We make indigenous community organisations more effective...research. Tpk icehouse-maori-alumni-feedback-feb-2013

1. Supporting Māori Businesses to Grow to
Internationally Competitive Standards

2. Supporting Māori Businesses to Grow to
Internationally Competitive Standards
The ICEHOUSE
117-125 St Georges Bay Rd
PO Box 4301
Parnell, Auckland
www.theicehouse.co.nz
Te Puni Kōkiri
143 Lambton Quay
PO Box 3943
Wellington
www.tpk.govt.nz
This report highlights the feedback and impact that the current ICEHOUSE programmes have had
on Māori participants between 2006 and 2012.
* Note that a range of ICEHOUSE programmes have been included – ranging from 1.5 day
interactions to journey programmes over several months.
Final report to Te Puni Kōkiri, Growing Māori Assets initiative.
Prepared by Shay Wright
February 2013

3. The ICEHOUSE business growth centre is a collaborative partnership between the University of Auckland Business School,
BNZ, HP, Microsoft, Telecom and Boston Consulting Group. We also have strong relationships with New Zealand Trade &
Enterprise, KEA, Te Puni Kōkiri and extensive national and international networks.
Since 2001 the ICEHOUSE has worked with over 4,000 ambitious owner managers, from start-up businesses to many
established multi-million dollar companies. We have a proven model of accelerating business growth, helping raise capital,
and driving wealth creation.
The goal of the ICEHOUSE is to help deliver 1,000 internationally capable, competitive, and successful New Zealand
businesses by 2020. We operate a number of programmes across the entrepreneurial spectrum to enable start-ups, SMEs,
family groups and larger organisations to grow. Our activities fall into one of four areas: mentoring, learning, networking or
funding for these organisations.
In the Māori unit we aim to enable 150 Māori businesses to be internationally capable. This will contribute towards realising
the $12 billion growth in GDP and additional 149,000 jobs that the Māori economy can create over the next 50 years.1
Success for us is finding, creating and partnering with companies to:
• give them the scale they need, and
• increase their performance exponentially
The University of Auckland Business School established The ICEHOUSE in 2001 along with a number of partners. The
purpose was to provide education and encouragement to owner-managed businesses and start-ups - both vital sectors for a
vibrant and growing New Zealand economy.
The University makes its knowledge base and staff resources available to entrepreneurs through The ICEHOUSE because
they are committed to addressing the particular challenges such that businesses face in a rapidly changing and complex
environment.
The ICEHOUSE programmes provide uniquely powerful experiences for owner-managers, and that‟s what learning should be
about.
1 Business and Economic Research Limited, (2011), The Māori Economy, Science and Innovation, Māori Economic Taskforce &Te Puni Kōkiri.

4. Wāhanga Tuatahi - Part One Page 1
ICEHOUSE Programme Overview
He Kupu Tīmatanga (Introductory Comment)
Q1: What is the ownership model of your business entity?
Q2: How did you find out about ICEHOUSE courses?
Q3: Was the ICEHOUSE growth programme relevant to you?
Q4: How much do you feel you learned overall?
Q5: Did the programme help build a larger network that you can draw on?
Q6: Have you touched base with any new contacts since the programme?
Q7: Which aspects of the programme were most valuable to you?
Q8: Are you motivated to effect change in your business?
Q9: Have you implemented learnings from the programme?
Q10: What actions have you taken based on learnings from the programme?
Q11: How would you rate the level of change in your business as a result of the programme?
Q12: Have you experienced growth in your business since the ICEHOUSE programme?
Q13: What are the next big growth options or changes on the horizon?
Q14: What is an on-going challenge that you face, or what is the next big challenge for your business?
Q15: Are the learnings from ICEHOUSE relevant to the challenges or growth options that you face?
Q16: What actions do you plan to take based on what you learned on the programme?
Q17: How likely are you to recommend a programme like this to your peers?
Q18: Why would you recommend this ICEHOUSE programme to others? What is the value proposition?
Q19: Are you looking at further relevant training?
Q20: Do you have much to do with your marae or community?
Q21: How much time do you have to contribute to things outside of running your business?
Q22: Did the programme add value in respect of your role on your marae committee/trust etc.?
Q23: How much value did the ICEHOUSE programme add to community activities that you are involved with?
Q24: Were any of the programme learnings/tools useful in life outside your business?
Q25: What changes or improvements would you make to the programme?
Q26: Who may be interested in the Māori Business Programme? (either Māori businesses or trusts)
He Kupu Whakatepe (Concluding comments)
Lessons taken from the Māori alumni feedback
Feedback: Dr Chellie Spiller
Feedback: Dr Leith Oliver
Feedback: Dr Christine Woods
Feedback: Liz Wotherspoon
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ICEHOUSE Māori Alumni Feedback Report
Wāhanga Tuarua - Part Two Page 17
Wāhanga Tuatoru - Part Three Page 18

