September 25th, 2009
Find a product attribute which captures the customer’s imagination. Look at the problem with fresh eyes and fresh data. Find a new attribute customers can get excited about and focus your positioning around it.
Market share gains are expensive. Market share comes at a heavy cost and your product planning and positioning must reflect this or [...]
September 25th, 2009
Economists come under pressure from investors when their forecasts miss the mark. And justifiably so. Aust analysts CommSec have looked at the performance of economic forecasters in estimating 77 indicators over 2009. The top five forecasters over 2009 so far are UBS, Westpac, CBA, Goldman Sachs JB Were and ANZ. But the rankings change dramatically [...]
September 25th, 2009
Over time, Apple has built a seasoned management team optimised to support bold new product initiatives (and recover from the occasional flop). Here are a few of the techniques Apple’s management uses to make the magic happen.
1. Ignore fads. Apple has held off building a cheap miniature laptop to respond to the “netbook” fad, because [...]
September 25th, 2009
In a piece of huge positive news, Treasury says the recession may be over and unemployment is not likely to reach previously expected heights. Its prediction is based on the international recovery, positive migration figures, rising business and consumer confidence and an improving housing market.
Treasury expects the June quarter to be “the last quarter of [...]
September 18th, 2009
Foreign-exchange traders are betting Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard will abandon his promise to keep interest rates at a record low. Bollard has hit back, saying the markets have difficulty accepting the fact interest rates can stay stable and they are frequently wrong.
But the evidence for a shift is compelling. With the Kiwi dollar appreciating [...]
September 18th, 2009
Oil production is becoming a fourth pillar of the NZ economy, behind dairy, meat and tourism. Latest figures show in 2008 oil export earnings ranked third behind dairy and meat in merchandise trade.
Crude oil and condensate production rose 57% to 2.5m tonnes in the year to December 2008 from 1.6m tonnes in 2007. The [...]
September 18th, 2009
What Gerry Brownlee proposes as far as mining on conservation land goes can be summed up in three sentences: “We are going to be far more pragmatic and supportive than the previous administration towards exploration and mining activity. Of course we must be cognisant of our responsibility to the environment. But mining and the environment [...]
September 11th, 2009
Commerce Minister Simon Power is hinting the Govt is likely to move supervision of market trading away from the NZX. Power points to a recent Aust decision to move supervision and enforcement of Aust’s domestic licensed financial markets from the Australian Securities Exchange to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. This is the equivalent of [...]
September 11th, 2009
A new business confidence survey shows the engine room of NZ business, the SMEs are starting to come out of recession, but they’re upset with the Govt’s response to their sector’s suffering. The Research NZ Business Confidence Report for July shows some strong positive sentiment, with half of those surveyed predicting better conditions within six [...]
September 11th, 2009
Regional transport committees for most of the upper North Island - including Auckland - oppose allowing heavier trucks on main roads despite Govt and industry predictions of productivity gains and fuel savings. Local Government NZ has also raised concern about the costs for ratepayers of fixing local roads, as diesel road user charges cover only [...]
September 8th, 2009
The Govt has ignited a new storm with hints it will push forward NZ’s game of catch up with Aust in the economic stakes by opening parts of the Conservation Estate to mineral exploration. Aust’s ability to withstand the current recession has been down in large part to the Asian driven resources boom, which, apart [...]
September 4th, 2009
Figures from Britain show the value of having older workers. They show over-sixties employed by McDonald’s are making the fast food chain more profitable than their younger colleagues.
Data from its 400 British outlets shows customer satisfaction is 20% higher where older people are on the staff. About 60% of McDonald’s UK’s 75,000-strong workforce are under [...]
September 4th, 2009
Dennis Laundy business advisory director at Adelaide firm William Buck says businesses need to be ready to ramp up production when the economic recovery takes off and recent indications suggests it is not too far away. Laundy says the upswing, when it arrives, is likely to happen very quickly.
Consumer optimism is rising, and Laundy says [...]
September 4th, 2009
Cadbury is to get rid of palm oil from its chocolates after a public outcry. The firm started using the oil recently as part of a cost-cutting exercise which also saw the 150g and 250g bars shed about 20% of their weight. Replacing a portion of the cocoa butter ingredient with palm oil raised the [...]
September 1st, 2009
Most societies are ageing rapidly and simultaneously facing a dramatic decline in the number of births. What are some of the main implications of this demographic change? Japan is ageing so quickly it is investing in robotics, especially for childcare and aged care. Another spin-off from ageing is bio-technology; in short, a race is on [...]
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