Skip to main content

Land of the Long White Cloud

With New Zealand looking odds on favourites to win the Rugby World Cup later this year, it is easy to forget that the “Land of the Long White Cloud” is also showing the rest of the world how to build a creative, innovative and sustainable economy that is based on the skills of its people and its natural environment.

Many of the successful businesses developing within New Zealand today are based on the diverse and sophisticated talents of the multicultural Kiwi population. This has seen this island nation of four million inhabitants climb up the World Competititiveness Scoreboard to be ranked above the UK in 2007. It has also been consistently ranked as the most entrepreneurial country amongst developed nations by the GEM project.

Agriculture has provided the base from which the economy has grown, with more than 90% of New Zealand sheep meat production exported, accounting for 53% of the world export trade. Even in the beef industry, New Zealand exports 85% of its production, making it the fourth largest global player.

However, to many commentators, the latest economic resurgence within New Zealand is not only a result of an innovative farming industry but also reflects the vibrancy of the nation and its newfound confidence in a range of areas. For example, the success of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, filmed mainly in New Zealand, has helped to catalyse a creative industries sector that encompasses film production, music and multimedia.

Similarly, the incredible win by New Zealand over the USA in the 1995 America’s Cup spurred on the development of a highly technologically sophisticated shipbuilding industry that is now the second largest producer of superyachts in the World.

It should therefore be of little surprise that Auckland – the home of the America’s Cup - has more boats per head of population than any other city in the world, and that the marine industry is one of New Zealand’s largest non-primary based manufacturing sectors, generating an annual billion pound turnover.

As a young country with an emerging identity, combined with a cultural tendency to innovate and problem-solve, New Zealand offers some of the most refreshing, exciting and creative digital and creative arts in the world. In addition to film-making, other creative industries are becoming increasingly important to the New Zealand economy.

These include the design industry – which is seen as a strong enabler of business and industry; the music industry – which is developing strategic export growth; the interactive and digital media sector - which is rapidly increasing its export markets; and the fashion industry, which is fusing European, pacific and Maori designs to create a unique new brand in the market-place.

Given this, it is not surprising to note that the creative sector currently employs over fifty thousand people and has grown by more than ten percent per annum in the last five years.

New Zealand is also becoming famous as an ‘unspoiled paradise’ for many of its visitors. Various industries are keen to exploit the ‘clean green image’ that is giving the country a competitive advantage in a number of key sectors.

This includes the wine industry, which has become one of the exporting success stories in the global economy, with wines such as Marlborough’s Sauvignon Blanc establishing a new international benchmark and helping to promote New Zealand wine as a premium product from a beautiful and environmentally conscious land where the temperate maritime climate, regional diversity and innovative industry techniques produce unique wine styles.

The tourism industry has thrived on promoting New Zealand as a clean, green, pristine landscape which provides the setting for an amazing variety of activities. As a result, the country is quickly becoming a major destination for outdoor activities such as hiking, kayaking, skiing, walking, yachting, and mountain climbing. In addition, newer outdoor activities such as bungee jumping, black-water rafting, glacier walking, jet boating and ‘zorbing’ are becoming increasingly popular.

During the last decade, many policy-makers and politicians in Wales have looked to Ireland as an example of how to develop a strong economy within a small nation.

If the Welsh Rugby Union had the foresight to bring New Zealand coaches to Wales to begin the revolutionary changes that would lead to the Grand Slam in 2005, then perhaps the Welsh Assembly Government can also look South to our antipodean cousins for lessons in how to become the small and clever country that all our economic strategies promise us.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE IMPORTANCE OF FRANCHISING

When we talk about start-ups and entrepreneurship, rarely do we discuss the potential of franchising not only as a way of establishing new ventures in the economy but also as a method of growing existing businesses. According to the British Franchising Association, franchising is the granting of a licence by one person (the franchisor) to another (the franchisee), which entitles the franchisee to own and operate their own business under the brand, systems and proven business model of the franchisor. The franchisee also receives initial training and ongoing support, comprising all the elements necessary to establish a previously untrained person in the business. This enables individuals to start their own businesses without having to develop their own ideas and utilising an existing brand and established market. Of course, whilst each franchise business is owned and operated by the franchisee, the franchisor controls the quality and standards of the way in which the business is...
Read more

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CREATIVE CLASSES

One of my favourite academic books of the last two decades must be the “Rise of the Creative Classes” by Professor Richard Florida.  This was one of the first detailed studies of the growing group of individuals who use their creativity and mental labour to earn a living and not only included those in arts and entertainment, but also people working in science and technology as well as knowledge-based professions such as healthcare, law, business, and finance.  Fast forward to 2022 and Professor Florida has written an updated report on the creative classes although he and his team now identify a different type of individual who is taking full advantage of the growth in digital platforms, social media, and online marketplaces.  Such ‘creators’ are defined as those who use digital technology to make and publish unique creative content, whether in the form of video, film, art, music, design, text, games, or any other media that audiences can access and respond to.  They ...
Read more

INTRAPRENEURSHIP

Whilst we often consider entrepreneurship to be associated predominantly with new start-ups, larger firms - in order to compete effectively in fast-changing global markets - are adopting more innovative and enterprising approaches to management within their organisations. One of these approaches is the development of entrepreneurship within a corporate environment (or intrapreneurship). Research has shown that intrapreneurship is not easy, and there are considerable differences between an intrapreneurial and a traditional corporate culture, with the latter having an emphasis on a culture and reward system that tends to favour caution in decision-making. For example, large businesses rarely operate on a "gut-feeling" for the market-place, as many entrepreneurs do. Instead, large amounts of data are gathered before any major business decision is made, not only for use in rational business decisions, but also for use as justification if the decision does not produce optimu...
Read more