5. This section of the report seeks to determine the relevance of the ICEHOUSE business growth programmes to Māori businesses
and the effectiveness of adding value, sharing tools, learnings and networks, changing behaviour and ultimately growing Māori
businesses.
The conclusions drawn are based off the feedback from 25 Māori alumni of ICEHOUSE programmes.2
The information was gathered through face-to-face meetings, phone calls, email exchanges, course feedback forms and online
surveys with the participants.
The following lists the ICEHOUSE programmes and identifies the number of Māori alumni who have attended each type of
programme, and the number that provided feedback towards this report.
Note that some alumni were unavailable for contact at the information collection stage. Also some were still undergoing an
ICEHOUSE programme or had only just attended, and felt that it was too early to give feedback due to it being too early to show
transformational change or business growth.
Wāhanga Tuatahi – Part One
Owner Manager Programme
A five month in-depth programme with ICEHOUSE coaches, external experts and peers for owner-managers with revenues of
$3 million and above. The total length is seventeen days split into five blocks.
When we last measured alumni business growth, average EBIT growth of participants‟ businesses was 32% for the 3 years post
programme.
Number of Māori alumni identified: 8 people
Number of Māori alumni interviewed: 4 people
Agribusiness Programme
A three month programme tailored to the needs of owner-managers of agribusinesses (growers, farmers and food processors).
It works on the business owner, their strategy and future growth. The total length is twelve days split into three blocks.
Number of Māori alumni identified: 2 people
Number of Māori alumni interviewed: 1 person
Achieving Business Growth workshop
A one-and-a-half day workshop for owner-managers and senior managers of small to medium sized enterprises.
It is held regionally and unlocks business potential by giving an overview of the most relevant concepts in business – marketing,
management, people and financials.
Number of Māori alumni identified: 14 people
Number of Māori alumni interviewed: 8 people
Māori Business Growth workshop
A two day workshop for Māori trustees, business owners and senior leaders.
It builds on the learnings from the Achieving Business Growth workshop but also considers business issues from a Māori
perspective.
Number of Māori alumni identified: 21 people
Number of Māori alumni interviewed: 12 people
ICEHOUSE Programme Overview
2 Twenty five of the forty five identified Māori alumni.
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6. This section addresses and summarises the data collected from twenty five Māori alumni. It includes twenty five questions about
their business, their role in the business, and the effectiveness of ICEHOUSE business growth programmes in helping grow these
businesses. Important comments made by alumni are noted throughout, and a brief analysis given. Conclusions are drawn where
appropriate to provide a deeper understanding of the trends and results from the alumni survey.
This profile is based on all forty five identified Māori alumni, rather than just the twenty five who participated in the research for this
report. As demonstrated on pages 5 and 6, a number of participants have attended ICEHOUSE programmes from the same
business. In this case, each business has been counted only once.
The majority of Māori participants businesses have been is private ownership, but proportionally there is still strong demand from
Māori business managers of collectively owned entities for entrepreneurial training to assist them with skills development and
business growth.
Q1: What is the ownership model of your business entity?
He Kupu Tīmatanga Introductory Comment
Q2: How did you find out about ICEHOUSE courses?
BNZ managers and Te Puni Kōkiri‟s Maori Business Facilitation Service account managers have strong relationships with Māori
business owners. Together with the ICEHOUSE team, they represent the main channel into Māori participants, and provided the
majority of leads for Māori who went on to sign up for ICEHOUSE programmes. As the number of Māori alumni and the track record
of the ICEHOUSE grows in the Māori business space, it is likely that the number of sources delivering Māori participants to
ICEHOUSE programmes will increase. It is foreseeable that more participant leads will then come from business networks,
colleagues, regional marketing material, peers and other ICEHOUSE channel partners.
2

7. The content of the ICEHOUSE courses has been carefully developed and continually modified over eleven years. On each
programme there are a wide range of business life stages, revenues, growth rates and industries represented. Withstanding this,
the lessons are generally applicable, practical and robust enough for all participants to gain value from them. This applies to Māori
businesses also.
Feedback from all alumni Māori alumni of the Owner Manager Programme rated it as „Very relevant and useful‟.3
To ensure that the Māori Business Growth workshop receives a similarly high feedback rating in future, the content and audience
will be carefully managed. This will mean that Māori owner-managers of private businesses are catered for separately to
representatives from Māori trusts and iwi businesses. This is because of the significant difference in business models, asset bases,
roles and decision-making processes.
Q3: Was the ICEHOUSE growth programme relevant to you?
Q4: How much do you feel you learned overall?
Our goal is to create internationally competitive and capable Māori businesses. To achieve this, measuring actual learning and
application is more important than just measuring customer satisfaction.
The two journey programmes had higher scores than the two day workshops. This is because journey programmes offer more
opportunity for deeper and broader learning from speakers, facilitators, case studies and peers. Longer programmes also provide
more of a reason to implement the learnings and make changes to the business since participants are required to report back to their
peers every time they meet.
Average scores for programmes:
Agribusiness Programme = 7.0
Owner Manager Programme = 6.5
Achieving Business Growth = 5.9
Māori Business Growth = 5.0
3 Alumni were also given the options of „Only slightly relevant‟ and „Not relevant‟. Neither option was selected.
3

8. A strong business network is an important part of growing an entrepreneurial venture. It can lead to supplier/customer
arrangements, partnership opportunities and a soundboard for important business decisions. All Māori participants reported that
they built networks into other business owners and managers on all of the ICEHOUSE programmes.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the Māori Business Growth workshop was the most successful at building networks among Māori
participants. Māori naturally bring whānaungatanga and manaaki to hui, which creates a strong bond between participants.4 It is
important that Māori businesses get the opportunity to do this to allow them to collaborate between entities to build the capability
and scale needed to take advantage of large market opportunities.
Q5: Did the programme help build a larger network that you can draw on?
Q6: Have you touched base with any new contacts since the programme?
Comments such as the one below reinforce that it is important for alumni to maintain contact with their peers.
“I made lots more than seven contacts. I have created many very positive business contacts which I have done business with and
used for advice.”
Two respondents had not yet contacted peers. This was because at the time of the interview, one was still on a journey programme,
and the other had only just completed the ICEHOUSE workshop. Both intend to connect with their peers as soon as possible.
The ICEHOUSE attempts to build stronger networks among alumni through the ICEHOUSE League, newsletters profiling alumni
successes, and events for alumni. In future we plan to run events for Māori alumni to keep this network strong and extend it across
programmes.
4 Whānaungatanga refers to the process of building or rekindling relationships, and manaaki refers to the process of supporting one another.
4

