Bicultural Heritage in New Zealand

Discuss about the New Zealand Business Environment.

The business operations in New Zealand society are much influenced by the bicultural heritage. Accordingly, the societal perspective affects the business operations in this country. Kelsey (2015) pointed out that The Treaty of Waitangi is currently marked as the foundation of modern state located in New Zealand. It even creates the formalized relationship between the Maori and British culture that help in protecting the traditions, practices and values of Maori. Bicultural in New Zealand generally refers to the non-Maori and Maori group of societies (Jacobson et al., 2016). The study is widely focusing on the implications of The Treaty of Waitangi on the business practices of Maori. The identification of the key characteristics of the Maori business practices will be helpful in understanding such impact on the business practices. Furthermore, the study will discuss the impacts of the external business during the strategic planning process. The application of the quantitative and qualitative analytical tool will be used for measuring the growth of Ngai Tahu Holding, which is a New Zealand based business and being affected by the biculturalism in the country. The company concentrates on the diversified portfolio for investing more appropriately to the cultural and social initiatives (Ng?i Tahu Holdings Limited. 2018). Understanding the impacts of the external forces and the opportunities for developing the partnerships with the external stakeholders will also be discussed.

Identification of the Stakeholder’s role in the Treaty of Waitangi

The Maori culture deals with the various types of stakeholders and every stakeholder plays the significant role in the business context. The government organisations mostly focus on working with the local stakeholders, especially with the local community and government, Maori group, pacific group, and voluntary sectors. Maori group maintains the special relationships with the British Crown that is set out in the Treaty of Waitangi. Treaty needs to provide the fundamental framework after recognizing the provision in a detailed way. Orange (2015) opined that each stakeholder group needs to meet the needs while collaborating with the government agencies. On the other hand, the government agencies also require establishing the robust partnerships arrangements with the Maori group. Especially, while formulating the policies and strategies and delivering or evaluating the strategies, such effective relationships will be much helpful (Moon, 2015). The collaboration between these two groups is significant for the business for improving the cultural appropriateness of the services.

Local authorities are the other stakeholder group in such context. They play the key role in developing the strategic level coordination as well as ensuring the integrated service delivery at the local level (Tsui et al., 2018). Especially, when the new government legislation is imposed, this collaborative partnership will be necessary for the business. Another stakeholder group is the community and voluntary section, which is play two major responsibilities. The first is to represent the voice and perspectives of the associated local community group (Stevens, 2016). The second responsibility is to provide the voluntary group the appropriate right to work for meeting the needs of the local communications. The pacific people formulate another stakeholder group that constitutes almost six percent of the entire population of New Zealand. The proportion is expected to be doubled by the year of 2050. They are involved with the range of community based group to perform more efficiently.  

Stakeholder Groups and their Role in Business Context

The Treaty of Waitangi needs to determine the appropriate application of the Crown Act or the demolishing the act (Tsui et al., 2018). The principles of the Treaty of Waitangi are much relevant in terms of developing the business operations. It even creates the formalized relationship between the Maori and British culture that help in protecting the traditions, practices and values of Maori. The four principles in relevance to the business operations are discussed further:

• Partnership

The ‘Court of Appeal’ identified that the Treaty signed the partnership between the races’. It was also implied that the Treaty requires building faith, which often turns out to be the characteristic obligations (Robinson & Liu, 2015). It is important to maintain the communicational transparency to develop more interpersonal relationships with the business partners. It creates more investment opportunities by receiving supports from the external environment. It also considers the responsibility of consulting the Maori and obtaining free, informed, and full consent of the right holders. The business development in New Zealand needs to consider this principle.

• Autonomy

The principle of the Treaty considers the autonomy of managing their customary laws. The Maori traditions determine the individual economic, political, and social objectives and rights for making any specific decisions (Bennett & Liu, 2018). In case of the business development, the similar traditions are being followed. The business leaders require prioritizing the impacts of the external forces that determine the sustainability parameter in the future run. The individual rights are to be appreciated within the workplace. Providing the autonomy to work separately and create the unique outcome would become profitable for the company. This principle is well-applied to the business operations, especially, during the business decision making process.

• Equity

Another principle of the Treaty is to maintain the equity between both the parties. The partnership law proclaims that the settlers’ interests should not be prioritized to the disadvantage of Maori (Simon-Kumar, 2015). Maintaining equity within the workplace can develop better work opportunities for the company for the long run. It would promote the biculturalism to maintain collaborations among the maori group and the other members. The equal opportunities and fair treatment even consider the development of the professional parameter. Similarly, in the business scenario, the maintenance of the fairly decisions and equity is necessary.

• Equal Treatment

The principles of the Treaty of Waitangi determine the fair treatment between the Maori groups. The interests should be the same for each group within a business context.

The Four Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in Business Operations

These four principles have the relevance with the business scenario in New Zealand considering the biculturalism. Managing these principles is much essential for undertaking business decision making process.

