More than 80 percent of people don’t independently verify AI-generated information. As AI becomes the first place customers go for answers, that trust is creating a new challenge for New Zealand businesses.
We’re told the economy and the environment are locked in a trade-off. Autex’s Jonathan Mountfort says that’s a false choice, and shows how circular thinking is already building a healthier version of both.
In Part Two of a two-part series on New Zealand’s skyrocketing house prices, Ashley Balls offers explanations and potential strategies for addressing the issue. The rapid increase in New Zealand’s house prices has become such a problem that it distorts local debt markets and has become a classic debt-driven, speculative bubble. This is unusual, happening at a time when the overall economy is shrinking – as a result of Covid – and when illiquid investment prices would typically decline. Whilst New Zealand has fared far better than most in managing the Covid scourge, the economy for 2021 and 2022 is likely to be smaller than it was in 2019 – yet commentators are, perversely, still talking up further price rises.
Europe-based legal and business commentator, author, and former NZBusiness columnist Ashley Balls offers his unique viewpoint on New Zealand’s housing price crisis. Local commentators and the Reserve Bank may have got it wrong when attempting to explain New Zealand’s current residential property price boom, which is looking more like a stampede with every month. Many assume it is the ‘market’, despite not being able to find another that is operating so precariously. In May renowned business commentator, Bernard Hickey, wrote a piece for Newsroom https://www.newsroom.co.nz/the-reasons-why-new-houses-cost-so-much concluding that there is a problem, but that stopping this particular runaway train may not be possible. Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr was reported to have said in the week ending 13 November that he may
Wendy Thompson shares her thoughts on leadership during a crisis, and how it all starts by looking after yourself. Fellow business leaders, 2020 sure has been a year that tested our mettle. None of us predicted Covid-19’s global impact and the significant change it has brought to our lives. And this is really, really different from the GFC which I remember, unfortunately, only too well. Yes, GDP has plummeted, like the GFC, but it’s not a general slow tightening across the board. This was a bang, crash, hold-onto-your-seats event that had us creating office grab-bags full of cables and monitors so staff could work from home, ordering bulk hand sanitizer, and constantly changing and adapting plans day to day. It
Ben Keyes pays tribute to the ‘real’ small businesses of New Zealand – the ones holding up our economy in the most difficult of times. There’s nothing worse than someone who thinks they have all the answers. Add to that the fact that, as you’re reading this you’ve probably seen about 25 thousand articles all suggesting exactly what your small business needs to do to leverage the opportunity/survive the chasm/seize the day/grasp the chance, etcetera. And I’m pretty sure the last thing you want to hear is the ‘reckons’ of some random guy from Canterbury. Well, sorry, I was invited to opine so opine I will. Hopefully, however, I’ll be a bit of fresh air to those of you who
James Nicolle explains why it’s important to choose clients who align with your business’s purpose, vision and values. It isn’t always easy saying no to projects and clients, especially with a looming recession and total uncertainty of Covid-19. Many companies will be scrambling for clients and taking on all the work they can. I don’t blame them. On one hand, the cashflow helps with growing a business, scaling up, hiring more people, and all the stimulus of the economy that brings. But just like hiring a person that isn’t a good fit for your organisation, relaxing your choice on who you work with has the power to do a lot worse damage. A company will have its own way of
The history of Formula 1 has some lessons for franchisors on managing innovation, suggests Simon Lord. The 1970s were a fertile time in Formula 1 motor racing. Designers were desperate to find the next big thing that would give them an advantage over their competitors. They moved the radiators from the front of the car to the sides (and even to either side of the nose), experimented with four wheels at the front and two at the back (and vice versa), turned gearboxes sideways, added turbochargers, tried gas turbines, and found ways of sucking cars to the ground via scoops, skirts and even vacuum fans. No-one knew what was coming next and whether it would work. Of course, it couldn’t
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