9. Half of all respondents found the „Financial literacy‟ sessions important for them in their business role. Other key learnings that were
also highly valued were „Building networks‟, „Refreshing thinking around business principles‟ and „Realising things they did not
know‟. This feedback indicates that what Māori alumni valued in the ICEHOUSE programmes was the opportunity to open their
minds to a new way of looking at their business and providing a strong group of peers to share experiences and solutions with.
Respondents also indicated that they were able to leverage advice from facilitators, speakers and fellow participants; that they
learned technical skills around inventory and cash flow integration; and that they are now motivated to continue learning more about
business.
Q7: Which aspects of the programme were most valuable to you?
Q8: Are you motivated to effect change in your business?
All Māori alumni that were interviewed expressed an interest and motivation in changing aspects of their business. This feedback
comes with no surprise since making the decision to attend an ICEHOUSE programme, which is by design a personal and business
development journey, indicates an interest in improving the business.
The programmes use a careful balance of the three circles to understand the context of the participant and their business, those
being: „The Business‟; „You in the Business‟; and „You‟.
Transformational change in the business can only occur if alumni are both willing and able to implement change in their businesses.
The comment was made that even with the motivation to change, sometimes it can be difficult to turn aspiration into action because
of the overbearing need to focus on day-to-day tasks and lack of available time to focus on working on the business. To resolve this,
ICEHOUSE would recommend a business coach spend time with participants post-programme to help implement key changes. A
journey programme like the Owner Manager Programme has also proven successful in doing this.
5

10. The feedback demonstrates that the ICEHOUSE programmes do include practical tools, frameworks and learnings that participants
can apply in the months following the programme to improve their businesses.
18 of the 25 respondents completed programmes within the six months before being interviewed. Of these, 17 implemented some
of the key learnings in their business. One respondent is halfway through the Owner Manager Programme journey and is
implementing changes between each block.
Another respondent finished the programme seven weeks before being interviewed, and commented “I haven‟t yet implemented the
learnings, but we are about to embark on strategic planning and will use the tool learned from the programme.”
Q9: Have you implemented learnings from the programme?
Q10: What actions have you taken based on learnings from the programme?
These responses indicate the specific actions taken by Māori alumni to improve and grow their businesses since the programme.
More than half of the participants passed on their learnings to staff and their peers. This ensures that the effects of ICEHOUSE
programmes is widespread, and that the business community more generally is benefitting from the ICEHOUSE learnings,. It also
reassures organisations who provide financial support for Māori business owner-managers to attend programmes (such as NZTE, Te
Puni Kōkiri and BNZ) that there is a positive return on investment outside of developing just the participant.5
Almost half of the participants have focussed on creating and strengthening business relationships since the programme. This is
important, but often undervalued in business development. A particular strength of ICEHOUSE programmes is the peer learning,
cross-fertilisation of knowledge, and intimate exposure to each other‟s businesses which sets the basis for long-term relationships.
5 Further analysis of this is shown in questions 21-24.
6

11. Question 9 and Question 10 highlighted what learnings from the programmes Māori alumni implemented in their businesses. The
graph above reinforces that effective implementation brings about change in a businesses. Drawing links between the data, it
appears that the more learnings that are implemented, the greater the change made in the business. It is also sometimes the case
that taking one new action can have a huge effect on the business.
Some of the comments from respondents include:
“Following the training workshop, our CEO and I left Tauranga for three days and really put a lot of work into the strategic plan of our
business utilising the tools learned at ICEHOUSE.”
“I now have the ability to identify and focus on the specific functions of the business, rather than seeing the business as a large,
singular, complicated thing that was difficult to analyse and manage.”
“We are now focussing on our business being a wealth creation vehicle rather than a whānau employment initiative.”
“We have rebranding the business and started to use external data to make decisions rather than just anecdotal.”
Q11: How would you rate the level of change in your business as a result of the programme?
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12. Q12: Have you experienced growth in your business since the ICEHOUSE programme?
Almost all respondents made changes to their business based on ICEHOUSE learnings.6 This question aimed to dive deeper, and
determine whether the changes made resulted in business growth, or effectively prepared the business for growth. The feedback
suggests that there is a correlation between the number and extent of changes made and resulting growth that the business
experiences.
In giving feedback about their business growth, participants were asked to bear in mind such things as Changes to revenues;
Increased profits; Number of employees; Better internal systems and processes; Freed up time they now have to work on the
business (or on other projects); The scale of potential opportunities they are exploring.
Two thirds of respondents experienced „some growth‟ or „strong growth‟ since attending an ICEHOUSE programme. One Owner
Manager Programme alumnus has experienced a fivefold increase in profits since the ICEHOUSE programme and puts this down to
implementing the programme learnings.
In seven of the eight cases where „little growth‟ was experienced by alumni since attending an ICEHOUSE programme, they had only
recently completed the programme and recognised that it takes a longer timeframe to make a significant difference.
One alumnus mentioned that the business he managed has experienced negative growth in the six years since the programme; but
that the company has invested heavily in new opportunities and developed a number of new businesses. One of these is
establishing themselves as a leader in the NZ ginseng industry. He anticipates that the business will achieve positive cash flows in
2014. This demonstrates that the concept of growth requires a greater assessment than just an increase in the bottom line.7
The types of growth experienced are grouped in the feedback below. It demonstrates that ICEHOUSE programmes make a real
difference in supporting Māori businesses to grow to internationally competitive standards.
Profit
“We were a good business before but now we are a benchmark profitable. We have experienced a fivefold increase. I also learnt
how to properly quantify profit, i.e. return on capital, net profit percentage of sales etc.”
Systems and Processes
“Definite growth in systems and processes”
“Growth in external interest due to a combination of the company launch and better systems and processes.”
“Putting in place systems for growth going forward.”
“Came into the course when the GFC was in full swing at the time breakeven was a major milestone. Business has experienced
steady growth with a much leaner operation.”
“Team productivity, more thinking time for directors.”
“Lifted professional presence in the market, and upgraded parts of the business to have a fresh new approach.”
More customers and markets
“More tourist vessels taking up our tourism product.”
“More work from existing customers.”
“New clients in private sector which is very exciting.”
Yet to realise growth
“In 2010 we incorporated a new global business in an entirely different market as a direct consequence of the ICEHOUSE learnings.
We have plans for launching another new company next year.”
6 Refer to Question 11.
7 Such as an improvement in the business‟s ability to successfully defend against international competition.
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13. Māori alumni are pursuing a number of different options for growth. Many of these involve new markets or new product/service
offerings. For the purposes of brevity I have grouped ideas and removed double ups.
- Launching a new product/service
- Online selling
- Developing a tourism arm in our business
- Developing new markets (Asia, Australia, UAE)
- Direct exporting
- Vertical integration
- Growing a new branch in another location
- Upgrading utilities and infrastructure, or location
- Starting a new business that I have more control over
- Changing market position from a discounting product to an experience for the customer.
- Building new networks into Māori businesses
- Strategic planning
- Maintain existing client base
Q13: What are the next big growth options or changes on the horizon?
Q14: What is an on-going challenge that you face, or what is the next big challenge for your business?
Exporting our first products to Asia
Securing capital or investment to increase business
Using a computer/website as a sales tool.
Strategic plan for tapping into Māori businesses
Tourism market decline
Cost of building refurbishment
Market perception regarding our expertise
Our own team mates
Moving from interest to contract – positioning ourselves as a preferred provider
Capacity in the business
A short term vision in our trust
Taking the time out to work on business strategies
Our roles as directors and co-managers of the company.
Ensuring we keep excellent staff as we grow.
Marketing our products more effectively
Dealing with Council and local politicians
Balancing expectations of stakeholders/shareholders
All of the above problems are typically experienced in growing entrepreneurial businesses. Through our access to markets, access
to capital, networks, training programmes and intellectual property around business growth, The ICEHOUSE is able to add value to
many of these businesses to help address their growth challenges.
Several of the challenges listed above are particular to Māori businesses because of their ownership structure, management and
governance structure, low levels of cash flows and multi bottom-lines. These issues demonstrate the real differences that exist
between mainstream SME businesses and many Māori businesses, particularly those that are collectively owned.
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14. The feedback indicates that Māori alumni believe the ICEHOUSE can continue to add value to their businesses as they grow, and
have identified areas where we could help them. The types of value that they have outlined are:
- “Finding some financial support for us to continue on-going mentoring with ICEHOUSE. I believe they are in the top ten business
advisors in the world.”
- Access to capital
- Mentoring assistance for exporting to the China market
- Understanding the performance aspects of the businesses that I run
- Continuing to offer small courses that are relevant to owner managers that address key issues. Not necessarily one big course to
cover everything as I have already done that via OMP - but short sharp courses covering specific topics such as Foreign currency;
Marketing; Management
- Having a tight list of companies and individuals that you can refer me to for assistance
Q15: Are the learnings from ICEHOUSE relevant to the challenges or growth options that you face?
Q16: What actions do you plan to take based on what you learned on the programme?
This feedback indicates the areas that Māori alumni believe they need to work on the most in their business.8 The three main ones
were:
• more time spent working on the strategy of the business
• importance of partnering to achieve scale and goals
• More time invested in understanding the business financials
These three things can have a huge impact on growing an entrepreneurial business, and so it is positive reinforcement that the Māori
alumni are looking at the right things to improve in order to understand, improve and grow their businesses.
8 It may also indicate the aspects of the programme that were most heavily reinforced.
10

