February 3, 2011

Executive Update Edition 14

New Zealand businesses are needing to put more focus on improving middle management skills judging by the findings of recent surveys. One of these undertaken by global recruiters Robert Half International has found that Kiwi finance and accountancy middle management professionals lack capability in areas such as communication, management and interpersonal skills.

US President Obama recently announced that he is going to work to cut $US100 million of spending out of the Federal Budget over a 90-day period. A college student demonstrates what a feeble piece of posturing this is. While the presentation lacks the polish of a seasoned economic commentator, it’s worth spending one minute and 38 seconds to watch this should you need any convincing of America’s parlous financial state.

Creating a winning strategy is a struggle for most companies. The results of a recent McKinsey survey suggest one reason: just 53% percent of executives characterise their companies’ strategies as emphasising the creation of relative advantage over competitors; the rest say their strategies are better described as matching industry best practices and delivering operational imperatives – in other words, just playing along.

Top organisations foster leadership at all levels, incentivise collaboration and gain value from cultural diversity, Hay Group has found in its sixth annual Best Companies for Leadership Study.

Roll on the Rugby World Cup. The Treasury and others, no doubt, are counting on the economy picking up later in the year on the back of it, along with higher commodity prices and Christchurch’s rebuilding. However, the economic data remains sobering as Executive Update’s economic correspondent Bob Edlin outlines.