Archive

Cloud computing, mobility and the consumerisation of IT are profoundly changing the role of CIOs, according to the latest Hudson ICT Leaders Series report – Cloud, BYOD & Teleworking: Mastering the skills mix for today’s IT function.

Roman Rogers, executive GM for Hudson NZ, says user-driven technologies such as flexible working, bring-your-own-device (BYOD) and social media, combined with technology developments and increasing business demands are driving transformational change. 

Inappropriate language tops the list of unwanted ‘workplace issues’ in new Leadership Management Australasia (LMA) research.

When asked, leaders, managers and employees all picked problems with how people spoke with, and to, each other as their number one gripe. 

NZIM is adopting blended learning,revolutionising the way short courses are delivered, in move to meet emerging managers’ need for relevant, up to date, technology-supported learning in time constrained world, and

Fonterra research has revealed more than 100 different labels in China illegally sporting the NZ dairy company’s colours, brand or logo, Fonterra CEO Theo Spierings told delegates at the recent China Business Summit in Auckland.

NZ business leaders can expect to see significant changes in China in the next few months that will rework the landscape for how they can do business and the opportunities open to them.

Executive Update Edition 55

Air New Zealand, ASB Bank and Vodafone are proving their prowess in good governance, once again being selected as finalists for this year’s Responsible Governance Award. 

Almost a third of employees surveyed for a recent Hudson NZ report say they are working more than 51 hours per week. More than a quarter (26.2 percent) of them say they are working longer hours than they were a year ago.

The future talent map for both New Zealand and Australia looks less than rosy, according to new research by specialist talent measurement company SHL www.shl.com/uk.

Guy Spence was a regional finalist for this year’s NZIM/Eagle Technology Wellington Central Young Executive of the Year. He’s the manager at Opus International Consultants’ Gisborne office.

• By Owen Glenn • Random House NZ • RRP $39.99 Owen Glenn, New Zealand’s financially successful freight forwarder, penned his memoirs to make difference. They probably won’t. Making Difference

• By John Coates • Harper Collins • RRP $34.99 For New Zealand readers in particular, this is scary book. But reading this book is risk worth taking. John Coates

Businesses are more keenly focused than ever on prudently managing their cash position. Vivienne McLean outlines the current raft of options.

Eighty-three per cent of small and medium sized enterprise (SME) decision makers in Australia experienced cash flow issues in the past year, according to a recent Bibby Barometer Small Business Survey. The most common reason was customers making excuses for slow payments.

It’s not too late to register for next week’s China Business Summit. Auckland Chamber of Commerce and NZ INC Ltd are holding the summit as a platform to increase business engagement between New Zealand and China.

COVER STORY The Sharing CEO How to lift your firm’s productivity Why is it so hard to improve the productivity of our nation’s workplaces? Ruth Le Pla untangles the practicalities

How to lift your firm’s productivity – Why is it so hard to improve the productivity of our nation’s workplaces? Ruth Le Pla untangles the practicalities of getting more from less.

More than half of all workers believe switching employers is the key to career growth, according to a workplace survey by Kelly Services. The Kelly Global Workforce Index (KGWI) draws on responses from nearly 170,000 people across all generations in 30 countries. It includes responses from people in the Americas, and the APAC and EMEA regions.

Disputes about labour market statistics were triggered when the Government – defending its policies after swathe of cut-backs in the mining, aluminium and other sectors last month – preferred to

Last month we launched the first of our Editor’s Breakfasts. Run hand-in-hand with the New Zealand Institute of Management, they’re designed to create small-group series of conversations with business leaders.

The food and beverage sector has long been exhorted to capture more value within NZ. Nick Grant talks with a bunch of successful business leaders about their very different routes to market.

Kea New Zealand has announced its new board. Incoming chairman Phil Veal (pictured) is also co-chair of Kea North America, and partner at middle-market advisory firm Growfire, based in New

Sponsored by The University of Auckland Business School Short Courses www.shortcourses.ac.nz 0800 800 875

A few decades ago, reaching your 60s was time to start putting serious thought into spending more time with friends and relatives, tending to the garden and working on your

Executive Update Edition 54

ANZ has been ranked the most sustainable bank globally in the 2012 Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) for the fifth time in six years. The report cited the bank’s “sustainable

Some 31 percent of business decisionmakers expect their households to be financially better off in the next 12 months. This compares with 24.4 percent of adult New Zealanders as whole,

The call has gone out for employers to be smarter and provide senior staff with innovative ways to develop their careers. “Employers need to ensure their managers are better equipped

Leadership coach Jasbindar Singh challenges managers to identify the one thing that would make real difference to them. In recent blog she says talented executives often know the answer to

Melbourne Business School (MBS) is one of just three of the world’s top 50 business schools to have achieved 40 percent female participation in its new full-time MBA programme, which

Businesses would be well advised to review their arrangements with third parties in the same industry following the recent introduction of new legislation criminalising price fixing between competitors. The Commerce

For Rod Quin, recognising and celebrating the talent in his organisation is one of the most rewarding parts of his role as CEO. Senior management at Westland Co-operative Dairy Company

If you think your business is doing enough to improve productivity, think again. New Zealand’s business performance and competitiveness is in decline. Our OECD position has dropped three places to

A new report by Kelly Services shows Kiwis are still confident about demand for their own skills. This is despite low employment confidence levels and the sluggish pace of the economy.

