Indigenous culture and entrepreneurship in small businesses in Australia

ABSTRACT

The impact of Indigenous culture on Indigenous entrepreneurs in Australian small to medium-sized enterprises is outlined in this paper. Qualitative interviews with 38 Indigenous entrepreneurs were carried out across urban, regional, rural, and remote locations Australia. This article argues that the relationship between Indigenous culture and Indigenous entrepreneurship is complex and sometimes contradictory. This complexity arises for various reasons including: (1) the great diversity within the Australian Indigenous community; (2) the fact that most Indigenous people have non-Indigenous partners; and (3) the way in which racial discrimination and socio-economic disadvantage has impacted on Indigenous communities and indigenous culture in Australia. Exploring the evolution of Australian Indigenous enterprises and entrepreneurs from the late 1980s to present, this article provides unique insight into the complexity of the social, cultural, and economic dynamics that shape Indigenous entrepreneurship across Australia.

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenous culture
• Indigenous entrepreneurs
• Australian SMEs
• cosmopolitan entrepreneurs
• racial discrimination

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Jock Collins is Professor of Social Economics, UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney, Australia.

Mark Morrison is Associate Dean, Research, Faculty of Business, Justice and Behavioural Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, Australia.

Pakikshit Kumar Basu is Associate Professor of Management, Faculty of Business, Justice and Behavioural Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, Australia.

Branka Krivokapic-Skoko is Associate Professor of Management, Faculty of Business, Justice and Behavioural Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, Australia.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Australian Research Council Linkage (Grant LP110100698) ‘Determining the factors influencing the success of private and community-owned Indigenous businesses across remote, regional and urban Australia'.