Indholdsfortegnelse for October 2018 i NZBusiness+Management

It’s nice to be able to unshackle one’s self from the workstation occasionally and head out of the big city to report on business initiatives in the regions. That’s exactly what yours truly did for this month’s cover story on the West Coast. My thanks to Facebook for enabling me to fly down to one of the most beautiful places in New Zealand, and to Development West Coast for facilitating a tour of some of Westport’s cleverest businesses. I came away with a healthy appreciation of how hard the business community is working on the Coast to build scale and create new opportunities through technology. And it is a community in the truest sense – people genuinely helping each other to succeed. This was most evident at the #BoostYourTown workshop…

Once you have booked your conference venue, the next stage of your planning is the conference run sheet. A template can be supplied by your venue but you will need to make some decisions on the setups and programme to complete this. Room Layout is a critical first decision. Different room setups support different conferences; training is most effective setup as classroom or U shape seating and tables, team briefings operate better with a hollow square/boardroom or horseshoe setup, dinner events call for banquet or cabaret style seating with optional space for a stage. Audio Visual (AV) has the ability to give your event the wow factor you’re looking for, it is also a factor that can delay everything on the day if not preplanned. Talk with your venue about…

You may think the West Coast of the South Island is the last place in New Zealand that would undergo a genuine technology-led business revival – after all, the news headlines around the region’s job losses and economic restructuring in recent years have painted a picture of doom and gloom. But you’d be wrong, and I’ve seen the evidence – innovative businesses demonstrating their online marketing skills and mining social media technologies to connect with customers worldwide and grow sales. I’ll be honest, I was sceptical before leaving Auckland. But what a difference 24 little hours can make! The positive impressions began as early as the Sounds Air service from Wellington – I’m referring to the spectacular views of the snow-capped Southern Alps. They continued with a mini-tour of some…

Business premises, including lodges and homes, are heated with woodstoves/burners. Power is solar or generator-driven. Water is collected off the roof, mainly, for tanks. If you want ‘off-the-grid living’ this is the place. Tourism provides the major business opportunities and is the main source of employment – accounting for one-in-five jobs. Median income has risen from around $11,000 in 2006 to $30,300 in 2016. GDP growth of 3.5 percent, in broadly the same period, was better than Auckland’s 2.3. There are far fewer residents in the 15 to 34 age group as many leave for education and work. ‘Labourers’ and ‘Community and personal service workers’ are the only two employment categories where the Island is ahead of the rest of Auckland.…

Redcurrent celebrated its 19th birthday in August. From humble beginnings in a shed behind the once farming family homestead, today it has morphed into a national chain of 13 stores (soon to be 14), an online business and 50,000 ‘Redfriends’. “We’re all about a little bit of beautiful to take home,” says co-founder Rebecca Kain. That ethos has obviously struck a chord with a market wanting globally sourced home and lifestyle accessories. “You could say it’s in the blood. I’m from a long line of New Zealand women, particularly my mother and grandmothers who loved making their homes beautiful – it’s been like osmosis,” Rebecca continues. It’s evident strong family ties and values are also imbued through the company. The other co-founder is Audrey McHardy and her husband Hamish. Rebecca’s…

THERE IS one question that a customer can ask, either out loud or in their head (in which case you won’t even have a chance to answer it), that can be the undoing of a sale. That question is: Why should I believe you? Today customers are thought to be over 50 percent through their buying process before they even reach out to you. They already know more than they are letting on. They have already researched options and they have an idea that they want to buy, book, or engage. They are often just deciding whether or not they want to buy from you. So why should they believe you? Why are you the best choice or the logical option? Why will they FEEL better buying from you? What…

Following the launch of the Diverse Thinking Capability Audit Report of New Zealand Boardroom 2018, the Superdiversity Institute is now to hold an inaugural Diverse Thinking Governance Summit on November 19 in Auckland. The summit will hear from top New Zealand chairs and experienced directors about why diverse thinking on boards matters to organisations and their longterm performance. In the report, Mai Chen, founder and inaugural chair of the Superdiversity Institute for Policy, Law and Business, interviewed more than 60 key governance chairs, directors and executive search firms to assess New Zealand’s current diverse thinking capability, what we can do better, how diverse thinking directors can be more influential and how leadership needs to be taken to improve diverse thinking in New Zealand boardrooms. She said in a statement that…

