Developing Native American small business strategy through experiential learning

Native American communities are struggling with unemployment and depressed economies. Reasons include a lack of business knowledge, education and cultural desire. And yet, in the history of the American West, Native Americans were considered the best traders and negotiators for everything from furs to weapons to buffalo. To improve this situation, efforts have been made to reintroduce that heritage to today’s and tomorrow’s generation of tribal members. Professors at the College of Business Montana State University-Billings (MSUB) teach tribal students in Montana to create business plans. The method of teaching and advising is uniquely successful as the students’ plans have won the American Indian Business Leaders small business competition five times. This paper reviews the environment and the method of learning at MSUB. It discusses the five plans that achieved national recognition, as well as the problems and solutions discovered in the process of achieving results. Students who participated in this endeavour have graduated and become certified public accountants, MBAs, and gainfully employed in their chosen professions. They have also worked to improve the economies of their native lands and homes. By educating members of these communities about business strategy and plan development, they can make a greater contribution to impact their own economies.