Word: zealand
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...always-on global business. Employees arrive early--5 a.m. isn't unusual--to deal with clients in other time zones. They have all honed their techniques for avoiding jet lag and fatigue as they travel from the Colorado office to other U.S. locations, like Hawaii, or to Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia to meet with vendors and train new franchisees who sell the company's high-end gift baskets. But that isn't enough for CEO Cynthia McKay. She believes that good sleep means good business, and she has made it part of her company's workplace culture...
...main drivers of the external accounts crisis is the nation's ongoing interest bill and the profits returning home to foreign investors; despite good prices, export volumes are subdued. The country's top 20 export items are pretty much as they were in 1980. Few New Zealand companies (dairy producer Fonterra is a standout) have annual overseas sales of $1 billion. Only one figures in the 2005 Forbes list of the world's top 2000 companies (Telecom was No. 988; Australia had 38 companies on the list). Not only do the Kiwis need national champions, argues Skilling, but they must...
...Looking at how these countries are adapting to geopolitical and economic forces, taking into account different aspirations and responsibilities, Australians are both more fearful and more engaged than New Zealanders. Australia's economic ambitions are closely entwined with the growth of China and India; the Kiwis are yet to be recognized as players in this game. Australia's government is strapped on to the Americans in Iraq, while its troops are leading local interventions in East Timor and the Solomons. Under Prime Minister John Howard, Australia's politics have shifted to the right. Although less "p.c." than she appeared...
...there are hard truths here for Australia and other mid-sized countries. For years, New Zealand has been viewed as a social and economic laboratory. Policy makers can see what works and what doesn't. Perhaps, as some are now suggesting, the Kiwi is becoming the canary in the coal mine of the new global economic order. According to David Skilling, chief executive of The New Zealand Institute, the health of the bird tells us how globalization affects countries on the periphery?and that, of course, includes Australia, despite being five times the size of its neighbor. Geography still matters...
...been a lack of strategic leadership. Not enough has been done to reposition the country to play to its competitive strengths by upgrading infrastructure, research and education. "Planning" remains a dirty word, says Skilling. As well, there has not been a willingness to experiment, boldly or persistently. New Zealand, burned by previous government follies, remains risk-averse. Third, the country has wasted a decade by not building broad political support for the new direction it needs to succeed under globalization; three-year election cycles don't help lawmakers to focus beyond small-view politics...