A Beca-sponsored poll of infrastructure leaders at the recent Infrastructure New Zealand Building Nations Symposium indicates confidence is growing that New Zealand can meet its infrastructure cchallenges. But it also suggests there needs to be greater detail shared with industry and the community around plans to address Auckland’s infrastructure needs. Respondents also believe that there needs to be greater urgency from all parties to implement those plans. More than 700 industry leaders attended the symposium and the Beca poll enabled delegates to provide real-time feedback on the key issues on the agenda. Three-quarters of respondents felt New Zealand’s infrastructure situation will improve over the next five years. Infrastructure NZ CEO Stephen Selwood said in a media statement that this high level of confidence reflects the Government’s announcement shortly before the…

An opinion poll in July found that while New Zealanders accept that climate change is coming, and acknowledge the need to prepare, few believe enough will be done. The Ipsos poll commissioned by New Zealand’s largest general insurer, IAG, surveyed 1,000 New Zealanders and found that 89 percent think we will see more frequent and extreme storms, 87 percent expect inundation of coastal locations due to sea level rise, 85 percent expect more droughts and 79 percent believe we will see extinctions of plant and animal species. A statement from IAG says that 84 percent of those polled think that humanity can reduce climate change but 60 percent are unclear whether we will do so and only 10 percent believe that we will take appropriate action. Some 79 percent believe…

As New Zealand leaders grapple daily with the barrage of change that must, and does, occupy their attention, the small matter of what people wear might seem trivial. And yes, in comparison with the march of AI; climate change; an aging workforce; and workplace health and safety, it probably is. But in our working life we judge, and are judged, by those we meet on a daily basis and that judgement is often made before we have uttered a word. There are many studies around how quickly we make an assumption about someone, before we have even been introduced and it’s often our clothing we are judged on. But, it seems, our clothes don’t just reflect who we are; they can also alter our psychological processes. So much so that…

MANY OF us will recognise today’s business organisations are well and truly through the era of hype. My communications expert sister once said, it’s like organisation-wide everyone was in PR. Public relations overdrive more like. Today’s organisational leaders – and their organisations – need to display greater authenticity. And here’s where the leader’s personal story comes in. Spark chief executive Simon Moutter has gained press attention recently for again telling a story that resonated as true. It was about moving from a ‘mind-led’ approach to diversity and inclusion to a more ‘heart-led’ one. This time, apparently, the tears came at the end of his story rather than at the beginning. The point is that he drew from the depths of his experience, the pain points and the signs of having…

THE INSTITUTE OF DIRECTORS has more than 8,700 members and being a member shows a degree of seriousness around becoming a director and also requires that you take part in continuing education. The next level of membership is to become a chartered member which puts you in a more exclusive group (there are around 2,000 chartered members). To become a chartered member you must meet four requirements. The first is to complete the Company Directors Course or an equivalent (or for long standing directors they can apply for a recognition of prior learning). You must complete the Chartered Member Assessment (CMA) or equivalent and must be a director of a qualifying board (Essentially one where there is a meaningful separation of governance and management functions). Finally, you need to complete…

WHY CHINA WANTS OUR PRODUCTS THE OVERRIDING MESSAGE FROM A RECENT AUCKLAND PRESS CONFERENCE ORGANISED BY A GUANGZHOU-BASED INTEGRATED E-COMMERCE SERVICE PROVIDER, IS THAT CHINESE CONSUMERS ARE ACTIVELY SEEKING TO BUY NEW ZEALAND GOODS. MULTI-GEN WORKFORCES DELIVER COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE NEW RESEARCH BY RANDSTAD NEW ZEALAND SAYS BUSINESSES THAT EMBRACE AGE DIVERSITY ARE MORE AGILE WHEN IT COMES TO PROBLEM SOLVING, CREATIVITY AND IDEA GENERATION. HOLIDAYS ACT NOTHING BUT A HEADACHE KEARIN POLLARD URGES BUSINESS OWNERS TO ACT NOW ON RESOLVING ANY OUTSTANDING HOLIDAY PAY ISSUES FOR THEIR EMPLOYEES, OR THEY COULD POTENTIALLY PAY A HIGH PRICE LATER.…

In his 30-plus years serving New Zealand’s coffee industry Bernard Smith has witnessed a massive transformation. His passion for roasting coffee has been at the forefront of the industry’s development over recent years. Bernard’s roasting lineage extends back three generations and his knowledge of roasting the revered ‘green bean’ is second to none. In the 1940s there were only a handful of coffee roasters in New Zealand. Browne and Heaton in Christchurch was one of them. Bernard’s grandfather worked for the company, and after its owner suffered a fatal heart attack one day while talking on the phone, he purchased the business. Subsequently Bernard’s father also joined the business – which was eventually sold to Robert Harris in the 1980s. For young Bernard, coffee has always been in his veins.…