15. Of the twenty four participants who responded, nineteen are deemed as „highly likely‟ to recommend the ICEHOUSE programmes to
their peers.9 Overall the average rating across all programmes was 8.4/10.
Average scores for programmes:
Owner Manager Programme = 9.5 Māori Business Growth = 8.1
Achieving Business Growth = 8.4 Agribusiness Programme = 8.0
There is a level of consistency in alumni ratings across the programmes. The Owner Manager Programme had the higher average
rating, with 3 out of 4 respondents rating it as 10/10.
At the conclusion of the Māori Business Growth workshop in September, participants‟ were asked then how likely they were to
recommending the programme to their peers, and the results then also averaged 8.4.
Q17: How likely are you to recommend a programme like this to your peers?
Q18: Why would you recommend this ICEHOUSE programme to others? What is the value proposition?
This feedback allows us to gain a clearer perspective of what Māori alumni value most about the ICEHOUSE programmes.
The most common ideas have been included below, and tend to focus around the ideas of growing networks; having real, case-
based learning and juicy tips; and motivating them to work on the business to achieve growth.
 “The opportunity to learn from and network with peers in similar businesses”
 “Insight into other people's business and business problem solving”
 “The quality of the programme content “
 “Understanding issues facing Māori businesses”
 “A focus on growth rather than the bottom line”
 “The expertise of the facilitators and coaches and their experience in the practical side of business”
 “Practical learning and application”
 “Hearing it from a different point of view and learning from other peoples‟ mistakes”
 “The motivation you get from being surrounded by the people “
 “Opening your mind to the possibilities out there”
 “Inspiration which can be lacking in hum drum of day to day jobs to do”
 “A completely independent space to develop your „working ON the business‟ skills to reassess your own business model”
 “Business is complicated, ICEHOUSE gave me clarity”
 “It‟s almost like an one-stop shop for a range of business knowledge and networks”
9 Those who answered with an 8, 9 or 10.
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16. Half of the respondents were still actively looking for the next step in their personal and business training. Four of the twenty five
alumni interviewed indicated that they were not interested in pursuing further development at the current time. They were not averse
to reassessing this decision in the next year once they had started to act on their current growth plans.
Those that were interested in further development were seeking a wide range of new skills, including:
- Export and international business
- Business management and planning
- Leadership development
- Strategic planning and facilitating
- Higher levels of marketing and online marketing
- Computer training
- Start-up business processes
- Post graduate study with applied lens around governance and management of Māori assets/agribusiness
Q19: Are you looking at further relevant training?
Q20: Do you have much to do with your marae or community?
It is common for Māori to wear a number of other hats outside of the role in their business. Fourteen of the twenty four alumni
interviewed have at least some role with their marae or community, of varying degree of involvement and time given.10
The alumni held many different community roles, including:
 Looking after the marae (kaitiaki)
 Funding marae
 Fundraising for the local school
 Sitting on school Board of Trustees
 Serving on iwi boards
 Part of the kura kaupapa whānau
 Marae chairman or marae rep on iwi claims management board
10 See Question 21 for more information about time committed to such roles.
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17. Q21: How much time do you have to contribute to things outside of running your business?
Q22: Did the programme add value in respect of your role on your marae committee/trust etc.?
Many of the roles that our Māori alumni hold within their marae or iwi involve a form of business management and decision making
(as per Question 20). There are a number of ways that ICEHOUSE programmes add value to alumni in these roles, including
through networks, decision-making tools, financial understanding, people management tools and knowledge of financing options.
Alumni feedback indicates that the programmes added value mainly in building confidence, networks, people management, tools and
knowledge.
 “The ICEHOUSE programme assisted us in our tourism arm of the Marae cultural experience.”
 “Focusing on financial as well as management.”
 “It reinforced my confidence in myself and what I am doing, which is projected in day-to-day decision making, management of
people, financing options etc.”
 “I got to strengthen personal relationships with individuals whose entities our incorporation had 'lost contact' with.”
Twenty two of the twenty four respondents signified that they have responsibilities or give time to causes outside of running their
business. These roles included parenting, whānau commitments, directorships and board positions.
The next series of questions drill down further into these roles and whether ICEHOUSE learnings were applicable to them.
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18. As with Question 22, respondents were asked to consider all learnings that they gained from the ICEHOUSE programmes, and the
extent to which these improved their ability to add value to community activities. The vast majority of respondents found that the
programmes added some value or a lot of value to their community roles. Feedback about the specific value added included:
 “It gave me confidence in direction and the need for systems (applied in coaching rugby)”
 “It provided new networks”
 “People and project management”
 “Learning how to set goals, objectives etc.”
 “Understanding the objectives and outcomes re. sponsorship of various organisations”
Q23: How much value did the ICEHOUSE programme add to community activities that you are involved with?
Q24: Were any of the programme learnings/tools useful in life outside your business?
In day to day life, Māori alumni indicated that the tools learned were also generally applicable and therefore allowed them to do
things better and more efficiently. Specific areas where this was highlighted include:
- Decision-making
- Conflict resolution
- Understanding who they needed to talk to about an opportunity/initiative/problem
- Confidence in myself and insight into understanding and communicating with others
- Managing iwi expectations and explaining why certain decisions are necessary
- Reassessing and prioritising what their time is focussed on
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19. Five headings were provided and the feedback collated below:
Content:
The vast majority had no recommendations for a change in the programme content. Some mentioned that it would have been
helpful if a more simplified technique was used to communicate the „Knowing the numbers‟ session.
Case studies:
- More practical business examples of how companies started up and built their growth and assets up
- More case studies from Māori lands trusts or PGSEs
- Include a case study of a kaupapa Māori organisation
- A case study on how to get out of a difficult business situation
- A case study demonstrating the importance of applying business connections
Delivery:
Across all of the facilitators, no substantial changes were recommended. Having Māori facilitators who understand a Māori world
view and can relate the business concepts to this is highly regarded by Māori alumni.
Logistics:
ICEHOUSE experience in running events left all participants satisfied
Follow-ups:
Most thought the current follow-ups (such as the ICEHOUSE newsletter) were good and needed to continue, but some feedback
indicated a desire for other post-programme offerings, including:
- A more regular newsletter
- Regional network/opportunities for catch-ups with other alumni and opportunities to learn together
- A „Ted talk‟ service/portal to allow alumni to access learnings from experienced people from their rural communities and without
huge travel, time and training expense
- More integration between the Māori alumni and the wider ICEHOUSE community
- Opportunities to network and sell products to other alumni
Coaching:
Two thirds of the respondents felt that more information should be made available about the ICEHOUSE mentors/coaches, either for
themselves or other interested participants.
Q25: What changes or improvements would you make to the programme?
Q26: Who may be interested in the Māori Business Programme? (either Māori businesses or trusts)
Having learned about Māori businesses from the Māori Business Growth workshop, and realising that changes needed to be made
to the learning journey, we also pitched in the design of the Māori Business Programme – a journey programme focussed mainly on
Maori Trusts and Incorporations.
Seven of the Māori alumni provided details of peers for us to contact about the programme. We believe that one way to benchmark
customer satisfaction is through the willingness of alumni to refer the programmes to their peers, and so we are satisfied with the
response to this request.
One alumnus commented “I certainly would be interested, and I will try and think of others to nominate as well.”
15

