Gearing Up: Leading your Kiwi Business into the Future

by David Irving, Darl Kolb, Deborah Shepherd, Christine Woods

Overview

Published a decade ago, forged from the lessons of the Global Financial Crisis and reprinted multiple times, the authors’ Changing Gears: How to Take Your Kiwi Business from the Kitchen Table to the Board Room was the first book that enabled New Zealand firms to integrate business-school wisdom into their thinking. Gearing Up: Leading Your Kiwi Business into the Future is a completely revised and updated primer for owner-manager businesses like those of New Zealand. The book introduces the business basics that haven’t changed (business models and financial drivers, leadership, team building, strategy and planning), while exploring how globalization and digital transformations are challenging what we know about doing business. Throughout, the authors focus—through real examples—on the opportunities and challenges faced by the New Zealanders running our owner-operated businesses. This book is a primer of business school wisdom to lead your business past the immense changes of today's economy and into the future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781869409029
Publisher:	Auckland University Press
Publication date:	12/10/2020
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	6.25(w) x 8.75(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

After a highly successful business career, David Irving retired as chief executive officer and area director Australasia, Heinz Wattie in 1997. He was co-founder of The Icehouse Business Growth Centre and has held many governance roles in New Zealand corporate and SMEs, including chairman of Prolife Foods for twelve years. In 2014 David co-founded the very successful community leadership development centre in the Waikato, CELF. David currently is adjunct professor in the University of Waikato Management School. Darl Kolb is professor at the University of Auckland Graduate School of Management. Darl has been a visiting fellow at the University of Sydney and the University of Cambridge. As an award-winning teacher, Darl leads a core course in the GSM’s international Masters of Management programme and serves as an academic facilitator for business growth programmes at The Icehouse. Deborah Shepherd is a senior lecturer in the Management and International Business Department in the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Auckland. She currently teaches entrepreneurship. She is part of the directing team for The Icehouse Business Growth Programmes and facilitator on the Owner Manager Programme. Deborah’s consultancy work is with SMEs, family businesses, and social enterprises. Christine Woods is associate professor in entrepreneurship and innovation in the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Her teaching background is in entrepreneurship at undergraduate and masters level, and Maori entrepreneurship, a component of the Postgraduate Diploma in Business in Maori Development. She is also a life fellow at Clare Hall, Cambridge. Chris is part of the directing team for The Icehouse Business Growth Programmes and facilitator on the Owner Manager Programme. Her consultancy work is with SMEs, family businesses, and social enterprises. She is also a founding director of Maori Maps (www.maorimaps.com).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements vii

Prologue: Leading your Kiwi business into the future viii

1 We know you, and you matter 1

2 Grow what? Where you are and how you got there 16

3 Earning the right to grow 29

4 Strategy: Deciding how to compete 50

5 Building the capability of your people 62

6 Owner-managers: The reluctant leaders 77

7 Let's talk about you 91

8 Where to go when you don't know… 108

9 Imagining the future 126

Epilogue: Where to from here? 139

Recommended reading 142

About the authors 145

Notes 147