It was a smart move by Facebook to partner with Steve Adams and host the #BoostYourTown workshops around New Zealand. Start-ups focused on e-commerce, provided they have a fixed and/or mobile Internet connection, thrive off such social media platforms. Mia Garlick, head of policy at Facebook ANZ says their data indicates that platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are highly useful for start-ups especially. “It’s free to set them up, and it’s cheaper to update them than to build a website.” Setting up a social media account is a fast way to see if your business has legs, she says. The website can come later. Facebook has the figures to back this up. Its Economic Impact Survey revealed that 70 percent of New Zealand SMBs on Facebook say the platform…

Janene Hunsdale could be considered an accidental entrepreneur. She responded to her husband’s challenge to “make something out of all the great fruit we have in the orchards here”. Her first dairy-free popsicles were greeted with a “you could sell those, they are so good”. The focus on dairy-free was prompted by a nephew. Today, no trip to the island is complete without sampling one of ‘Janene’s Ice Dreams’ – ten flavours, season dependent, blended with coconut cream. While she still smakes small batches from home, such is the scale and demand for the product that she is Auckland Council-approved and regularly inspected. Hunsdale admits to having had “a taste for social media” from the outset. “If you aren’t engaging with your customers, forget about it. Special events, like the…

AT THE recent Franchise Conference in Taupo, one morning session was opened up to pupils from a couple of local schools who were doing business studies. The students heard presentations from a couple of inspiring leaders, one from the US and one from Australia, who talked about the challenges and rewards of building careers in franchising and the excitement of working with franchisees to create sustainable and profitable businesses at an international level. Talking with a number of the students about the projects they had developed as part of their course, I was struck by the fact that one thing their business ideas had in common was an element of helping others: endangered species, Starship Hospital and at-risk bees. A charity angle has obvious benefits for a school project, but…

IF YOU’RE a regular reader of this column please don’t be put off by more comments on tax as it is the standard ‘no go’ area for politics in the Western world, with the mistaken belief there are no votes to be had from increasing taxes. The perpetual call for ever lower taxes is, when properly examined, counter intuitive and in the case of companies only leads to ever lower productivity and the illusion of greater productivity. At the risk of annoying you, taxes are too low in New Zealand for businesses and individuals alike if the public want decent public services and infrastructure.1 Let’s start with some history. Fifty years ago business contributed approximately two-thirds of all taxes with the remainder coming from personal taxation, levies and duties. Today…

Companies may be cherry-picking sustainability measures that make them look good, while huge variations in what’s reported makes meaningful comparisons across firms impossible, an international study shows. Researchers say their findings reinforce the call for minimum requirements for sustainability reporting, like those used in financial reporting. “Companies are under increasing pressure from the public and shareholders to account for their environmental and social performance, as well as their financial performance,” says lead researcher Dr Ramona Zharfpeykan, a lecturer in the University of Auckland Business School’s Graduate School of Management. “A 2017 KMPG survey showed 93 percent of the world’s 250 largest corporations now report on their sustainability performance, and 69 percent of New Zealand’s top 100 companies. Yet there is still no single global standard and reporting is voluntary in…

The Productivity Commission’s final report on how New Zealand can transition to a low-emissions economy found that early action on key policy reforms is needed if New Zealand is to achieve its emissions-reduction goals. Chair of the Productivity Commission, Murray Sherwin, said in a statement in early September that the period to 2050 will pass quickly. “Delaying action is likely to make the transition costlier and more abrupt and limit viable and cost-effective mitigation options in the future.” Amongst the numerous changes that will be required across the economy – some disruptive, some less obvious – three particular shifts must happen for New Zealand to achieve its low-emissions goals, the commission said: • Stop burning fossil fuels and switch to using electricity and other low-emission energy sources. This means a…

ONCE UPON a time, a board of directors may well have considered their involvement with executive remuneration to be an interference in how the company gets run. These days, the same approach would be considered bad corporate governance. Executive remuneration is about far more than the dollar amount. It's about retaining key talent and incentivising high-performance. This, in a nutshell, is why the board of directors should oversee, or at the very least have an involvement in, remuneration packages for executive officers. THE ONGOING DEBATE Executive remuneration is at the centre of an ongoing global debate. On one hand, people are arguing against what is perceived as an unfair distribution of wealth, while on the other, many claim that executive remuneration is determined by the market and appropriate to the…

