Twenty years ago Management magazine compiled its first list of New Zealand’s top trading enterprises. It was only Top 100 then. The detail and analysis provided was pretty thin compared with what we and our supporting sponsors Deloitte now deliver to our readers each year. In 1984 we began compiling the Top 200. This year we look back on what 20 years of consistent data collection tells us about the changing face of corporate New Zealand. We analysed the top 100 of our 200 companies to be consistent with our start point 20 years ago. What regular contributor Vicki Jayne describes in our cover story, is an intriguing profile of how much things have changed in 20 short and rapidly travelled years. The figures reveal, for example, the magnitude of the swing to offshore ownership, the trail of rationalisation, the move from pastoral to service-sector enterprise and the dramatic downsizing of staff numbers in our largest trading entities. Mark Story’s commentary on this year’s Top 200 figures and Vicki’s analysis together paint an editorial picture packed with interesting insights into the trends and tribulations of life at the top of the corporate food chain.
Compiling this issue of Management and simultaneously managing the process that each year delivers the Deloitte/Management Top 200 Awards, including the NZIM Young Executive of the Year Award, is testing exercise. Our researchers work with Deloitte to check the numbers and ensure high level of accuracy and consistent interpretation of the criteria. Then writers, designers, judges and our event team all perform to schedule of daily deadlines to deliver an awards night spectacular and bumper issue of Management magazine to 700 of New Zealand’s top business leaders and their partners at Auckland’s Eden Park on November 28. The object of the combined exercise is to acknowledge and applaud outstanding individual and team management and to record another year of the trading performances of our 200 largest companies.
Management’s Top 200 issue is our most popular of the year. It is, as they say, sell out. We try to make sure there’s plenty to read in addition to the Top 200 detail. Like our feature on breaking out of the cottage industry mindset by UK-based experiential learning specialist and soon to be visiting academic, Arnold Kransdorff, and the interview with TelstraClear’s CEO, Rosemary Howard. And distributed with this issue of Management is copy of iStart – e-Business in Action, brand new magazine published by e-business portal, iStart.co.nz. which is travelling in the opposite direction to traditional publishers by adding print to its electronic information offering. Before you devour the pages of our biggest, best, but last issue of the year accept our thanks for your interest, involvement and support of Management magazine in 2002. We wish you very happy and safe festive season. We look forward to delivering you more compelling leadership and management stories next year.