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Report: DIY approach innovative but limiting

A new report commissioned by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise looks at why New Zealand can be so innovative, yet enjoys only mediocre economic performance.

It finds that the determined Kiwi ‘do-it-yourself’ attitude that drives New Zealand innovation can be the very trait that holds us back economically.

The report, Playing to Our Strengths: Creating value for Kiwi firms, was prepared by economic researcher Tony Smale. It acknowledges the cultural traits that hold us back in international business, and suggests strategies that businesses can employ to mitigate these traits.

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Cultural traits that the report notes as inhibiting our international business include:

Satisficing – we rate leisure pursuits over wealth accumulation
Thinking for our customers – we believe ‘she’ll be right’, which can be seen as inflexible
Self reliance – we believe that we can and should do it all ourselves
Tall Poppy Syndrome – we are reluctant to acknowledge success, and give and receive feedback, holding us back from learning
Under valuing intellectual assets – we don’t appreciate the true value of our inventiveness.

The good news is that if businesses are aware of what’s holding them back, they can put strategies and measures in place to mitigate these traits.

The report discusses five broad strategies that may assist businesses including:

capturing and exploiting soft capital through an intellectual assets strategy
building more productive relationships with customers through professional development and management tools
capturing more of the value chain to grow our business closer to the end customer
growing the firm’s talent to develop an organizational culture where tall poppies flourish and failure is a learning opportunity
accelerating market entry and growth through the use of specialists and the consideration of the full range of development options.

Download the full Playing to our Strengths: Creating value for kiwi firms research report for more detailed analysis on what cultural traits hold us back and what businesses can do to overcome these traits.