The Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce this month began asking the first of 1,000 Native Hawaiian business people what practices work — and which ones don't — to see if more Hawaiians can succeed in business.

"We want to know some of the impediments. Is it money? Is it social? What are the issues that prevent you from doing the very best?" said Warren Asing, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Fun Factory Inc., who is also president of the Native Hawaiian Chamber of Commerce.

The last, similar survey of Native Hawaiian business people was conducted in the late 1980s, said Dirk Soma, whose company, DNS Consultants, has been contracted by the chamber to conduct the survey.

The survey is called "Ho'owaiwai I Ka Pono, Bring Prosperity Through Righteousness" and is a joint product of the chamber and Hawai'i Maoli, a nonprofit organization established by the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs.

Out of a possible 1,000 responses, DNS will then conduct 250 interviews "to get a pulse on Hawaiian businesses," Soma said. DNS will then gather data on how Hawaiian businesses incorporate Hawaiian cultural values into their day-to-day operations, Soma said.

"It is important to know what the challenges are and learn from those, so we can help future businesses," he said.

Asing, 59, is 75 percent Hawaiian, and believes that some Hawaiian businesses fail because they cannot reconcile their cultural values with Western business practices.

"We have these values that are very endearing: laulima, working together; malama, caring; ha'aha'a, humility, and being a humble race of people," Asing said. "But how does that work when you say, 'I really appreciate you, but I really need to get paid.' In the Western sense, you go to the bill collector and say, 'Go get this guy.' In the Hawaiian culture, maybe they need to structure payments differently so they can still get paid. We need to figure out the problem and figure out ways to get around it.

"Most true Native Hawaiians want to impart their culture in the business.

"Now we need to marry their cultural values with that of the Western world to get to the next point."

Soma hopes to finish gathering data by the end of August and produce a final report in September, to be discussed at a conference focused on helping Native Hawaiians in business.

Eventually, Asing hopes the lessons will be used to help Hawaiians succeed in business at a proposed business center planned for the Community Center for Native Hawaiians in Kalaeloa.

To participate in the survey, call Soma at 294-8639 or e-mail him at dirksoma@yahoo.com. The survey also is available through the chamber's Web site, www.nativehawaiian.cc.

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.