Eruera Tarena is of Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui and English descent. His past studies at the University of Canterbury have largely been within the Aotahi School of Māori and Indigenous Studies focused on Ngāi Tahu tribal histories and oral traditions but has come to the School of Management having worked in a variety of roles within the corporate structure of Ngāi Tahu. During this time Eruera has developed a good understanding of the unique character and context of iwi corporations and they challenges they face. In 2011 Eruera was a Fellow of the First Nations Futures Institute at Stanford University and met with other indigenous groups and learnt about the similar challenges they faced managing collective assets and advancing collective aspirations. In particular, a common theme was the need to develop structures to meet contemporary needs yet do so in a way informed by indigenous cultural values. This has informed his topic “Indigenous Organisation Design” which seeks to identify the features of current indigenous organisation design and build an understanding of how their organisational elements and definitions of success are influenced by indigenous cultural values. Eruera is being supported by a doctoral scholarship from the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre and has won a Fulbright – Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Scholar Award to undertake two international case studies in the United States in 2013 towards his doctoral research.