This study seeks to improve the understanding of Indigenous Enterprise Development (IED) efforts undertaken on communal Indigenous land in the Northern Territory of Australia. Success in enterprise may support the achievement of a range of social, political and economic objectives for Indigenous peoples. The thesis offers a contribution to knowledge and literature on IED by bringing understanding to the meaning of success for Indigenous enterprise, identifying those factors that contribute to its success as well as presenting the barriers that prevent it. This study is the most recent rigorous scholarly work of IED on Indigenous land in the Northern Territory. The focus of this research is on Indigenous commercial enterprise development at a communal and individual level. 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, such as different perceptions of property rights in the Indigenous context and an emphasis on values like collectivism and sharing. These differences are found to shape notions of success and approaches to development. The research reviews literature in the international and domestic context on Indigenous economic development and Indigenous entrepreneurship. It also draws from internal and external documents of relevant institutions and news sources. These sources and findings are then built upon with fifty six in-depth, face-to-face interviews of selected participants who are experts or opinion leaders on IED in the region. These participants represented a variety of interest groups such as the government, academia, the Indigenous community and businesses from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultures in the Northern Territory. This study used a qualitative research approach for data collection and analysis. The researcher utilized a qualitative data analysis method, including the reporting of field notes, preparation of field notes into transcripts, coding of data, display of data, the development of conclusions, and creation of a report. This study identified five categories of barriers to successful enterprise development on Indigenous land in the Northern Territory. These barriers are: high levels of conflict and mistrust, socio-cultural norms and values that can work against success, a lack of human capital, a poor institutional framework and economic and structural factors. There were four categories of factors found that support the development of successful Indigenous enterprise: 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. 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. The research also emphasizes the importance of institutional settings on human capital and successful enterprise development in the region. This study?s findings can potentially guide and inform further research in this field. The research develops a number of policy recommendations which offer potential support to policymakers in addressing the important social problem of Indigenous disadvantage through enterprise development initiatives. / This study seeks to improve the understanding of Indigenous Enterprise Development (IED) efforts undertaken on communal Indigenous land in the Northern Territory of Australia. Success in enterprise may support the achievement of a range of social, political and economic objectives for Indigenous peoples. The thesis offers a contribution to knowledge and literature on IED by bringing understanding to the meaning of success for Indigenous enterprise, identifying those factors that contribute to its success as well as presenting the barriers that prevent it. This study is the most recent rigorous scholarly work of IED on Indigenous land in the Northern Territory. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2008

Doctor of Philosophy(PhD) / This study traces a particular instance in the evolution of Indigenous organisation at Ngukurr, as it developed from mission to town. It is framed in terms of a contrast between centralised and laterally extended forms of organisation, as characteristic modes associated with Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. It is also framed in terms of a contrast between orders of value indicative of centralised hierarchies and laterally extended forms of organisation. Central to this account is the way in which evolving social orders provide different foci for the realisation of authority and autonomy in people’s lives at Ngukurr. I trace the ways in which missionaries and government agents have repeatedly presented autonomy to Aboriginal people at Ngukurr as a form of self-sufficiency, both in the course of colonial and post-colonial regimes in Australia. I also trace a failure in Aboriginal affairs policies to recognise forms of sociality and organisation that do not operate to locate the autonomous subject in a hierarchy of relations, premised on the capacity of individuals for economic independence. I also address Aboriginal responses to non-Indigenous interventions at Ngukurr, which have largely differed from missionary and policy aims. I show how Aboriginal evangelism emerged as a response to assimilation initiatives, which affirmed an evolving Indigenous system of differentiation and prestige. I also show how this system has been transformed through dynamics of factionalism associated with the control of resource niches, which has been playing out since the 1970s at Ngukurr. By illustrating how centralised and laterally extended forms of organisation engage each other over time, this study reveals the highly ambiguous values now attending varied realisations of autonomy and expressions of authority in the contemporary situation. There is then a pervasive tension in social relations at Ngukurr, as the dynamism of laterally extended and labile groups continually circumvents the linear pull of centralised hierarchies.

