to policy evaluations, rather than empirical research.

My research found that Māori entrepreneurs identified seven main features of the ideal model of enterprise assistance:

• Operates within an entity substantially owned and controlled by Māori;
• Partially government funded;
• Delivery by Māori in partnership with mainstream providers;
• Multiplicity of assistance (e.g. information, advice, facilitation, training, grants, and finance);
• Cultural authenticity and flexibility;
• Long-term relationships with Māori enterprises; and
• Varying assistance over the business life cycle.

Within Te Au Rangahau, Massey University’s Māori Business and Leadership Research Centre, we are building on this work. We found that Māori-specific providers tend to resemble these characteristics, but mainstream providers could improve.

Research identifies three key competencies that consistently matter to Māori entrepreneurs: cultural competency (knowledge of the Māori language, culture and history and the ability to use it); relational competency (time invested in forming relationships with Māori entrepreneurs); and technical competency (delivering on promises). 

It also identifies principles that providers (Māori and mainstream) can use to evaluate their assistance against Māori entrepreneurs’ needs and preferences. With such change in enterprise assistance, all of Aotearoa is set to benefit from the “new normal” – Māori entrepreneurial success. Mauri ora!

Dr Jason Paul Mika, of Ngāi Tūhoe, Whakatōhea, Ngāti Awa and Ngāti Kahungunu descent, is a senior lecturer with the Massey Business School and co-director of Te Au Rangahau, Massey’s Māori Business and Leadership Research Centre.

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Source: Massey University – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: Memorial bursary continues supporting student success

Hilary Kitt and Bruce Gallie from Colliers International present Scott Larcombe with his award.

This year’s Marcus Kitt Memorial Bursary has been awarded to final-year business student Scott Larcombe at a special presentation at Massey University’s Albany campus.

The former Rangitoto College student, who is studying for a Bachelor of Business with a double major in economics and property valuation, was chosen to receive the $5,000 bursary established by global real estate services company Colliers International.

The firm partnered with the Massey Business School to create the bursary in memory of long-serving staff member and Massey alumnus Marcus Kitt, who died in 2015 after developing a brain tumour. The father of two children had worked for Colliers for eight years in Auckland, London and Jakarta.

The criteria for the bursary included strong academic achievement, good communication and interpersonal skills and the potential to succeed in a real estate career, all characteristics exemplified by Marcus Kitt.

Massey property lecturer Alan Pope said Mr Larcombe was a worthy recipient of the annual prize.

“Scott is an excellent student with a proven academic record in both his property and economics majors,” Mr Pope said. “He also stands out in his class as a great communicator, working well with fellow students and staff alike.”

Bursary reduces financial burden

Mr Larcombe said he was “overjoyed to be recognised for all of the hard work that I have put into my studies”.

“I am currently working nightshifts to cover the cost of my study,” he said. “This bursary will take some of the financial stress off my shoulders. The bursary is also an affirmation of my choice to study property and  has really helped to grow my passion for the subject – and I hope that this will show in my future grades.”

Mr Larcombe believes the bursary will also enhance his employability when he graduates.

“I hope the contacts that I have made here at university, and through the bursary, will help me to start a long and successful career,” he said.

Marcus Kitt’s widow, Hilary Kitt, and Colliers’ chief operating officer in New Zealand, Bruce Gallie, were on hand to present Mr Larcombe with his award.

“The bursary is designed to encourage excellence in real estate studies and is an ideal memorial to Marcus,” Mr Gallie said. “We hope it encourages students to consider a commercial property career, assisting them at a financial level to do so.” 

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