Study shows it pays to have women on company boards

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‘Fairytale’ sheep season not over yet

Farm gate prices have boosted sheepmeat producers to levels not seen for nearly a decade and a recently-released industry report suggests farmers can expect to continue to enjoy high prices and favourable offshore market conditions in the year ahead. Rabobank analyst Rebecca Redmond says as the “fairytale 2010/2011 season” draws to a close, the future continues to look bright. “Even at higher prices, overall demand for New Zealand sheepmeat has been holding steady in developed markets,” Redmond said.

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Plan ahead or risk falling prey to ‘vulture-like’ buyers, owners warned

 Private business owners looking to sell now prefer a gradual sell down to an outright sale but the pool of buyers out there is limited, according to a survey by Deloitte and Moyle Consulting. Yet with the average age of business owners in New Zealand estimated at 58, Deloitte partner Bill Hale says creating a succession plan is vital; failing to plan ahead puts them at risk of “vulture-like” bargain-hunters.

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Advertising as the antithesis of science

While the advertising industry comes up with some very clever and amusing ads more often than not Michael Edmonds is irritated by them – and not just because they interrupt his TV viewing. Advertising, he argues, represents the polar opposite of science and everything it stands for.

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Victoria University’s quest for architecturally designed silence

They say silence is golden but you’ll probably agree that more often than not, it’s pretty hard to find. Primary schools are definitely no exception, but thanks to a research grant awarded to Wellington’s Victoria University, the School of Architecture is about to embark on a research project to test architecturally designed solutions for noisy Kiwi classrooms. 

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A leader’s greatest weapon

It’s one of the most neglected components of leadership: the ability of effective leaders to achieve and exercise power through the stories they tell. Research in the US indicates our perception of a story is strongly influenced by the teller; a listener is much more likely to accept something a leader says if they’re aligned with them already, than if the same thing were said by someone from an opposing camp. As Mike Hutcheson writes, it’s the stories they tell that sell.

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