20. He Kupu Whakatepe Concluding comments
• The ICEHOUSE has not had a significant engagement with Māori in business over the last eleven years. Between 2006 and
2012, of the 520 participants on the flagship Owner Manager Programme, eight were Māori. This represents only 1.5 percent.
Reasons for the low engagement are likely to be a combination of: firstly, a small number of Māori SME businesses with
turnovers high enough for the ICEHOUSE programmes; an impression of The ICEHOUSE not being relevant to their business; a
lack of value seen in training; low penetration of the ICEHOUSE brand in Māori business circles; and free alternatives for Māori
(e.g. TPK mentoring).
• Māori alumni of ICEHOUSE programmes reinforced that ICEHOUSE does added value to them and their businesses and they
believe this will continue to be the case as they grow their businesses.
• Māori participants are keen to make changes in their businesses, and have started implementing key learnings from the
programmes. Change does not happen overnight however, and in some cases the alumni needed to get input from others in
their business before decisions could be made.
• Māori alumni are now focussing on working on the strategy of their business, partnering to achieve scale, and getting a better
handle on the business financials. They are confident in doing this because of the guidance, direction, learnings and tools that
the ICEHOUSE programmes provided. When these are successfully managed (along with other learnings) they will enable
growth in their entrepreneurial businesses.
• Māori businesses are experiencing growth (to varying degrees) and this has been influenced by ICEHOUSE programmes.
• The Māori alumni interviewed see themselves as on a development pathway, and can be expected to seek out further personal
and business development opportunities.
• Māori businesses are thinking about export and building international capability, and are seeking out this type of learning. This
aligns to the goals of both ICEHOUSE and Te Puni Kōkiri around supporting Māori businesses to grow to internationally
competitive standards.
• Outside of their businesses, the tools learned in ICEHOUSE programmes are applicable to their decision-making roles in the
community, and in their ability to add value to their marae, iwi and communities.
Much of the feedback has been useful in shaping up our strategy in engaging with, and adding value to, Māori businesses. There
are a number of key learnings that have come out of the report. Each of these is highlighted below:
• Journey programmes are more effective for teaching participants and ensuring that they implement the learnings.
• Effective implementation of ICEHOUSE learnings does lead to change in a businesses. And change in a business, in many
respects leads to business growth. ICEHOUSE is impactful. The more learnings that are implemented, the greater the change
made in the business and the greater the ensuing growth.
• A programme‟s audience must be similar enough to relate to one another‟s experiences and learn from one another. It was a
good move to develop a Māori Business Growth workshop, but the differences between Māori trusts and Māori SMEs are quite
different, meaning the conversations and experiences were also considerably different. As one participant mentioned, “it would
have been good to have more Māori collective businesses on my workshop, as some of the issues we face in business are not
the same as mainstream or SMEs in terms of dealing with the social element.” We will therefore develop parallel offerings for
Māori trusts and Māori SME businesses.
• ICEHOUSE needs to ensure it continually provides opportunities for alumni to remain connected to the organisations and to
each other; and look at ways to connect alumni with others from across the entrepreneurial system.
• Even if an entrepreneur has the motivation to make change in their business, it can be difficult to turn aspiration into action. Lack
of resource, including money, time and energy can stifle change being made. In this regard we recommend coaching to make
the process faster and more targeted.
Lessons taken from the Māori alumni feedback
16