Ngai Tahu Holdings Corporation Limited is an investor company based in New Zealand. The company has the active approach towards the effective investments, governance, and assets. The four major business objectives of the company are as follows:

• The business focuses on increasing the equity of the shareholders as well as expanding the asset base of the commercial zone (Sharechat.co.nz. 2018).
• In order to facilitate the current environmental, social, and cultural initiatives, the annual cashes will be returned to Te Runanga via the Charitable Trust of Ngai Tahu (Ng?i Tahu Holdings Limited. 2018).
• The company pays attention to grow the business for the upcoming generation or millennial
• The company manages the diversified portfolio of investments by assessing opportunities and developing future strategies

Observing the business objectives, it can be stated that the company has been maintaining the effective partnerships with the external stakeholders. It is noticeable that bicultural in New Zealand generally refers to the non-Maori and Maori group of societies. The study is widely focusing on the implications of The Treaty of Waitangi on the business practices of Maori (Yong & Martin, 2016). The business is even following the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi while undertaking the business operations. It is important to maintain the communicational transparency to develop more interpersonal relationships with the business partners. The pacific people formulate another stakeholder group that constitutes almost six percent of the entire population of New Zealand. The business equity is maintained properly to divide the mutual benefits while dealing with the local communities. As per the Maori tradition, the individual requires concentrating on the economic, political, and social objectives and rights for making any specific decisions (Jaffe, Kushnirovich & Tsimerman, 2018).

In case of the business development, the similar traditions are being followed. The business leaders require prioritizing the impacts of the external forces that determine the sustainability parameter in the future run. It also considers the responsibility of consulting the Maori and obtaining free, informed, and full consent of the right holders. The company concentrates on the diversified portfolio for investing more appropriately to the cultural and social initiatives (Tsui et al., 2018). The new government legislation requires the collaborative partnership for maintaining the long term sustainability. The government organisations mostly focus on working with the local stakeholders, especially with the local community and government, Maori group, pacific group, and voluntary sectors (Kelsey, 2015). It even creates the formalized relationship between the Maori and British culture that help in protecting the traditions, practices and values of Maori. The equity maintained among the business stakeholders and the Maori groups has been maintaining the social and cultural initiatives and fair treatments. They maintain the communicational transparency to develop more interpersonal relationships with the business partners. It creates more investment opportunities by receiving supports from the external environment. Therefore, the rights are equally distributed considering the mutual benefits for both the parties. Such appropriate initiatives foster the bicultural relationships with the external environment.

Case Study: Ngai Tahu Holdings Corporation Limited

Impact of the External Environment on Ngai Tahu Holdings

1) Tool Used

The survey conducted among the associated members of Ngai Tahu Holdings Corporations Pvt. Ltd. The questionnaire is used as the analytical tool.

2) Data Sources

Primary data gathered from the associated employees of Ngai Tahu Holdings. Especially, the Maori grouop participated in this survey process. Their real life experiences are useful here to derive the response regarding the impacts of the external environment.

3) Impact

The data sources determine that the partnerships with the external environment help in developing the investment purposes. It will also be helpful in developing charitable funds for the welfare of the community. It also considers the responsibility of consulting the Maori and obtaining free, informed, and full consent of the right holders. It is noticeable that The equity maintained among the business stakeholders and the Maori groups has been maintaining the social and cultural initiatives and fair treatments. They maintain the communicational transparency to develop more interpersonal relationships with the business partners. The environmental governance provides the opportunity to the company for the long term sustainability. In addition to this, it creates the significant impact on the biculturalism in the society.

4) Assumptions

The obtained idea from the research explains that the government agencies also require establishing the robust partnerships arrangements with the Maori group. Bicultural in New Zealand generally refers to the non-Maori and Maori group of societies (Chan et al., 2018). The study is widely focusing on the implications of The Treaty of Waitangi on the business practices of Maori. It provides the assumptions of the external scenario that have the significant contribution towards business success. In fact, it was even noticed that the new government legislation is imposed for which the development of the collaborative partnerships are essential. The community development helps in establishing biculturalism within the society.

1) Tool Used

Interview has been undertaken among the associated managers of Ngai Tahu Holdings Pvt Ltd. The community members have also participated in this interview session.

2) Data Sources        

Qualitative data is gathered from the external stakeholders or the community members and the internal managers of the company. They discussed the social initiatives undertaken by the company as well as the impact from the external forces that shape the business functions and influence the outcome more significantly.

3) Impact

The analysis of their responses determined the impact of the political, social, and technological aspects on the business. Accordingly, it also generated the information about the business investments on developing social welfare to promote biculturalism. In addition to this, it created more investment opportunities by receiving supports from the external environment.

External Environmental Factors and their Impact on Ngai Tahu Business

4) Assumptions

The principles of the Treaty of Waitangi are followed and managed the equity much promptly. The business clarified the objectives of developing the partnerships among the bicultural atmosphere (Rangihau, 2017). The mutual trust maintained among the business stakeholders is the key to success for the business.  On the other hand, the Maori group has been maintaining the social and cultural initiatives and fair treatments to sustain the position and maintain interpersonal relationships with the external stakeholders as well. The maintenance of the communicational transparency helps in promoting biculturalism and creates the opportunistic scenario for the business. The purpose of representing the voice and perspectives of the associated local community group is well-managed by the business leaders.

References

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