The primary objective of this thesis was to develop knowledge and understanding about how traditional resources can be used for entrepreneurship and economic development. This was accomplished by systematically studying how the Canadian Inuit, Swedish Sámi and other indigenous people use Rangifer tarandus for enterprise. The Inuit and Sámi are indigenous circumpolar people living in Canada and Northern Europe for more than 4000 years. Rangifer tarandus known as caribou or tuktu by the Canadian Inuit and reindeer by the Sámi has been a key resource for survival. A literature review was conducted relating 1) to Canadian Inuit, Swedish Sámi and other selected circumpolar indigenous people use of caribou or reindeer for enterprise, and 2) indigenous entrepreneurship, particularly from traditional resources, and how this is affected by context and culture. Research methods included descriptive exploratory comparative cases, participative observation, snowball sampling as well as indigenous research methods. Five field sites were visited: Rankin Inlet and Coral Harbour in Nunavut; Inukjuak in Nunavik, Quebec; Happy Valley-Goose Bay/ North West River in Labrador; and Jokkmokk, in Northern Sweden. The thesis explored: 1) Why are the Inuit hunters of caribou and the Sámi herders of reindeer? 2) What were the products and value-added processing? 3) Why have the Sámi successfully sold their meat and products in the international market while the Inuit have only recently begun to do so? 4) How has their culture and traditional knowledge affected the entrepreneurship including innovation and opportunity recognition? 5) What barriers have they faced and how have these been overcome? 6) How have they measured the success of their enterprises? 7) What can they learn from each other? The findings indicated the Inuit and Sámi uses of caribou and reindeer for enterprise were very different. Context and culture were extremely important. Indigenous people living at similar latitudes and making use of a similar species had very different trajectories and outcomes in indigenous economic development and entrepreneurship from Rangifer tarandus. Themes such as resource availability, cultural propensity, remoteness and geographic location, kinship and social capital, infrastructure, measures of success, indigenous knowledge and wisdom, and innovation and adaptation were important. This work made a significant contribution as little consideration had been given to the voice and perspectives of the Canadian Inuit and Swedish Sámi in the emerging field of indigenous entrepreneurship especially as it relates to traditional resources and practices. It also helped to identify other potential commercial uses of caribou thus it provided more potential value added from the commercial harvesting and processing. These opportunities could assist in increasing Inuit employment, income, self-reliance, and community esteem. The research findings have implications for 1) the field of indigenous entrepreneurship, 2) policy makers, and 3) indigenous entrepreneurship education. It provides international comparisons of two indigenous peoples using a similar species and focused on the use of traditional resources and culture as a basis for business creation and operation.

This study is a comparative analysis of the level of high-involvement management (HIM) in a group of First Nations businesses in Saskatchewan and a matched sample group of non-Aboriginal businesses in Saskatchewan. The level of high-involvement management in the businesses was measured using an existing survey questionnaire based on one developed by Long (2001). This questionnaire is targeted to both managers and employees in each company. The researcher hypothesized that the level of high-involvement management in the First Nations businesses would be higher than that in the non-Aboriginal businesses. The rationale for this hypothesis was that the First Nations businesses would exhibit a cultural effect that would make the management of the businesses congruent with the traditional high-involvement organizational approach of the Plains Cree and Assiniboine First Nations in Saskatchewan prior to their confinement to reserves. This research has demonstrated that the management approach of First Nations companies is not more high-involvement oriented than a matched sample of non-Aboriginal businesses using a high-involvement management scale. Several techniques were utilized to try to identify a cultural effect. Means testing, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis were all utilized to try to identify a cultural effect, all to no avail. Only when the data was analyzed based on various other dimensions were significant differences identified between First Nations and non-Aboriginal firms in terms of high-involvement management. Even in these cases, the differences are the opposite of that which was hypothesized for this study. In each of these cases, First Nations firms were significantly lower in high-involvement management than non-Aboriginal firms. Management and employee responses to the research instrument were shown not to be significantly different. Possible explanations for these results are discussed.