I’VE RECENTLY been working with a couple of organisations on their staff uniform. If I’m honest, this work is hugely challenging and fun in equal measure. Making sure your team all look (and feel) good in their work clothing is an important aspect of who you are as a business. I totally understand the frustration of one business owner who once told me “we’ve spent literally millions on this business, certainly hundreds of thousands on the branding and marketing and I look over at the people on our sales desk and I think ‘Oh no, what the hell is she wearing?’.” And I also love the inclusiveness of other organisations that have realised not only is it time for change from a branding perspective but also that many of their…

It was with some amazement I read a story by Bloomberg that a few super rich Silicon Valley entrepreneurs were buying multimillion-dollar 150-tonne survival bunkers. And sending them down to New Zealand. And burying them underground. Then, at the first sign of an apocalypse they can jump on a private plane and head to our relatively safe shores. Really? It sounds totally overly-dramatic even if, like me, you are a big fan of The Walking Dead. But I guess in today’s world you have to assume anything is possible and what might have seemed impossible and far-fetched 10 years ago is happening all around us. I am guessing too that these very clever billionaires will also be applying their vast talents to look at ways to ensure nuclear war; killer…

It has only been five years since Honeywrap was launched, but a lot has happened in the global war against plastics pollution since then – and particularly so in 2018. Founders Jo Falloon, Tara Strahan and Amy DeMuth were all occupational therapists in 2013 who shared a love of the great outdoors and a major distaste for waste and society’s over-reliance on plastic. “At the supermarket, I’d be annoyed by the sight of someone putting a single courgette in a plastic bag,” Jo tells me. We’re sitting in Tara’s Grey Lynn kitchen looking out on the back shed that has been Honeywrap’s business base from day one. She was also surprised by the amount of plastic wrap in lunchboxes at the kindy her son attended. “I thought there just had…

The June 2018 West Coast Business Opinion survey revealed that confidence is returning to the West Coast region – demonstrating a resilience from the difficult economic times of the past five years. A net 30 percent of businesses are now feeling optimistic about the next 12 months – a figure that, according to the ANZ Business Confidence Survey, eclipses that of New Zealand as a whole. The Buller district is the most optimistic at +47 percent. On top of that a net 20 percent of businesses expect to employ more people – again, a much more positive result than the rest of the country. A copy of the survey is available from www.dwc.org.nz…

AT A conference recently, I asked the audience to raise their hands if they knew what their business’s online reputation was right now. About half of the room put their hands up. The other half looked at me reasonably blankly. If you are one of those giving me a blank stare right now, then this message is for you: Your business’s online reputation can no longer be ignored. It is not just some trend or a ‘nice-tohave’; it is a real, tangible factor in your business’s success. THE RISING IMPORTANCE OF ONLINE REPUTATION Over the past five years the relevance of online reviews has increased exponentially. The number of Google reviews per year, for example, has increased by between 200 and 300 percent year on year just over the past…

Some 84 percent of international executives surveyed by PwC, report blockchain initiatives underway and 15 percent said it was fully live. The new research from PwC – Blockchain is here. What’s your next move? – surveyed 600 executives in 15 countries and territories [but not New Zealand] on their development of blockchain and views on its potential. As blockchain rewires business and commerce, the research provides one of the clearest signals yet of organisations’ fear of being left behind as blockchain developments accelerate globally opening up opportunities including reduced cost, greater speed and more transparency and traceability, says PwC in a media statement. It says that a quarter of executives report a blockchain implementation pilot in progress (10 percent) or fully live (15 percent). Almost a third (32 percent) have…

The northern hemisphere summer of wildfires, extreme heat and flash flooding has been described by at least some international commentators as the face of climate change playing out in real time. Australian farmers are dealing with a crippling drought and at home we’ve also been deluged (literally) as heavy rain, king tides and violent storms lashed parts of the country creating flooding, slips and power outages. Asked about the myriad of severe weather events of late, Bryce Davies, the general manager of corporate relations at IAG, points to one climate change scientist who says the climate is constantly changing and humans have been adapting and dealing with it for decades. “There is nothing new in a changing climate but what is new is the pace and scale of climate change…

If you’re a tennis fan, you would have seen players at this year’s Australian Open in Melbourne staggering around barely able to cope with the 40-degree heat. Across the northern hemisphere global warming caused record-breaking heat waves, forest fires, crop failures, and shut down nuclear power plants as river water used for cooling was too warm. One day in early January, Sydney was the hottest place on earth when temperatures soared to 47.3 degrees. Some countries are predicted to turn to desert as rainfall patterns change. Other countries will confront devastating flooding and some Pacific Islands will disappear under sea. Close to home, temperatures are rising too. As the sea warms and the polar ice caps thaw, there will be more coastal storm surges in New Zealand’s low lying areas,…