New venture creation and opportunity structure constraints: Indigenous-controlled development through joint ventures in the Canadian potash industry

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the role that strategic alliances (SAs) play in the formation of new ventures within a specific context, namely that of a First Nations community engaged in the Canadian natural resources sector. Grounded theory and a single case study approach was utilized to provide a deep understanding of the processes involved in the creation of a distinct new Aboriginal organizational form. A guiding framework is used which includes the concept of mixed embeddedness, resource-based theory and agency theory. Insight into the process and alloyed motivations of Indigenous entrepreneurship is gained that extends our understanding of opportunity structures wrought by the legacies of colonialism. A theory of context is developed building upon the aspects of collective agency, resources and a view that extends the concept of social embeddedness to encompass SAs as entrepreneurial tools for social transformation.

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenous peoples
• new venture creation
• entrepreneurship
• development
• opportunity structures
• natural resources

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Moses E. G. Gordon is a Research Associate at the First Nations University of Canada with the School of Business and Public Administration in the Department of Indigenous Science, Environment, and Economic Development. He is also a graduate student with the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Regina. Gordon is from the George Gordon First Nation in Saskatchewan.

Bob Kayseas is Associate Vice-President Academic at the First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv) and Professor at the FNUniv’s School of Business and Public Administration in the Department of Indigenous Science, Environment, and Economic Development. Kayseas has established a recognized scholarly program of research centered on Aboriginal entrepreneurship and economic development. He is actively engaged in both the research and practice of entrepreneurship and economic development. Kayseas is also the Chair of the FLFN Ventures Ltd – a corporate entity owned by the Fishing Lake First Nation that manages a number of joint ventures with private industry partners. He publishes regularly in academic research journals, participates in consulting projects, works with communities in development initiatives, and teaches business classes at the First Nations University of Canada. Kayseas is from the Fishing Lake First Nation in Saskatchewan.

Peter W. Moroz is an Associate Professor with the Paul J. Hill School of Business in the Faculty of Business Administration at the University of Regina. Moroz has served in a variety of roles over the course of his professional career, ranging from that of Special Advisor to Cabinet with the Government of Saskatchewan’s Executive Council to a private consultant in the field of business and economic policy, new venture facilitation, strategic planning, management, and Indigenous economic development. He possesses over a decade of experience in academic research, having studied such topics as new venture facilitation, various forms of entrepreneurship (including Indigenous entrepreneurship), agricultural economics, Indigenous community development, and corporate social responsibility. Moroz publishes regularly in academic research journals, participates in consulting projects, and teaches business classes at the University of Regina.

Notes

1 See http://www.lestock.ca/communityinformation.html.

2 See http://www.muskowekwan.ca/history.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (890-2012-0043) and the Onion Lake Cree Nation.