8. The business of governing: building institutional capital in an urban enterprise

In the wider community, people who have a business idea and the means to develop their idea can develop their own enterprise at their own initiative. It is not as straightforward in Aboriginal communities. This is because Aboriginal people are invariably members of wider family groups and communities, and individuals are not completely free to undertake private enterprise ... Similarly, opportunities are frequently seen as communal assets—belonging to clan groups or to communities, not to individuals ... Indigenous social and cultural imperatives often result in the creation of decision-making and ownership structures that make enterprise ownership and management inefficient, unwieldy, impossible ... Indigenous decision-making structures are about social and political representation, whereas optimum business decision-making should be about expertise, experience, knowledge and talent.