Rawiri Tinirau

Citation

Thesis Title
Te Kura i Awarua: Understanding, valuing and practising tikanga in Maori businesses and organisations

Read article at Massey Research Online:

Although tikanga (Māori practices) are well established in many sectors, understandings of tikanga in a business context are still emerging. Mr Tinirau analysed cultural values and practices inherent within his own whānau (family) and hapū (sub-tribe), and sourced inspiration from traditional waiata (songs), a corpus of literature rarely reviewed in management research. Engaging with five Māori organisational case studies, he sought their perceptions and practice of tikanga. He found that knowledge of tikanga varies, and is applied in numerous ways. It was noted that tikanga is sometimes preferred over, but is also complementary to, good business practice. In conclusion, for tikanga to remain relevant in business/organisational contexts, he proposed that a shared understanding of underlying values be developed, on which flexible yet robust tikanga can be based. A conceptual framework Te Waka o Te Ora was developed to illustrate those elements that influence tikanga in Māori business and organisational settings.

Supervisors
Dr Farah Palmer
Professor Tony Vitalis
Dr Annemarie Gillies