DEFENCE “Amotai has guided us along this journey in terms of how we engage with local communities,” noted Dan Walker, Global Co-Chair of Indigenous ERG at Microsoft, in an Amotai press release. Of interest, Amotai’s Ariana Paul delivered a presentation at the NZDIA IDEAS2020 Event, a video of which is available via the NZDIA website for Members and event attendees. It is worth a re-watch. Earlier this month, Amotai ran a sold out inaugural Supplier Diversity Aotearoa Summit in Auckland. Future events will be held, and I recommend following https://amotai.nz/ for information. Maybe next time there will be fewer conversations about the continuing proliferation of impossible or ridiculous hurdles preventing Maori businesses joining the fray.
Greater inclusion of Maori and Pasifika will lift all businesses This increased focus and scrutiny on involving Maori and Pasifika businesses in Government procurement might reasonably be seen as a threat to other NZ businesses. These businesses were led to believe that change was coming as a result of PR2019, but for many nothing has materialised. In the technology sector, New Zealand has many high performing businesses operating on the world stage, but too many we talk to, do not bother even engaging with NZ government procurement processes. World Commence and Commercial (WorldCC, formerly IACCM) has for over 20 years been championing the need for all economies to be underpinned by high performing and trusted trading relationships. Principles around building trust, long term relationships, innovation between customers and suppliers and delivering on visions of a world where all trading relationships deliver social and economic benefit, have long been discussed by the commercial community across the World. Gradually, we’re seeing change, as more countries, governments and companies embrace a less adversarial way of trading. Evidence of the benefits and results of more collaborative approaches are plentiful. As part of the discussion about the benefits of collaborative contracting, 32
it is worth focusing on productivity and the extent to which Government procurement policy may have contributed to New Zealand’s relatively poor productivity. In April 2021, the New Zealand Productivity Commission published New Zealand Firms: Reaching for the frontier, a report that includes findings from several separate studies focused on identifying higher performers and policy changes needed to increase productivity through innovation. The focus was on a defined set of ‘Frontier Firms’. In the report’s fourth chapter, “Insights from Maori Firms”, the findings from a study of Maori Frontier Firms by Mill and Millin demonstrate that Maori Frontier Firms have higher rates of innovation and R&D, and that common values and features help bring Maori businesses together around shared goals. The Mill and Millin study identified that Maori values such as Kaitiakitanga (guardianship), rangatiratanga (leadership, ownership), manaakitanga (hospitality), and whanaungatanga (relationship/kinship), together translate into an intergenerational view that is in turn reflected in long term business strategies and approaches. It is no coincidence that the benefits being experienced by WorldCC Members and Maori Frontier Firms are ahead of their curves and that the elements of success are similar. The Frontier Firms Report also notes that Māori businesses and iwi commonly refer to a “multiple bottom line” approach. This approach balances multiple values and objectives – spanning social, cultural, financial, environmental, spiritual and political domains. This sounds pretty similar to the objectives of the Broader Outcomes approach, and it is worth noting that the Mill and Millin study further identified that most interviewees did not see multiple bottom lines as a disadvantage. During May 2021, WorldCC invited Helmut Karewa Modlik, CEO of Kaiwhakahaere Matua, to join a panel to discuss supply chain diversity. Commenting on the Productivity Commission Report and my suggestion that all NZ businesses can learn from Maori businesses and vice versa, he noted: “as recently publicised, the Māori economy is in some respects leading the way in New Zealand.”
“The motivation of Māori investors, business leaders and entrepreneurs is more than just financial. Overall wellbeing, prosperity and mana of whānau, hapū and iwi, plus the wider community underpins most Māori economic endeavour. Government and industry can therefore concurrently progress the achievement of both economic and wider social aims by targeting Māori businesses for selective procurement and partnered approaches. Overseas this is called ‘community wealth building’; here we just call it ‘smart’!” Conclusion While recognising that COVID-19 hit during the two years since the new Government Procurement Rules were published, the conclusion that government agencies’ performance in embracing Broader Outcomes has not been good enough is not an unreasonable one. The PR2019 changes were introduced with critical and lofty goals to change procurement behaviours towards NZ businesses and to ensure good behaviour Line of Defence