21. This part of the report focuses on the two current Owner Manager Programme participants. As part of an agreement with Te Puni
Kōkiri, they have agreed to mentor and share knowledge with a Māori business owner-manager, and make a presentation to a local
secondary school with a high percentage of Māori students. The following three questions indicate how they expect to approach
these two commitments and any support they may need.
Wāhanga Tuarua – Part Two
Toro Waaka - Current Business: Ngāti Pāhauwera Commercial Development Ltd.
Since joining the ICEHOUSE programme, Toro has shared his business knowledge with a number of Māori organisations from farm
trusts to iwi organisations in Treaty negotiations.
His future focus will be in working with Ngāti Pāhauwera whānau to facilitate business planning. This will equip them with the basic
skills to then participate in the tribes economic development in manuka honey and goat farming cooperatives.
Guy Royal - Current Business: Tuia Group Ltd.
Guy‟s business, Tuia Group, works with a number of Māori businesses in various ways. Guy acts as a key advisor to many of them.
Because of this exposure, he will choose one or two businesses, and with their agreement, act as a mentor to them. In this capacity
he will formally provide business advisory to them over the next 1-2 years
B) How do you plan to approach your presentation to a school about your business experience?
A) How do you plan to mentor and share knowledge with another Māori owner-manager?
Toro Waaka
Toro is an old boy of Te Aute College and Napier Boys High School. He will discuss the matter with personnel from these schools
about how he might add value to their students. Equally there may be more value of such a presentation to Māori business students
of the Eastern Institute of Technology in Hawkes Bay.
Guy Royal
Guy is still deciding how he will approach this. His preference is to present to a school based in the Porirua region, but he is also
open to presenting to young entrepreneurs or students studying in a Polytechnic or Wānanga business course.
B) Do you require any support in carrying out these commitments, and if so, how could we assist you?
Toro Waaka
Toro would prefer to be guided by Te Puni Kōkiri and the ICEHOUSE in terms of where he might add the most value. He would
prefer it if we were able to make the initial contact with the relevant organisation on his behalf.
Guy Royal
Guy indicated that some help would be appreciated in regards to the presentation. If Te Puni Kōkiri has a preference for a school or
tertiary institution, Guy has asked whether it is possible for them to help arrange for the presentation to go ahead.
17

22. This section outlines the views of the ICEHOUSE „deliverers‟ regarding the following:
• Observations about the participants
• The relevance of the programmes to the Māori alumni
• The opportunities to improve the programme content and delivery for a Māori business audience
• Specific learnings they gained from delivering to Māori businesses
• How what they learned from their Māori alumni reinforce perceived consistencies or differences with mainstream businesses.
Four ICEHOUSE facilitators form part of this feedback because on their involvement in programmes with Māori participants.
Wāhanga Tuatoru – Part Three
Christine Woods is a lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Auckland Business
School. Her research interests include SME family business, social entrepreneurship and Māori
entrepreneurial leadership. She has been involved with The ICEHOUSE programmes since their
inception in 2001, facilitating on the Owner Manager Programme, Agribusiness Programme and Māori
Business Growth workshop.
Dr Chellie Spiller
Dr Christine Woods
Chellie is Ngāti Kahungunu and Pākehā. She has a doctorate in Māori Business at the University of
Auckland. Her career includes extensive corporate experience in management and marketing roles and
as a director of a leading travel company. Chellie is now a lecturer in Management and Employee
Relations at the University of Auckland Business School. She co-facilitated on the Māori Business
Growth workshop.
Dr Leith Oliver
Leith Oliver lectures on Business Growth, Strategic Operations Management, Entrepreneurship and
Innovation Management, and runs University short courses on Business Planning. He has a broad
experience as an owner-manager of many businesses. Leith facilitates on the Achieving Business
Growth workshops and is also currently coaching Awarua Synergies Ltd.
Liz Wotherspoon
As the Director of ICE Bridge, Liz oversees the business growth programmes focused on adding
capability to established owner managed businesses. She is a Director of Grafton Consulting Group and
has extensive experience in providing consulting services to clients. Liz is facilitating on the current
Owner Manager Programme and had Toro Waaka in her Business Planning group. Liz also sat in on the
Māori Business Growth Programme to learn more about the dynamics of Māori businesses.
18

