business Archive

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  Co-operating to compete - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  We had a ‘meet and greet’ this week with representatives from Zespri. (DISCLAIMER: the nice things I am going to say about them must be read in the full knowledge that we were gifted with and rapidly consumed some very tasty examples of Kiwifruit.  The slippery slope to bribery and corruption starts here?) But seriously, the [...] read more
  June 25, 2010 3:27 pm - 2 Comments
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  Energy security and business - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  An interesting document has come out of Lloyd that reveals some of their thinking about energy security, and the risks and opportunities it provides for business. Lloyds point out that 300 years of experience has given them a bit of an understanding of risk, and it is from that platform that they suggest that now is a really good time to get serious about finding ‘a new energy paradigm’. read more
  June 23, 2010 9:00 am - 5 Comments
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  First Smart Business breakfast a great success - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  This morning I hosted my first Smart Business breakfast event  at the Long Room in Ponsonby, Auckland. We had a  great  turnout,  a good mix of familiar faces and ‘new’ people we met for the first time.    Some really topical issues were raised, like how small business can get access to training and other support; how a co-operative model could [...] read more
  June 18, 2010 11:56 am - 7 Comments
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  Lloyd’s 2 Business: oil crunch coming fast - by frog

  
  
  
  One of the world’s biggest insurers is telling business that the two biggest risks they face are peak oil and climate change. It seems Lloyd’s has gone a bit green, or has started reading frogblog. read more
  June 17, 2010 6:49 am - 25 Comments
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  Easter – a time for family or a time for shopping? - by frog

  
  
  
  The Department of Labour is currently reminding retailers of the laws around opening and closing times over this coming Easter weekend. The current law restricts shops from trading on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. That law – the Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal Act 1990 – specifies three and a half days each year on [...] read more
  April 2, 2010 9:00 am - 8 Comments
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  Wake up call for NZ exporters - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  If Kiwi businesses are to stay in the international retail game they need to get serious about adopting environmental and sustainable business practices. This is the message coming loud and clear from research revealed by major British retailer Marks and Spencer (M&S). M&S says environmental and social issues remain important to UK consumers. A survey [...] read more
  March 4, 2010 1:28 pm - 2 Comments
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  More Circular Uncertainty from National - by frog

  
  
  
  Following the circular uncertainty created by John Key and his National government regarding the Emissions Trading Scheme, we now have another round of circular uncertainty, this time created by officialdom, no doubt because there is no clear leadership from the top. To start with, we have the utterly confused and ambiguous signals to business regarding [...] read more
  December 21, 2008 12:19 pm - 82 Comments
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  John Key’s Uncertainty Principle - by Jeanette Fitzsimons

  
  
  
  Does John Key understand the uncertainty his wild statements have created for business? Is there any thinking or policy intent behind the statement that the ETS will be “put on hold” or was it just post-election rhetoric? The key thing is that the businesses most affected don’t know. About a week after the election, reassured [...] read more
  December 15, 2008 11:34 am - 23 Comments
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  Violence against children is good business - by frog

  
  
  
  Given their normal stance I had always been kind of surprised that Act was so opposed to protecting children from violence through their opposition to the amendment to section 59 of the Crimes Act.  But now I find out why thanks to Roger Douglas’s blog: The cost of doing business in New Zealand is in [...] read more
  October 23, 2008 12:11 pm - 72 Comments
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  Fonterra’s baby milk tragedy - by frog

  
  
  
  I wonder how we would feel if a Chinese company operating in New Zealand were found to be responsible for the death one baby and made another 432 sick with kidney damage? Then the Chinese Premier steps in to defend the company, whose subsidiary had known about this for 6 months, and hopes that its [...] read more
  September 15, 2008 11:15 am - 6 Comments
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  Easy business - by frog

  
  
  
  08 Wire, Dancer at the Standard and Grant Robertson each saw the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business survey released yesterday and responded reflexively, either congratulating the Labour Party or putting the boot into the National Party.  While that’s a fair, if somewhat typically tribal, response to New Zealand being ranked the second easiest country [...] read more
  September 11, 2008 10:33 am - 6 Comments
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  Yet another job for feminism to solve - by frog

  
  
  
  Treehugger notes that women managers make greener business decisions: Put that in the context of New Zealand and Human Rights Commission’s 2008 Census of Women’s Participation [pdf], which shows that 8.65% of directors in New Zealand’s top hundred listed companies are women. This comprises 54 female directorships held by 45 women out of the total of 624 [...] read more
  July 19, 2008 8:09 am - 27 Comments