Time for a springtime stocktake

Before I start, though, I should warn you that my version of a stocktake is likely to be much broader than others.  What do I mean?   I could mean a list of pluses and minuses; or a balance sheet of assets and liabilities; or a management-speak listing of strengths and weaknesses.  No doubt, others will have their own terminology.

But whichever way you look at it, I’m after a reading of the ‘possessions’ that are available to us to manipulate, distribute, employ, apply and otherwise use to enable us to prosper.

In no particular order, and probably not comprehensively, I’d list four possible groups of, for want of a better word, assets:

1. physical resource endowments
2. people
3. the NZ brand
4. structures and processes.

The physical resources are easy to identify, including the land and the minerals and nutrients within the land, the water, the climate, the fishery and the forests.

Characterising the people as an asset may be less easy, but I’d list aspects such as literacy, numeracy, creativity, and outward-looking perspective as definitely being pluses for New Zealand.

And I’d say the New Zealand brand is also definitely an asset in that from the perspective of overseas people, buyers, competitors and organisations the New Zealand ‘label’ is one they envy.

Finally, behind the scenes are the various legal, government, and market structures that facilitate business and economic enterprise.  Without these structures, and the widespread acceptance of the rule of law and the ability to enforce contracts, energies would quickly get diverted to non-productive uses.

Now, the problem with the above list, and its associated sub-lists, is that most of the aspects also have an associated risk/weakness.  Indeed, some may argue that some of the above are actually liabilities rather than assets.

For example, some may argue that the resource endowments that have been dealt to New Zealand have sent us down a commodity-based, high volume, low value economy. 

Or, that the people may be literate, numerate and creative, but this has limited their ability to move into the business sphere – commercialising creative ideas has not been our strong point. 

On the point of our ‘brand’, perhaps this has constrained us in that foreigners’ perceptions of us as a great place to visit and enjoy, may limit their ability to see us as a place of business.  And, of course, many will see structures and processes that litter our daily lives as regulations sorely limiting the abilities for business to expand.