Te Hokinga ki te Ūkaipō: Disrupted Māori Management Theory - Harmonising Whānau Conflict in the Māori Land Trust

Abstract

This thesis generates a theory grounded in data to explain the management dysfunction pervading many Māori land trust across New Zealand. Presently, 1.4666 million hectares of Māori land make up 5.5% of New Zealand’s land mass, represented by an extraordinary 27,308 titles, and 2.7 million individual ownership interests. Māori trusts and incorporations are estimated to make up 64% of all Māori land, with half – 751,000 hectares, constituted as Ahu Whenua Trusts and 14% – 21, 0000 hectares, as incorporations. The New Zealand government recently spurred policy to mandate intiatives and resources to unlock the potential of Māori land. However, because of a number of intricate and multi-faceted issues, considerable complexity exists with the management of Māori land trusts. Using grounded theory and based on 22 interviews with Māori land trust experts, trustees, shareholders, policy makers, lawyers and land development specialists, the research determines why relational conflict pervades Māori land trusts, to identify the antecedents and consequences of this conflict. It sheds light on the relationship between individual, organizational, and societal processes. At its core, this thesis presents the empirical foundation for disrupted Māori management theory. This new multi-level theory bridges micro-, meso and macro- levels and is useful for understanding management complications within Māori land trusts. The thesis gives an outline of each level and a conceptual identity for disrupted Māori management theory. Achieving whānau potentiality is at the heart of this research; practice implications are also explored.