23. Dr Chellie Spiller
Chellie had her first experience of The ICEHOUSE in 2012 while sitting in on a Achieving Business Growth workshop facilitated by
Leith Oliver. She then co-facilitating the Māori Business Growth workshop, which brought together a wide range of Māori SMEs, iwi
commercial bodies and trusts.11
Comments on the relevance of the programmes (scheduling, delivery etc.)
I would mention the value of a supportive learning environment created between the students as a group, and in the support
provided by the facilitators. It is important to have the ability to engage effectively in a culturally safe manner and ensure that there
is a safe learning environment (in a Māori learning context). In this respect, discussion is an important learning mechanism.
Opportunities to make improvements
A journey course is more effective in changing behaviour. It is likely that pastoral care for Māori is effective and demanded.
Content and topics that could be covered
• How to realise the potential of entrepreneurship in iwi and communities rather than stifling it.
• Developing capabilities to work with the tensions of being a “family” business where Māori are both owners and managers.
• Practical Governance tools, pragmatic things that Boards can implement and understand around assets. Boards tend to
measure the wrong things, such as the profit and loss variance, which is historic. Boards need a tool that looks at things in the
future, such as measuring and managing risk in a Risk Matrix.
• Sales strategies. This is the lifeblood of an organisation and Boards need to be managing growth levers.
• Creating social amenities
• How to execute on the strategic plan. Setting the strategy is one thing; fulfilling the strategy is the challenge.
• Using scholarships more effectively. Iwi have no shortage of scholarships, the challenge is using them to add value to the iwi.
• Re-evaluating and strengthening iwi economic development strategies.
• Growing community economic development through social ventures, micro-businesses, and SMEs.
• Cultivating leadership formation and development with other Māori groups in a region and internally within an organisation.
• Developing workplace skills within a Māori frame, for example, productivity training that takes account of Māori community
responsibilities.
• Developing skills in analytical thinking, strategy development and writing.
• Getting various Māori entities to collaborate.
• Creating change instead of waiting for it to happen and being the subject to change.
• Understanding what innovation looks like from different stakeholder perspectives (e.g. Council, iwi, government).
Specific learning you gained from delivering to Māori businesses
• To not “lecture” to them. The theory has to be used as an affirmation of stories and to build on what has been said by the
participants. It is important to get them discussing and debating the key topics first (.g. what a Māori business is).
• The delivery needs to be interactive from the beginning. Pose questions and get talking happening at tables early on.
• Māori in business tend to have low financial literacy
Where and how are these learnings about Māori businesses consistent with or distinct from mainstream businesses?
A strength I see of the Māori Business Growth workshop was the opportunity to discuss the relationships, tensions and opportunities
between applying a Māori worldview with a mainstream business principles. The qualities and contributions that the participants
themselves brought to the learning experience is a crucial part of the success.
11 See page 6 for a full breakdown of the participants on the Māori Business Growth workshop.
Other information to note
Informal research that Chellie conducted with iwi/organisation leaders indicates they are looking for:
• Economic and corporate leadership 'pracademic' programmes – learning from not only academics, but also from each other and
from practitioner-leader Māori who have successfully forged profitable and sustainable enterprises, e.g. in dairy farming, seafood,
tourism and forestry.
• The “know how” to create and sustain a successful export-oriented tribal-Māori economy.
• Sharing sustainable ways of managing inter-generational assets and learn from experienced others the pitfalls and shortcuts.
• How to practically harness science and technology, recognise and commercialise economic opportunities and start new ventures.
• How to work effectively with CRIs, Government, NIWA, Landcare and other partners in the Māori economy.
• Develop the skills of trustees, e.g. their understanding of culpabilities, responsibilities, decision-making processes, financial
literacy and skills such as analytical thinking, business and report writing.
• Ensure Boards include and fuse together the tertiary-qualified younger generation and the culturally and worldly older generation.
19

24. Leith presents the Achieving Business Growth workshops all around the country. In 2012 Leith ran nine of these workshops, and six
of them had Māori business leaders involved. Across these nine workshops, 196 participants attended, of which twelve were Māori.
In terms of assessing how Māori responded to these programmes, I have also referred to the Māori alumni participant evaluation
forms.
Sizes and types of business interests:
Leith is engaged in 1:1 coaching with Awarua Synergies, a Māori business owned by the Awarua Runanga. He has found them to
be operationally savvy and market aware with good basic financial understanding. However they also have poor internal reporting
systems - and incorrect data entry, delays in reporting, and unreliable information. This gives them a weak platform to work from in
order to grow. The Trust‟s management structures and „power vs responsibility‟ of general managers and operational managers has
meant that the strategy and direction of the business are unclear.
Relevance of the programme:
The Achieving Business Growth workshops were the standard offering for all businesses and were not designed or delivered for
Māori, however based on the feedback, Māori participants gained a lot from them.12
Insights gained from delivering to Māori businesses:
Of the twelve Māori participants that Leith was in touch with this year, seven were from trusts and five were from owner-managed
SME businesses. There is quite a different in the nature of these two businesses, with Māori owner-managers tending to face the
same challenges as mainstream SME owner-managers, but trusts facing a whole other series of complexities due to their structure,
asset base, roles, and decision-making processes. Leith sees no difference in learning styles for successful business course
facilitation targeted at Māori or non-Māori. The methods he uses (case studies, team challenges, illustrative stories and allegories,
participative action learning, and transformative-reflective learning) are all effective teaching tools regardless of culture or context.
His opinion is backed up by the feedback from the evaluation forms, in which 10/12 Māori participants rated Leith‟s “effectiveness of
instruction and facilitation” as either 6/7 (very good) or 7/7 (outstanding).
The comments about his facilitation from Māori participants fit into three categories:
 Entertaining (his sense of humour)
 Engaging (the mood and tone, interactive nature, informative)
 Easy to understand (easy style and easy to listen to)
In addition to this, one of the participants mentions that the use of stories and the way the workshop was presented was “relevant to
who we are as Māori, our Māori culture and the way we as Māori do business.” I attribute a lot of Leith‟s success therefore to the
ease with which he tells stories about business.
Owner-managed SMEs vs Trusts:
The ICEHOUSE has built up its expertise in working with business „owners‟ – the target market segment being the owner managers
of privately held SME businesses. In his facilitation, Leith was aware that some of the Māori participants held administration roles
on Trusts and had no senior management responsibility. For these participants, the course content would not have directly reached
the top of their organisations and so may have had little effect in empowering business growth or changing strategic thinking at the
top.
While the content of the Achieving Business Growth workshops is under continuous review for improvements, this will only be the
case where the change benefits the majority of participants (i.e. the general business population). Therefore changes will not be
made to the mainstream Achieving Business Growth workshop to cater just to the needs of Māori participants. The ICEHOUSE
instead has developed Māori growth programmes to fill this gap.
Opportunities to make improvements:
Journey programmes produce a more lasting change and improvement in performance. The ICEHOUSE journey programmes have
promoted growth among a handful of commercially successful Māori companies (e.g. Kajavala Forestry, Maraeroa C Trust). While
this has occurred despite any particular content aimed at Māori, Leith believes that for Māori businesses like Trusts, the content
should be customised to their unique needs and delivered in a different format.
Dr Leith Oliver
12 This programme is hugely beneficial for Māori SME businesses, but less so for those who work in a Māori collectively owned business or trust.
20

