April 7, 2013

Turning bytes into dollars: technology writer Bill Bennett demystifies this year’s IT buzzwords – big data – and explains how fast moving companies are transforming terabytes and petabytes into business advantage.

When asked by Horizon Research: “How strongly do you support or oppose the sale of shares in State Owned Enterprises?”, more than half – 50.6 percent – of senior decision makers opposed the sale. This compares with 52.7 percent opposition among the adult population as a whole.

Bill Buckley’s imprint is somewhere inside almost every computer, smartphone and digital appliance you own. He is the winner of this year’s Manufacturing, Design and Innovation category in the World

Geraldine McBride is global expert in corporate evolution. zoology major from Wellington, she has taken into the information business her grasp of the natural world’s imperative: adapt or die. She

Do you know of any ‘anti-corruption heroes’? Transparency International is now accepting nominations for its 2013 Integrity Awards. Launched in 2000, the awards recognise the courage and determination of individuals

Visionary leaders must sometimes just suck it up when things go awry. Besides, they are more often than not sufficiently rewarded to dull the pain of dented ego. However, in

Manager of emerging business at mapping and GIS company Esri, Myles Sutherland is a member of Kea in California.

South Korean multinational conglomerate Samsung finally reached one of its major goals last year – unseating incumbent market leader Nokia, and leaving it reeling in its wake. Not content with

New Zealand, like most OECD countries, is now a service-based economy. The services sector accounts for around 70 percent of our gross domestic product and employs 76 percent of our workforce. What’s driving this dramatic economic and social transformation and what does it mean for managers? Reg Birchfield reports.

April is month for thinking about Australia because it has Anzac Day in it: the day we two countries separately commemorate our joint defeat in Gallipoli. Separate-but-joint defines us. Each

Internationally successful Kiwi innovators are the recently announced category winners in this year’s annual World Class New Zealand Awards. The awards – New Zealand Trade and Enterprise initiative delivered by

Our political masters and much of the business establishment would have us believe that Dotcom and his colleagues are trouble we can do without. But there’s no denying the Mega team’s ability to build a global-scale online business in fast-forward time. Aside from the obvious issues of getting offside with the US and powerful entertainment industry lobby groups, is this a case of judging on style over substance? NZ Management magazine goes behind the hype in a series of exclusive interviews with the Mega team.

There’s more to big data than commercial insights. General manager for RSA Australia/NZ (the security division of IT & business transformation company EMC) Shaun McLagan, says his company is using

Big data isn’t just about business. There are government applications too. Deloitte partner Thorsten Engel gives the example of the CCTV footage used in London to monitor thousands of vehicles

It can’t be an easy task, corralling New Zealand’s major telecommunications players to work together towards common goal. But when that goal is to help drive productivity improvements in the

Many of the questions and answers arising from using big data are linked to location. One of the fastest growing areas of big data involves location analytics. Matt Lythe, who

How do we improve New Zealand’s rate of economic growth? The late Sir Paul Callaghan argued that we need to shift from low productivity industries, like wine and tourism, to

Gen-i’s product marketing manager, networked ICT products David Reiss says three characteristics separate big data from everyday data: Volume: Many New Zealand companies collect large amounts of data that are

Innovators like Amazon and Google – and the start-ups nipping at their heels – continue to transform the 21st-century business world. How can we keep up? In two words: Hill

The archetypical internet story is one of young people working long hours out of garages, developing an online service that will change the world. Many of these ventures struggle and

NZIM Courses see page 63

• John Kotter • RRP $42.99 • Harvard Business Review Press Leadership guru John P Kotter wrote his original version of Leading Change back in 1996. It became best seller.

• By Sheryl Sandberg • W H Allen • RRP $36.99 Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO and former vice president of global online sales and development at Google, is eighth on

Cyber threats and their associated data privacy issues pose multimillion-dollar risks for New Zealand enterprise. But, Reg Birchfield reports, neither local business nor some insurance providers and brokers are properly prepared for both the dangers and the demands presented by this global phenomenon.

Richard Reese, general man­ager – Operations, BankLink

Phishing is form of online fraud which attempts to trick users into divulging personal information such as usernames, passwords and banking details. This type of fraud is conducted through the

New Zealand’s 20-year-old Privacy Act is likely to be repealed and re-enacted following the four-stage Law Commission review. The final report was released in August 2011, but Government is yet

Marking International Women’s Day 2013 on 8 March, the Grant Thornton International Business Report published research showing that – globally – 24 percent of senior management roles are now filled

Is it apathy or preoccupation with the daily grind that’s stopping us getting up in arms at the slow disintegration of the trappings of an informed, engaged society? First we

New Zealand owned IT services company CodeBlue has appointed former Palmerston North City Council information manager Brent White as general manager, Wellington, responsible for leading CodeBlue’s team in the lower

Murray Wu is general manager, corporate responsibility at Kiwibank.

The world is enlisting businesses to help fight against poor health. It’s common sense given the workplace is where we spend half our waking hours. It’s where we make half

If you want to create a lovemark brand, then you better find the love and generate a sense of purpose beyond profit, suggest Colmar Brunton leaders, Dick Brunton and Jacqueline Ireland. They talk to writer Vicki Jayne about the philosophy and values that underpin their successful research business.

While he’d rather have those he work with comment on his leadership skills, Dick Brunton has been following set of principles gleaned years back from Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner

To mark the anniversary of Sir Paul Callaghan’s death on 24 March 2012, the McGuinness Institute has announced the joint winners of the Sir Paul Callaghan Science Meets Humanities Scholarship.

I recently had couple of nights in Wellington on business, staying at the Wellesley Boutique Hotel. Converted from what was the Wellesley Club it still has the clubby, comfortable and

A number of successful New Zealand business leaders had former careers in the military. David McGregor carved out formidable career as public law specialist and recently retired as the senior

New Zealand in general, and its public sector in particular, has long enjoyed reputation as one of the least corrupt in the world. At the end of last year, the

AMP made savings of around $1.1 million in 2012 using new strategy for talent attraction and retention and focus on diversity. Shaun Philp, AMP’s head of human resources, said an important

Yahoo recently announced an end to its long-standing remote worker programme, now requiring employees to be physically in the office. This has sparked debate around whether employees should have the right to work from home. Michael Chetner, vice president for video and voice conferencing solutions provider Polycom Asia Pacific, says the focus should instead be on managing employees working from anywhere.