Bicultural Partnership: Impacts, Approaches and Business Strategy

Running head: BICULTURALISM 1
Bicultural partnership
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BICULTURALISM 2
Abstract
A bicultural partnership is a partnership that brings together the ideas, values, and
behaviors of two cultural groups. In New Zealand, the collaboration involved the Maori and the
non-Maoris. This research aims at evaluating the various impacts of bicultural partnership on the
management of the business. It further seeks to understand the multiple approaches that were
employed in integrating the different cultures in the Maori partnership. Finally, the research
tends to evaluate how the bicultural resources, activities, and support that may help in fostering
business strategy and relationship.

BICULTURALISM 3
Bicultural partnerships
Introduction
Pakeha and Maori have been the predominant culture in New Zealand. They used to
practice mono-culturist management which was characterized by unresolved conflicts due to the
diversification of values, beliefs, rights and resources. A phenomenon was hatched to solve the
underlying managerial issues brought about by monocultures. Thus, biculturalism was born to
act as a co-existence of the two cultures. This was the rise of Maori partnership. Concurring with
the views of Obiakor 2012, the Maori partnership did not solve all the challenges of monoculture
though it had some positive impacts on the business. The concept of biculturalism has benefits to
various areas of management when it is integrated into the workplace. These areas include
dispute resolution, teamwork, leadership and decision making.
Impact and implications of bicultural partnership
The bicultural partnership in New Zealand brought together the Maori and the non-
Maori. This partnership happened after the establishment of the Tanga Whenua Caucus in 1986.
In a broader perspective, an argument can be made that there are two core effects of
biculturalism which are significant in business. These two core effects include adaptability and
ability to act as a boundary spanner between cultures. A discussion that was fronted by Stacey R
Fitzsimmons 2017 noted that biculturalism allows people to adapt more easily than
monocultures. Adaptability refers to the ability of a person to change one’s way of thinking to
correspond with the prevailing conditions. Adaptability in management is stepped up by
unfreezing and also the ability to establish innovative cultural systems. The implication of
adaptability can be felt in cognition, emotion and behaviour functionality of business