Editorial A Climate of Success

It is the end of another year of publishing Management magazine and we wrap it up, as always, with our bumper Top 200 issue. The year has been kind to New Zealand’s Top 200 companies. Revenue hasn’t grown much, but profits certainly have. That, in turn, is good for the country. The tax take is up. It remains for the politicians to spend the spoils wisely. In summary, New Zealand is now good climate in which to establish, grow and do business, and this is the theme of our special issue and our Deloitte/Management magazine Top 200 Awards dinner at which, on November 27, we acknowledged and celebrated outstanding management and corporate performance.
There are many reasons why New Zealand is great place to grow business. Most of them increasingly obvious. It is, for instance, stable and secure political environment. Some observers, like economist and investment analyst Brian Gaynor, suggest that while some of our major companies might not be setting the world alight, they can “take bow for improving the consistency of their performance”. He suggests both management and boards of directors have lifted their game. He also believes many of this year’s results show companies can “turn in very good performances from New Zealand base”. We agree.
By compiling the Top 200 list, Management and international consultancy Deloitte provide timely snapshot of the current state of New Zealand’s major trading entities. This year the state of the nation is pretty healthy. At the Awards night we applauded our best chief executives, chairpersons, companies and NZIM’s young executives as symbols of what can be achieved by embracing best practice and showing leadership. Once year we must take our collective hats off to teams and individuals who try to emulate world-class performance which, at this level of enterprise, is what New Zealand needs to do. And we need to be consistently good. Like Fisher & Paykel for instance.
In 2004, Management magazine moves into its 50th year of publication. And while competing upstarts come and go, 2003 has been good year for us too. We created our new publication and extension to Management, The Director. Through its pages we cover leadership practice beyond the chief executive. And we published more pages in Management than we did last year, as just one indicator of renewed growth. We expect to do even better next year. The fact that Management turns 50 at the end of next year says something about the enduring importance of writing about people and appreciating that it is individuals – leaders and members of the team alike – who deliver results. We expect to be doing that for long time yet. For now, however, we wish you happy and safe holiday season and thank you for your support in 2003. We look forward to celebrating our 50th year with you in 2004.