This study is a comparative analysis of the level of high-involvement management (HIM) in a group of First Nations businesses in Saskatchewan and a matched sample group of non-Aboriginal businesses in Saskatchewan. The level of high-involvement management in the businesses was measured using an existing survey questionnaire based on one developed by Long (2001). This questionnaire is targeted to both managers and employees in each company. The researcher hypothesized that the level of high-involvement management in the First Nations businesses would be higher than that in the non-Aboriginal businesses. The rationale for this hypothesis was that the First Nations businesses would exhibit a cultural effect that would make the management of the businesses congruent with the traditional high-involvement organizational approach of the Plains Cree and Assiniboine First Nations in Saskatchewan prior to their confinement to reserves. This research has demonstrated that the management approach of First Nations companies is not more high-involvement oriented than a matched sample of non-Aboriginal businesses using a high-involvement management scale. Several techniques were utilized to try to identify a cultural effect. Means testing, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis were all utilized to try to identify a cultural effect, all to no avail. Only when the data was analyzed based on various other dimensions were significant differences identified between First Nations and non-Aboriginal firms in terms of high-involvement management. Even in these cases, the differences are the opposite of that which was hypothesized for this study. In each of these cases, First Nations firms were significantly lower in high-involvement management than non-Aboriginal firms. Management and employee responses to the research instrument were shown not to be significantly different. Possible explanations for these results are discussed.

本研究以新竹縣尖石鄉前山地區的旮旯牌與尖石兩個客家聚落的經濟活動為研究範疇，藉由史料爬梳與深度訪談建構兩個移居聚落的形成過程、產業類型及社會關係網絡的樣貌，細緻地討論兩者的經濟活動如何運作，並於原鄉經濟發展的不同階段中扮演角色；同時，運用鑲嵌理論討論經濟活動與社會關係如何交織互動。本研究有三個主要的研究發現：一、在平地人無法輕易取得原鄉土地所有權的情況下，地權狀態與地理區位對於移居聚落的經濟活動與社會關係形塑具有決定性影響；二、不同時期出現的平地人聚落處在原鄉經濟發展的不同位階上，從早期作為泰雅族人的佃農與第一線山林資源採伐的勞動者，轉變為平地商品與山林產物交換的中介者；三、Polanyi與Granovetter對於經濟與社會鑲嵌的討論，提供本文不同的觀察尺度來解釋兩聚落中出現的不同鑲嵌型態；此外，本研究以兩個聚落雜貨店交換行為為例，指出經濟活動的「鑲嵌標的」，以及作為「交換媒介的物品特質」皆可成為觀察鑲嵌性質的指標。整體而言，本文突破以原（被剝削者）漢（剝削者）的二元架構來解釋原鄉中經濟關係的討論模式，並對鑲嵌理論的實際運用提出新的思考方向。 / This study focuses on the economic activities of Ga La Pai Community and Jian Shi Community in the front-mountain area of Jianshi Township, Hsinchu County. Adopting the methods of literature review and in-depth interview, this study retraces the history of the forming of these two communities, explores the industries and social relationships within, reveals how their economic activities operated, and the roles they played in different development stages of this region. Base on the concept of embeddedness, this study also discusses the role of social relations in economic activities. There are three main findings in this study. First, the land tenure and location of settlement area have significant impacts on the residents’ economic activities and social relations. Second, non-indigenous settlement are in different stratums of indigenous economy in different periods. They were at once peasants of Tayal people and workers of forest logging, but later they transformed into agents for the exchanges of forest products and commodities from urban area. Third, the different concerns of embeddedness from Karl Polanyi and Mark Granovetter provide multiple scales of view to approach several types of embeddedness occurred in each community. Besides, the comparison of exchange systems between two grocery shops respectively from Ga La Pai Community and Jian Shi Community points out that both of “the subject of embeddedness” and “the nature of medium for exchange” can be the indexes reflecting the characteristics of embeddedness. In general, this study makes a breakthrough in elaborating the roles of non-indigenous in indigenous economy other than the “Han-Chinese (exploiter)/ indigenous people (exploited)” dichotomy. Furthermore, this study makes additional remarks to the concept of embeddedness after practice case studies.

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

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

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