October 31, 2007

Dr Alison Collins, science team leader in the Crown Research Institute, Landcare Research, has won the Southern Region 2007 NZIM/Eagle Technology Young Executive of the Year. She leads team of

To help pre-fund national superannuation the Government established the New Zealand Superannuation (or ‘Cullen’) Fund by putting aside money each year from the tax we pay. Should similar fund be

A challenge has been issued to New Zealand’s chief information officers – to cut the amount of energy used by computers by 50 percent before 2010. Mike Pierce, director of

Performance and talent management software from Auckland company Sonar6 has been named ‘Top 10 HR Product of the Year’ by international magazine Human Resource Executive (HRE). It was celebrated for

David Hawtin, market strategist, Ericsson, Sweden What prompted you to seek work out of New Zealand? I met and eventually married Swede and we have moved back and forth between

An executive should “realise the social significance of what he is doing”, said Ron Greenwood, not recently, but back in 1944 when he was establishing the New Zealand Industrial Institute

Rodger Shepherd Fairfax Media has appointed Shepherd, formerly chief executive officer of PMP NZ, to the newly created position of group head of publishing of Fairfax Media’s newspaper and magazine

Businesses suffering from recent petrol price rises be warned – it ain’t going to get better any time soon as the spectre of peak oil starts to hit home. That’s

Furniture manufacturer Design Mobel has taken the top prize at the 2007 NZI National Sustainable Business Awards in perfect example of how sustainability can be integrated into business success. The

Who is this year’s top executive? Which is the top company? All will be revealed this month when the Deloitte/Management magazine Top 200 Awards are held at the SkyCity Auckland

A career in engineering doesn’t mean being stuck in some lab – neither is it nerdy or anti-social activity. It’s fun. That’s the message from senior vice-president worldwide for Lenovo’s

More than 100 quality nominations have been received for the 2008 World Class NZ Leaders Awards reflecting diverse spread of Kiwi high fliers in range of different industries around the

Only 70 percent of economic crimes suffered by New Zealand businesses are reported to an organisation’s board, audit committee, or executive management, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ analysis. Surprising when, according to

Waikato University Management School dean, Mike Pratt is preparing to step down in February from the role he has held for 18 years. How does the longest serving dean of any New Zealand business school rate his tenure?

No management guru has had a more profound impact than the late Peter Drucker. For more than 60 years his writing and teaching helped shape and define modern management. His lifetime contribution underpinned the theme of this year’s Australian Institute of Management (AIM) Management Convention in Sydney in September.

Don’t understand your younger colleagues? Think they have different work attitudes to you? Always blamed it on the Gen Y factor? Well those days may be over as a major study on workplace attitudes in New Zealand dispels the hype about the differences between generations X, Y and Baby Boomers.

Helen Clark has year at most to repair the damage. That means, first off, four months to get the poll gap with National safely into single figures. Her party, conferencing

Is our health service delivering? The answer, according to the patient, is no. Kiwis have major worries about our health system. And many of us support some smart thinking about

Tightening labour markets, fluctuations in oil prices and exchange rates, natural disasters, and technological revolutions changing the way we share data, continually combine to ensure an unpredictable business environment. Risk

This article asks questions in deliberately inflammatory manner! During September, the Herald on Sunday ran column to attempt to explain the conundrum… Why directors are paid so much and why

There is currently lot of buzz and hype around franchising as business growth option. Depending on your goal, franchising may be an excellent growth strategy but it doesn’t suit everyone

Keep your eye on the task, not on yourself. The task matters, and you are servant. Most organisations need somebody who can lead regardless of the weather. What matters is

Think back to when the world was more constant place and business leadership seemed more structured. Leaders developed strategy, managers worked out how to implement the strategy and workers did

Confidence about the economic outlook picked up on all fronts in the September quarter; or rather, on all fronts measured by regular surveys of business people, consumers and employees. Yet

• Keith Sawyer • Basic Books • $59.99 Great ideas are seldom, if ever, singular. Put another way, ‘eureka’ is rare. In this, his seventh and latest book on creativity,

• Nick Dallas • McGraw-Hill Professional Education • $15.00 It’s small book, but worthy of proper review. How to do Business in China: 24 Lessons in Engaging the Dragon is

• Allison Mooney • Random House New Zealand • $29.99 Allison Mooney is an Auckland-based trainer and speaker involved in personality profiling. In this book she offers tools to help

• Richard Koch • Allen and Unwin (Nicholas Brealey) • $35 A 10th anniversary update of business staple, The 80/20 Principle: the Secret of Achieving More with Less, includes new

By: Brian Easton Publisher: Auckland University Price: $49.99 Reviewer: Bryan Gould Books on globalisation are coming thick and fast – not surprisingly, in view of the immense impact of the

Identity crime and its associated fraud is problem that is on the rise in this country. New Zealand businesses lost an estimated $1.4 billion to identity crime and fraud last

Business-to-customer relationships are all about creating loyalty, and over the past 50 years marketers have been developing strategies and tools to keep customers coming back for more. Yet researchers and

This year’s takeover of local market research company Conversa Global by international player TNS-Global turned the traditional takeover model on its head. TNS, a London FTSE-listed company with billion dollar revenues and offices in 70 countries, bought Conversa – a five-year-old New Zealand company. But rather than imposing the global model on the local company, TNS put Conversa firmly in the driving seat.

COVER STORY Taking the PULSE What’s the prognosis for the Health System? Twenty percent of government spending each year goes on the health budget – the largest single outlay. And

Despite the talent and experience you would expect in members of any board, their reactions to a crisis are too often as stupid or heroic as those of any other person or group of people. This second article in the series takes a look at what typically happens when boards face a crisis, as a lesson in how to act differently.

What role do personal values play as a compass for boardroom behaviour and director decision making? How and when do they get tested? We ask experienced New Zealand directors what values they bring to the table and whether those values outweigh regulation as a determinant for ‘doing the right thing’.

John King, QSO Auckland lawyer and company director John King retired earlier this year from his role as chairman of the NZ Takeovers Panel. He was the inaugural chairman appointed

Values – how do you define them, let alone gauge their presence from an initial meeting? Moral, honest, wise… they all sound like good things; they all are good things.

What are the building blocks of management? Information, planning, communication, monitoring… there are myriad of theories and as many different ways of organising and implementing them. One thing is constant

How can boards add value and avoid dysfunctional behaviour? Nicki Crauford explores the four pillars of governance and effective director behaviour.

Which is the best approach to finding the right senior staff? With the tight labour market showing no signs of abating and the country’s lamented skills shortage in full flight, We ask how best to haul in and hang onto top talent.

Jan Dawson is one high-flying business woman who seems to have work-life balance sussed. Her role as chair of KPMG makes her New Zealand’s top female accountant, but she’s also a mother of two and a high-flyer in the world of yachting. We follow her career tacks.

Most directors know that sinking feeling when the courier delivers the board papers on Friday in a very large envelope. The three hours put aside will not be enough – all will need to be read and the fishing will have to wait.

Kiwi-born chair of the uk institute of directors, Neville Bain, talks about the importance of corporate reputation and the board’s role in building and protecting it.

Merilyn Havler • General manager • Beiersdorf New Zealand What are the key components of good leadership and why? At Beiersdorf I lead team of 40, oversee roster of nearly

My family and I live in Hawke’s Bay near the Tuki Tuki River. I work in Auckland. There is way to make this work. People are interested when they learn

Only five percent of workers worldwide would, when discussing an external job offer with their current boss, accept counter offer on the spot. A survey by international recruitment consultancy Robert