Doctor of Philosophy(PhD) / This study traces a particular instance in the evolution of Indigenous organisation at Ngukurr, as it developed from mission to town. It is framed in terms of a contrast between centralised and laterally extended forms of organisation, as characteristic modes associated with Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. It is also framed in terms of a contrast between orders of value indicative of centralised hierarchies and laterally extended forms of organisation. Central to this account is the way in which evolving social orders provide different foci for the realisation of authority and autonomy in people’s lives at Ngukurr. I trace the ways in which missionaries and government agents have repeatedly presented autonomy to Aboriginal people at Ngukurr as a form of self-sufficiency, both in the course of colonial and post-colonial regimes in Australia. I also trace a failure in Aboriginal affairs policies to recognise forms of sociality and organisation that do not operate to locate the autonomous subject in a hierarchy of relations, premised on the capacity of individuals for economic independence. I also address Aboriginal responses to non-Indigenous interventions at Ngukurr, which have largely differed from missionary and policy aims. I show how Aboriginal evangelism emerged as a response to assimilation initiatives, which affirmed an evolving Indigenous system of differentiation and prestige. I also show how this system has been transformed through dynamics of factionalism associated with the control of resource niches, which has been playing out since the 1970s at Ngukurr. By illustrating how centralised and laterally extended forms of organisation engage each other over time, this study reveals the highly ambiguous values now attending varied realisations of autonomy and expressions of authority in the contemporary situation. There is then a pervasive tension in social relations at Ngukurr, as the dynamism of laterally extended and labile groups continually circumvents the linear pull of centralised hierarchies.

This study seeks to improve the understanding of Indigenous Enterprise Development (IED) efforts undertaken on communal Indigenous land in the Northern Territory of Australia. Success in enterprise may support the achievement of a range of social, political and economic objectives for Indigenous peoples. The thesis offers a contribution to knowledge and literature on IED by bringing understanding to the meaning of success for Indigenous enterprise, identifying those factors that contribute to its success as well as presenting the barriers that prevent it. This study is the most recent rigorous scholarly work of IED on Indigenous land in the Northern Territory. The focus of this research is on Indigenous commercial enterprise development at a communal and individual level. 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, such as different perceptions of property rights in the Indigenous context and an emphasis on values like collectivism and sharing. These differences are found to shape notions of success and approaches to development. The research reviews literature in the international and domestic context on Indigenous economic development and Indigenous entrepreneurship. It also draws from internal and external documents of relevant institutions and news sources. These sources and findings are then built upon with fifty six in-depth, face-to-face interviews of selected participants who are experts or opinion leaders on IED in the region. These participants represented a variety of interest groups such as the government, academia, the Indigenous community and businesses from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultures in the Northern Territory. This study used a qualitative research approach for data collection and analysis. The researcher utilized a qualitative data analysis method, including the reporting of field notes, preparation of field notes into transcripts, coding of data, display of data, the development of conclusions, and creation of a report. This study identified five categories of barriers to successful enterprise development on Indigenous land in the Northern Territory. These barriers are: high levels of conflict and mistrust, socio-cultural norms and values that can work against success, a lack of human capital, a poor institutional framework and economic and structural factors. There were four categories of factors found that support the development of successful Indigenous enterprise: 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. 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. The research also emphasizes the importance of institutional settings on human capital and successful enterprise development in the region. This study?s findings can potentially guide and inform further research in this field. The research develops a number of policy recommendations which offer potential support to policymakers in addressing the important social problem of Indigenous disadvantage through enterprise development initiatives. / This study seeks to improve the understanding of Indigenous Enterprise Development (IED) efforts undertaken on communal Indigenous land in the Northern Territory of Australia. Success in enterprise may support the achievement of a range of social, political and economic objectives for Indigenous peoples. The thesis offers a contribution to knowledge and literature on IED by bringing understanding to the meaning of success for Indigenous enterprise, identifying those factors that contribute to its success as well as presenting the barriers that prevent it. This study is the most recent rigorous scholarly work of IED on Indigenous land in the Northern Territory. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2008

Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 284-303). Also available via World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2005.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Bremen, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 86-107). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-06, Section: A, page: 2673. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 314-327).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2010. / Title from first page of PDF file (viewed April 7, 2010). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 532-658).