Of all leadership enablers, none is more important than trust. Unfortunately, trust is seemingly diminishing global and local commodity. Global surveys now consistently suggest that trust in our institutions and

Kiwi by birth, New Yorker by choice and climber by inclination, Phil Veal is Kea NZ’s new chair.

Work-related stress is on the rise. More than one third (39 percent) of Kiwi respondents to a recent Regus workplace survey say their stress levels have risen in the past year.

Better management and governance performance could give our not-for-profit sector a well-deserved boost.

Forget asset sales. Forget fiscal consolidation. Forget cows and oil. When the Key Government is assessed at its end, its importation into some social policy of an actuarial/investment technique might

The Project Management Institute of New Zealand has announced the winners of the 2012 PMINZ Project Management Awards. Now in their fourth year, the awards aim to raise the profile of the project management profession through recognising outstanding projects.

The world financial crisis is challenging conventional thinking. So what could, and should, organisations change to reflect today’s realities? Take executive pay, for example. In many countries, significant proportion of

How to tackle NZ’s booming white collar crime.

Kiwi workers are twice as likely to get injured at work as their Australian counterparts and almost six times more likely than people in the UK. And that is not

Norton by Symantec’s latest annual Norton Cybercrime Report puts the direct costs associated with global consumer cybercrime at US$110 billion over the past 12 months. 

Here in New Zealand, more than 900,000 people fell victim to cybercrime in the past year, suffering NZ$462.9 million in direct financial losses.

NZ business leaders need to place the possibility of exposure to bribery and corruption higher on their risk agenda, according to Deloitte forensic partner Barry Jordan. 

Deloitte has just launched its inaugural survey of bribery and corruption in Australia and New Zealand. The survey shows that exposure to bribery and corruption is on the rise and that many organisations either do not recognise the risks or are not addressing them. 

Global media and entertainment CEOs see digital media as a significant driver of future growth, according to a new report by Ernst & Young.

The study report, Opportunity and optimism: How CEOs are embracing digital growth, shows this bunch of CEOs is optimistic about the digital future.

Executive Update Edition 53

A recent SEEK New Zealand survey shows Kiwis like to change their jobs regularly with 51 percent of people starting their most recent role less than two years ago. Almost half of those surveyed (43 percent) are planning to jump ship to a new job within the next 12 months.

Seek NZ general manager Janet Faulding says that with only 16 percent of people intending to stay in their current role for the next five years, it appears length of service at a company could be a thing of the past.

A new McAfee report reveals the largest increase in malware samples detected in the past four years. McAfee Threats Report: Second Quarter 2012 shows a 1.5 million increase in malware since Q1 2012 and identifies new threats such as mobile “drive-by downloads”, the use of Twitter for control of mobile botnets, and the appearance of mobile “ransomware”.

Business publisher Mediaweb has launched just Good Business – a quarterly publication designed to make it easier for local organisations to shift their focus beyond short-term survival to long-term sustainable success. How to start? What are the benefits? Who is leading the way?

The Institute of Directors’ relaunch, restoration, facelift – call it what you will – of its Four Pillars of Governance Best Practice text is welcome. It is, in its significantly

When Lauren Voyce joined the senior leadership team at McDonald’s NZ she was just 26 years old. Her role as youthful head of HR and talent chimes well with predominantly

• By Terry Leahy • Random House • RRP $37.99 It’s difficult not to feel cynical about business books that offer magic numbers. I admit, therefore, to feeling ambivalent about

There are many misconceptions about senior executive interviews and what the post global financial crisis world means for top-level recruitment. Stylistically, interviews range from the informal chat to structured behavioural

A six-strong field of talented young executives has emerged as the finalists in this year’s Northern region New Zealand Institute of Management (NZIM) / Eagle Technology Young Executive of the Year.

Directors don’t think fraud and corruption is much of a problem in corporate New Zealand. Retiring Serious Fraud Office chief executive Adam Feeley thinks otherwise. He talked about the consequences of governance complacency.

There are many misconceptions about senior executive interviews and what the post global financial crisis world means for top-level recruitment. Stylistically, interviews range from the informal chat to structured behavioural

Fonterra director John Wilson will replace Sir Henry van der Heyden as the company’s chairman when Sir Henry steps down in December. Wilson has been on the board since 2003

Without relentless innovation, success will be fleeting, management guru Gary Hamel argues in his 2012 book What Matters Now. Less than one company in 100 makes innovation everyone’s job, every

• By Mark de Rond • Harvard Business Review Press • RRP $49.99 For those people who, like me, feel numbed by the hackneyed and simplistic catch-cry that we must

Counties Manukau District Health Board (CMDHB) has scooped the Supreme Award at this year’s ANZ New Zealand & EEO Trust Work & Life Awards.

It won both the top prize and the Tomorrow’s Workforce Award for its Health Science Academies which offer bright Pacific Island and Maori secondary school students a head start for a career in the health sector.

Executive Update Edition 52

NZ is outperforming other countries in a number of key areas including hiring, positive expectations for economic improvement, and revenue and profit.

Seventy percent of workers still expect more money out of a promotion despite pay and hiring freezes, according to new research from talent assessment solutions firm, SHL.

Air New Zealand has returned to top the Hay Group/NZ Management magazine list of Most Reputable Organisations (MRO). The findings are based on research among C-suite executives and board directors.

Kapu Waretini, programmes manager diversity at Committee for Auckland, is a recipient of a 2012 Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award.