Innovation
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Financial innovation at risk as regulators lag on alcohol credit
- October 30, 2024
The creep of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services to alcohol outlets is alarming, more so because it highlights the slow response of New Zealand regulators to financial innovations, which not only causes problems for consumers but also kills the financial innovation we desperately need. Meurig Chapman, CEO of Happy Prime, a leading specialist in credit risk within the corporate banking and financial services sectors, is worried that the availability of BNPL credit services in alcohol sales wil...
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Kiwis take global lead in contact centre AI innovation
- September 11, 2024
The New Zealand contact centre industry is leading global efforts in innovating artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace as a tool to restore the industry’s reputation and create more employment. The October Future Contact Centre New Zealand Summit in Auckland will feature the pioneering efforts of many leading New Zealand brands, including speakers from NZQA, Honda New Zealand, Mercury NZ, Kiwibank and the Warehouse Group. Customer Contact Network New Zealand (CCNNZ) CEO, Elias...
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Is NZRB turmoil indicative of a broader Kiwi boardroom malaise?
- June 13, 2024
The recent New Zealand Rugby (NZR) boardroom wars highlight how difficult it is to inject fresh thinking and new blood into the governance status quo countrywide and how this can trap organisations in a cycle of ‘two steps backwards’ and stagnating innovation. Adrian Packer, director of a specialist innovation leadership consultancy, IMS Projects (which works with some of New Zealand's top organisations), warns that now is not the time for boards to default to the ‘same old’ cost-cutt...
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Wellington doing it tough: Out-of-work public servants must stay relevant
- May 22, 2024
Government redundancies are hitting the Capital hard, but it is harder still for the many thousands of jobless public servants who will be looking for new employment in a recession and radically different job market. Momentum Consulting Group Principal Consultant Tom Stephens says public servants will need more of an edge than merely polishing their curriculum vitae (CV) and interview techniques to stand out (although that is a given). “I have been in recruiting for more than eight yea...
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Retailers cautioned: Poor customer experiences bigger threat than tech
- April 23, 2024
New Zealand e-commerce retailers bewildered and anxious about the speed of technological change should not be frightened of what the future may hold for them because it is the correct application of technology that is critical to the customer experience--not tech itself. Mark Presnell, Managing Director at Convergence an eCommerce integration firm in Auckland, says most New Zealand retailers he speaks to are fearful, and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and fulfilment models like ...
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Right Shoring: The Next Frontier for Small And Medium Businesses
- March 14, 2024
For many Australian and New Zealand small businesses, the idea of expanding their team overseas might seem daunting, but a volatile and disrupted business environment may make it a question of survival. Irwin Hau, founder and director of digital agency Chromatix Web Design and the Australasian marketing SaaS start-up ConversionCow, believes a new approach called "Right Shoring" is the key to success in today's small business market. "We've all been conditioned to think local for th...
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Kiwis can endure being on hold, so long as their problem is solved
- December 22, 2023
Kiwis are more likely to put up with wait times for their calls to be answered by retail and business contact centres—even during the busy holiday and retail periods—provided the operator is empathetic, and their problem is solved, says industry body Customer Contact Network New Zealand (CCNNZ). CCNNZ CEO Elias Kanaris says that, at the moment, the contact centre industry focuses on fast service (on keeping call waiting times as short as possible), but this may be at the expense of the ...
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AirNZ's outsourcing move keeps local contact centre staff on their knees
- October 26, 2023
Air New Zealand's decision to temporarily outsource some call centre activities to the Philippines because there is a shortage of suitable staff is understandable, but also a self-perpetuating practise because it cheapens the profession—the moment you find a cheaper alternative, the less locals earn, says industry body Customer Contact Network New Zealand (CCNNZ). CCNNZ CEO, Elias Kanaris, said he understands Air New Zealand's decision to move contact centre activities offshore temporarily ...
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Independent schools take the lead on indoor air quality
- March 8, 2022
Covid measures help improve classroom attentiveness. Over the last four months, building performance technology provider Tether has installed hundreds of its devices at private schools across New Zealand in partnership with the Independent Schools of New Zealand (NZ). In addition to a safer environment, children are using the technology to learn about air quality, said Tether chief executive Brandon van Blerk. Van Blerk said the goal of the rollout is to create a robust data set about t...
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Nerra proves environmental innovation speaks louder than lip service
- March 25, 2021
Using 'environmentally friendly' and other hot social issues merely as a marketing ploy won't wash with New Zealand customers. If you take a position on an issue as a business, you need to do more than live it and breath it – you need to innovate. One company that is doing just that is Nerra. Nerra appears to be genuinely reinventing the old bicycle in ways that are beyond your imagination. They go way beyond the traditional 3R's of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. The modern building industr...
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Focus innovation funding to build world class firms
- January 18, 2021
The New Zealand Productivity Commission released its draft report on frontier firms which, the commission says, are a key pathway by which innovation in the form of new technologies and work practices make their way to firms behind the leading edge. New analysis undertaken by the Productivity Commission indicates that the productivity of New Zealand’s frontier firms is only about half that found in their counterparts in other small, advanced economies. “Innovation is the key to New Zea...
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