25. Christine has facilitated for eleven years on ICEHOUSE growth programmes. Over that time she has interacted with roughly thirty
Māori business owners and managers. Christine also co-facilitated the Māori Business Growth workshop.
“Much of what needs to be covered has been raised by the comments from Chellie. Two points that I think are important:
1. From my understanding of tikanga as customary practice, an integral part is reciprocity, whereby a balance and harmony is
sought between the giving and receiving of gifts. From a pedagogical perspective, this reciprocity is exemplified in the tuakana-
teina relationship. The tuakana or elder expert works with the teina or younger learner. In a learning environment that truly
recognises the value of ako (learning together) the tuakana-teina relationship can be reversed whereby the tuakana becomes
the learner and the teina becomes the teacher. In the context of the ICEHOUSE programmes, Kaumatua (elders) are present
in the programmes as participants; they provide expertise and knowledge whilst at the same time learning from younger Māori
entrepreneurs who have expertise in some areas and who are seeking knowledge in others. Likewise, we as facilitators are
constantly learning and adapting the programme. Ako (learning together) is an important pedagogical underpinning of what we
do within the ICEHOUSE programmes.
2. The challenge of having "two audiences" present in Māori owner managers and Māori trustees of collectives. I still like the idea
of having the two groups together because at the moment our expertise is in working on the "entrepreneurial" side with these
audiences. I also acknowledge that governance is important and needs to be addressed, which may be done best through a
separate programme.
Below are Christine‟s reflections from the Māori Business Growth workshop:
What worked:
Facilitation
• The joint facilitation was a good model, especially having the combination of an experienced Māori facilitator and an experienced
ICEHOUSE facilitator.
Content
• The „People‟ session was well received because it was interactive and engaging. The group were involved in the whole
conversation about brought out the people issues that they faced.
• The Māori business case study that was used was well received and allowed us to explore the strategic sweetspot discussion.
Guest presenter
• Jacob Kajavala was an excellent guest speaker because of his story that the audience can relate to and learn from.
Things that need working on:
Knowing the Numbers session
• The quiz format was not as effective as intended, and we needed to introduce why it was relevant and important for the
audience.
• Using a case study to tell a story around the numbers will be more effective in future.
Next Steps session
• Scope to use other decision matrices and frameworks for participants to use in their strategic planning and goal setting.
• Need to tie this back to the Navigating metaphor used to introduce the programme.
Guest panel
• The guest panel needs to present for longer and spend more time answering questions from the floor
Dr Christine Woods
21

26. Liz oversees the ICEHOUSE programmes, and facilitated on the Owner Manager Programme 27, which had two Māori participants
in attendance.
Nature of Business
The two current participants on OMP 27 represent very different types of businesses from a size and industry perspective. At the
current time we are in block three of five of programme, and difference in their businesses does not seem to be impacting on the
relevance of the programme content and process.
Guy and Toro are highly engaged in the programme and with the group, and the contribution from both of them has been very good.
These guys are smart and clearly have appropriately high levels of commercial acumen.
Relevance of Programme Content and Process
As with all participants, the programme provides a safe environment to share strategic opportunities and challenges and discuss the
things that are critical in order for the business to achieve its growth potential. Both Guy and Toro seem to be enjoying this aspect
of the programme. There have also been many examples of them being able to contribute a different perspective or way of looking
at an issue or opportunity than their mainstream business owner peers.
Toro is in my Business Profile/Planning group, meaning that I can comment specifically about this aspect of the programme. Toro
wears two hats in the programme - as the owner of Citiwalks and Audiotourz; and as the Chair of Ngāti Pāhauwera. His business
profile presented in Block 3 and the growth plan he will write for Block 5 have been focussed on Ngāti Pāhauwera. This is
somewhat challenging as compared to the other businesses in his group because for all intents and purposes, Ngāti Pāhauwera is a
„start-up‟ rather than an established business. In addition, the nature and structure of a Māori Trust is unique compared to
mainstream businesses. Regardless of this, it has not been an impediment to Toro or to his fellow participants in his group in terms
of being able to grapple with the business issues. Toro‟s comments and feedback suggest he has got real value from the
discussion and the group, and the fellow panellists were able to contribute meaningfully. Toro has also been able to apply the
learnings from the programme to his other two businesses.
Opportunities to Make Improvements to the Programme
I do not see any need to change or adapt the programme to meet the needs of Māori businesses. The demographic of an owner
manager group is very diverse from an industry and nature of business perspective. The programme has been designed to deliver
value on this basis. Adding Māori businesses just adds to this diversity and enhances the richness of the programme and the
opportunities that come from learning from each other.
One comment I would make is that now we understand that in order to get input or contribution from certain Māori participants in the
larger group environment, we may need to specifically ask for this in order to draw it out. In time, we will also need to consider using
more Māori business examples and case studies.
Specific Learnings
Both Guy and Toro are enjoying the variety of learning methodologies that are used in OMP and the highly interactive nature of the
programme. They particularly like the case studies, working in breakout groups for discussion and reflection, and the chances to
apply the learning to their own situations in „real-time‟. The small group discussions particularly seem to favour Toro as he seems to
be more comfortable offering his views and opinions in these situations where his peers in these sessions actually ask for this. In
the larger group, we have noticed that unless asked, he remains engaged but not as vocal.
A wonderful by-product of having both Guy and Toro on the Owner Manager Programme is the opportunity to improve the level of
understanding that others in mainstream businesses have of Māori business and the view that both have of each other.
Liz Wotherspoon
22