EDITOR’S LETTER : The Shape of Things to Come

Management magazine has secured first rights to publish results from new national policy research panel. ShapeNZ is the newly-born brainchild of the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development (the Business Council). It is set up to probe the underlying issues of importance for business and flush out their impact on the business bottom line.
Over the coming months and through into next year, shape NZ’s series of online surveys will successively build to form clear picture of what business decision makers are thinking in New Zealand.
The Business Council will work with these emerging insights and other research to form policy options which it will then advocate to Government and other decision makers. So your responses to ShapeNZ surveys, including ones determined by our publication, will directly help shape policy recommendations.
This is the first time leading New Zealand business organisation has set out to allow people nationwide to regularly contribute to policy development. Our agreement to enable you to take part and share in the results is also unique.
Here on Management magazine, responses will form the backbone of future articles. We kick off next month with the results of ShapeNZ’s initial “welcome survey”. This is broad-ranging questionnaire probing issues surrounding general attitudes towards New Zealand’s environment, individual responsibilities, the Government’s environmental policies, business’ environmental responsibilities, business’ social responsibilities, and voting in New Zealand’s general elections.
In next month’s issue of Management magazine we will nail for the first time ever the question of whether or not New Zealand business decision makers really believe that climate change is happening – or whether, as some commentators have suggested, they are at best merely paying lip service to the notion of upcoming change.
Expect more insights to follow as the questionnaires drill down into emerging areas of importance.
The Business Council launched into the New Zealand marketplace just six years ago. It now harnesses the considerable corporate clout of broad spectrum of big name mainstream business players: from the Accident Compensation Corporation and BP Oil to Vodafone New Zealand and Westpac.
We hope you enjoy this opportunity to exert your influence. To have your say, simply click on www.shapenz.org.nz