The Australia-New Zealand Leadership Forum held in Wellington in May, was remarkably successful. It brought together some 70 community, but mainly business, leaders from Australia and New Zealand, to discuss
Is there any such thing as corporate governance – Kiwi style? New Zealanders, business people included, do seem to be heavily influenced by what is considered overseas as “best practice” management and governance.
Women are apparently better than men at multi-tasking and read body language better. But they can, it seems, be confusingly indirect when giving instructions and are biologically handicapped when it
Pocketing pens or other office goodies from the stationery department for personal use may not be considered ethical but one in four employees do it anyway. A survey on ethical
Business leaders are still upbeat about the global economy – though their enthusiasm has waned bit in the past four months, according to the latest McKinsey global survey of business
Both the length and intensity of working hours impact on our ability to find the right balance between work and non-work demands. The finding emerged from consultation process undertaken by
It’s time for companies that are adopting sustainable business practices to put their hands up for bit of recognition. The 2004 National Sustainable Business Awards are now under way with
Australasian chief executives have, to their regret, discovered that the hunkering-down mentality of recent years has taken heavy toll of their organisations. According to IBM’s recently released 2004 Global CEO
From business classic Good to Great author Jim Collins, to Enron whistleblower Lynne Brewer, the line-up of top shelf international and local leadership speakers at the October NZIM International Leadership
Forget about sitting up straight to save your posture from being hunched over keyboard; think laid-back. reclining “zero-gravity” chair is the workstation of the not-so-distant future, according to Petone-based project
Senior executives don’t talk about pending retirement plans for fear of being marginalised. There is, according to survey carried out by recruitment firm Highland Partners in Australia, “culture of taboo”
Despite the best endeavours of the world’s technology providers, the paper mountain in every office just keeps growing. The nature of the mountain is changing, however, due mainly to new
She is the first woman to head New Zealand’s male-dominated Institute of Directors, but Nicola Crauford is used to being in a minority. Her choice of professional training almost guaranteed it.
Women’s participation on the boards of New Zealand’s top companies has shown little progress in the past decade and now ranks at “dismal” five percent. Of companies listed on the
New Zealand must be more willing to embrace meaningful performance-based remuneration for senior executives. If businesses do so, they will be better positioned to meet the increasing talent and skill shortages confronting the economy.
National’s leader, Don Brash, is due to deliver the third of his king hits next month. His target is welfare. Two more will follow, on education and the economy. After
This year – and as happened in the past and will again in the future – the oil companies have justified petrol price increases in New Zealand with clutch of
Geoff Wheeler Admark has appointed Wheeler CEO. He was previously general manager of Rapid Labels in Auckland for six years. Kim Moleta, Sharon Spence Gen-i has appointed Moleta client director
What is workplace learning? For my money, it is the sort of learning people get when they are on the job, rather than sitting in an educational establishment. It consists largely of informal learning garnered from watching others work, from coaching and mentoring, though some of it might be formalised into a systematic developmental programme. In short, it covers things people learn that are relevant to their job.
Pull the blinds, dim the lights, and pay attention. Management reviews the latest tools for presenters who want to get a message across.
Companies listed on the NZX will shortly be subject to mandatory independent director requirements. These requirements are part of a new corporate governance regime introduced by the NZX, reflecting international moves to set an appropriate standard in the governance of publicly listed companies. A number of our larger listed companies are already setting a high standard in this area.
Australian born and bred engineer and Genesis chief executive Murray Jackson and his Auckland born chairman, lawyer and historian Brian Corban make, on the face of it, an unlikely business ensemble. One’s a self confessed Aussie Rules fanatic. The other’s an avid follower of rugby. But scratch beyond their trans-Tasman differences and divergent professional disciplines and the similarities make for a strong working chemistry.
Have boards, as they are currently constituted and constructed, reached some kind of use-by date? Can they deliver on the expectations legislatively required of them? Or is there new corporate
Spam and its multiplicity of manifestations, is big business. At least, its cost to business is big – around $20 billion year according to latest international estimates. What we wanted
The farm sector was remarkably phlegmatic when the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry published its twice-a-year set of forecasts in the Situation of New Zealand Agriculture and Forestry report last
Spam and its frequently attached malicious software is undermining New Zealand business processes and threatening to get worse. It is costing the economy millions in lost business, wasted employee time and expensive IT security and recovery costs. But managers don’t want to talk about it and they are not taking the threat seriously. They should.
Do boards really influence organisational outcomes? Do we, as a recently published book with a cleverly appropriate title suggests, need to go “back to the drawing board” and redesign boards? Some leading edge research by two governance academics from Massey University’s Auckland campus, suggests we might need to “re-think board architecture” if directors are to have the influence they are increasingly held responsible for.
July 29-30 Leadership for Women Duxton Hotel, Wellington. Information: 0-9-379 5892, email [email protected] July 29-30 The 5th Annual Internal Audit ForumSpencer on Byron Hotel, Takapuna, Auckland. Contact: Filip Nikolic, 0-9-912
The Winning Investment Habits of Warren Buffet and George Soros By: Mark Tier Publisher: Inverse Books Price: $39.95 Successful investing, like successful management, requires mental discipline or, as the author
Last month’s launch of new, politically centrist but business-backed think tank has some lofty ideals, but equally high hurdles, to climb before it can expect to win the hearts and
John Hood Departing University of Auckland Vice Chancellor, Dr John Hood has resigned from Fonterra’s board of directors to take up his new role as the Vice-Chancellor of the University
