Defining Economic Success for Native Owned Businesses

Introduction Tribal Economic Development challenges Dissertation – 2013 “Defining Economic Success as it Pertains to Native American Owned Businesses Located on/or Adjacent to North Dakota Reservations”

Background Native Americans comprise of nearly 6% of North Dakota’s population; however they own less than 1% of the businesses in the state (Jahrig, 1996). Native American owned businesses have succeeded at only one-tenth the average rate for all new American business start- ups (Jahrig, 1996).

Purpose of Study Identify indictors of successful economic development as it pertains to Native American owned businesses located on/or adjacent to North Dakota reservations. More specifically explore relationships between the level of importance of knowledge, skills, and attitudes and sustainable Native American owned businesses.

Terms Successful business-one that has been in operation for at least 5 consecutive years Emerging business-one that has been in operation from 1-3 and 3-5 years Mature business-one that has been in operation for more than 5 years Adjacent to a reservation-a radius of 25 miles

Research Questions RQ1-How important are knowledge, skills, and attitudes to the sustainability of Native American owned businesses? RQ2-To what extent are Native American environmental factors, knowledge, skills, and attitudes significant for emerging versus mature Native American owned businesses?

Importance of this Research Community role Building and sustaining communities Business survival rate Education and economic development

Entrepreneurship literature Past studies

Research Design

Population (North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission, 2010)

Sample 384 Native American owned businesses located on/or adjacent to the 4 North Dakota reservations.

Instrument (Survey) Development Literature research Sun’s research instrument Pilot tested

Instrument 60 questions-measured how important each factor was to the business owner and to what extent the business owner used each factor 9 questions-demographic 7 sections: environmental factors, planning and organization, self-leadership, interpersonal leadership, systems management, success measures and demographics.

Data Collection Mailed surveys-384 Returned surveys-52 Completed surveys-194

Environmental Factors Planning and Organization Findings: RQ1-How important are knowledge, skills, and attitudes to the sustainability of Native American owned businesses? Environmental Factors Planning and Organization Self-Leadership 84%-Encourage the development of Native American private businesses that are not tribally owned. 76%-Support partnerships between tribal governments, tribal colleges, business development centers, business owners, and tribal members to help business owners in their business development efforts. 70%-Build trust and cooperate with Native American entrepreneurs. 91%-Take time to plan the path of their business. 91%-Be aware of events occurring outside of the company. 89%-Work a lot more hours in the business compared to other employees. 88%-Project a high degree of self-confidence. 85%-Exhibit a high degree of technical proficiency in the field. 82%-Solicit critical suggestions to improve performance.

Interpersonal Leadership Findings: RQ1-How important are knowledge, skills, and attitudes to the sustainability of Native American owned businesses? Interpersonal Leadership Systems Management 88%-Encourage cooperation and collaboration across functional areas of the business. 86%-Provide training and development. 85%-Make most of the decisions in the business. 86%-Understand how financial statements depict the business. 83%-Be aware of the product/services and pricing structure of competitors. 83%-Know what the businesses gross margins are.

Findings: RQ1-How important are knowledge, skills, and attitudes to the sustainability of Native American owned businesses? Planning and organization for Native American owned businesses is more dominant than any other variable in relationship to success. Planning and organization is the most important variable that makes an impact on the success of Native American owned businesses.

Environmental Factors Planning and Organization Findings: RQ2-To what extent are knowledge, skills, and attitudes significant for emerging versus mature Native American owned businesses? Environmental Factors Planning and Organization Self-Leadership 82%-Encouraged the development of Native American private businesses that are not tribally owned. 53%-Built trust and cooperated with Native American entrepreneurs. 87%-Worked a lot more hours in the business compared to other employees. 86%-Took time to plan the path of their business. 86%-Valued long-term potential over short-term thinking. 79%-Exhibit a high degree of technical proficiency in the field. 78%-Project a high degree of self-confidence. 73%-Had the courage to make commitments that would be considered risky by others.

Interpersonal Leadership Findings: RQ2-To what extent are knowledge, skills, and attitudes significant for emerging versus mature Native American owned businesses? Interpersonal Leadership Systems Management 84%-Make most of the decisions in the business. 81%-Encouraged cooperation and collaboration across functional areas of the business. 74%-Provide training and development. 82%-Know what the businesses gross margins are. 79%-Are aware of the product/services and pricing structure of competitors. 78%-Understood how financial statements depict the business.

Findings: RQ2-To what extent are knowledge, skills, and attitudes significant for emerging versus mature Native American owned businesses? Native American business owners are using the Planning and Organization factor more than any other variable in relationship to success.

Findings: RQ2-To what extent are knowledge, skills, and attitudes significant for emerging versus mature Native American owned businesses? Factor Emerging Mature Native American Environmental X+ Planning and Organization X Systems Management Interpersonal Leadership Self-Leadership

Findings: RQ2-To what extent are knowledge, skills, and attitudes significant for emerging versus mature Native American owned businesses? Factor Importance Used Native American Environmental Not Mature Planning and Organization Is Both Systems Management Neither Interpersonal Leadership Self-Leadership Emerging

Findings: RQ2-To what extent are knowledge, skills, and attitudes significant for emerging versus mature Native American owned businesses? Mature businesses Collaboration and Cooperation Emerging businesses Technical proficiency in the owners field Soliciting critical suggestions for the business

So what does this mean for Emerging Businesses? Emerging Native American business owners need to be technically proficient in their field in order to find the spark to start their own business. Establishing a network of emerging business owners. Need to plan and organize.

So what does this mean for Mature Businesses? Mentors Participate in training which focus on technical skills Refresher courses for mature businesses

Future Research Broader sample of Native American owned businesses Research to include other behaviors located on reservations Survey available online Culturally adaptive statements Qualitative study Education of business owners

Thank you!!