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This chapter examines the limitations of the Western world view in Australia and its influence on the built environment. The dominant narrative of colonialism has disregarded alternative ways of being in the world, resulting in a lack of inclusivity for First Nations peoples. To address this issue, there is potential in embracing an alternative world view through design thinking and co-design to develop more culturally and environmentally suitable places through holistic ways of understanding the world to influence future design strategies for knowledge dissemination. This chapter’s contribution is in promoting an alternative perspective that can challenge the dominant world view and create more inclusive and culturally sensitive spaces that reflect the diversity of the community. This is particularly relevant in the current political climate, where there is a growing advocacy for change and a motivation to look to other cultural perspectives, such as those of First Nations peoples. It calls for a paradigm shift in how we think about and synthesise architecture in Australia. This chapter advocates for the acceptance and engagement with First Nations peoples’ world views, particularly in the fields of architecture, design and places that focus on cultural records.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the validity and utility of two theoretical approaches to understanding the relationship between strategic orientations, innovation and firm performance and to examine the role of innovation in the relationship while avoiding circular arguments. The universalistic approach suggests that strategic orientations have independent and parallel effects on firms’ performance, and that innovation does not influence this relationship. The holistic approach proposes that strategic orientations in a complementary and interrelated view have both direct and indirect effects on firms’ performance through innovation.

A meta-analytic path analysis applying two-stage structural equation modeling (TSSEM) was conducted on data from 132 primary studies and 33,063 observations.

The holistic approach was demonstrated to be superior due to its more explanatory power in linking more complex relationships through simultaneous direct and indirect effects and its capacity for including the interrelatedness and complementarity of strategic orientations. It was found that innovation has a full mediating role in the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and firm performance, and a partial mediating role in the relationship between market orientation (MO) and learning orientation (LO) and firm performance.

The study used observed variables instead of latent variables for meta-analytic path analysis, which may reduce some sources of endogeneity. However, causal inference is not possible due to the nature of meta-analysis. The scope of the final sample was limited by some studies not reporting the estimates of correlations between constructs.

Managers can improve an organization's chances of success in the marketplace by adopting a holistic view of strategic orientations focusing on customer satisfaction, learning from the external environment and pursuing new market opportunities. Furthermore, an organization can gain a competitive advantage through innovation by creating products and services that are different from what is currently available in the market. To be successful, an organization must not only create innovative products and services but also market them effectively to consumers.

This study is the first to meta-analytically assess the explanatory value of two theorized models linking strategic orientations, innovation and firm performance. It also clarifies the role of innovation in the relationship between strategic orientations and firm performance.