Indigenous controlled joint ventures and the transformation of opportunity structure constraints

This paper examines the role that strategic alliances play in the formation of new ventures within a specific context, namely that of a First Nations community engaged in the Canadian natural resources sector. Grounded theory and a single case study approach was utilized to provide a deep understanding of the processes involved in the creation of a distinct new Aboriginal organizational form. A guiding framework is used which includes the concept of mixed embeddedness, resource based theory and agency theory. Insight into the process and alloyed motivations of Indigenous entrepreneurship is gained that extends our understanding of opportunity structures wrought by the legacies of colonialism. A theory of context is developed building upon the aspects of collective agency, resources and a view that extends the concept of social embeddedness to encompass strategic alliances as entrepreneurial tools for social transformation.