Siah Ang
Professor of Strategy
“
New Zealand businesses are no longer
just competing in domestic and regional
arenas; growth constraints and an influx
of foreign companies are creating an
urgency for New Zealand businesses
to respond to unavoidable competition
with changing competitive strategies
and global outlooks.”
Darilyn Kane
Associate Director Corporate
Programmes. Programme Manager
Global Executive Leadership
Programme
“
Every executive team has different
strengths and weaknesses when it
comes to working across cultural
boundaries. Tools such as the Global
Mindset Inventory and the Cultural
Orientation Indicator can help an
executive team or Chief Executive to
explore their personal strengths and
weaknesses in this area, and can be a
good starting point for developing a
more global mindset. Our leadership
programmes have shown that cross-
cultural relationships are seen by
senior executives to be a challenge.
However, there is a strong feeling that
the natural Kiwi attitude of openness
combined with an effort to learn as
much as possible about the other
culture(s) – political history, likely
motivations, negotiating behaviours
and the way business is done –
would help them to achieve global
business growth.”
Greg Cain
Partner, Employment Law
“
Do your recruitment processes,
employment agreements and policies
adequately cater for the cultural diversity
of your staff? Your organisation may
reap benefits if you are able to embrace
diversity constructively, particularly in
relation to business strategy. For example,
if you employ Asian-speaking employees,
you could look at incentivising them for
creating business opportunities in
Asian markets.”
Charlotte Henley
Partner, IP Law
“
If you offer your goods and services
into offshore markets, it is important
that you check that you will not infringe
any third-party intellectual property
rights, such as patents and trademarks.
In particular, do not assume that you
can use New Zealand marketing materials
overseas — local marketing regulations
and third-party trademark rights may
require different materials for
different markets.”
key findings //
8:
operating across cultural barriers cont. . .
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