The ingredients for business prosperity

New Zealand business faces many challenges, but it has opportunities as well.

We’ve covered a lot of ground over the last two months in this series, taking deep dives into issues of leadership, digital disruption, sustainability, business transformation, the global economy and customer focus.

This week we look at solutions: our focus group research isolated some broad ingredients for prosperity.

In rough order, they are innovation, strong ethics, leadership, strategic thinking, diversity, sound financial management and continuing education and skills training.

To truly thrive, the top four are all required, while strong financial management remains the bedrock.

There is a lot of talk globally about ‘‘purpose led’’ business that creates a clear identity and mission, holds strong values and builds ethical connections to customers and the environment. Customers respond to such purposes, not to the quest for maximised profit.

Our focus group also points in that direction. Strategy, not tactics, helps create business that are ‘‘worth dealing with’’ as one participant said.

These are businesses that know who they are, what they stand for and what they want to create.

Such organisations delight customers with their products and services and inspire them through their commitments.

Ethics are about integrity, proven through transparency and action.

‘‘For me it means that I stand by my word,’’ one executive said. ‘‘When I have a conversation with my team it’s about respect, trust, and ensuring that the way that we interact with our customers in the market is the same way.’’

Strategy is the glue that holds everything together.

‘‘You need to know what you want to create and work out how you’re going to get there,’’ said another business leader.

This amounts to a big change from traditional modes of business. Leadership is no longer about delivering orders from on high and micro-managing activity.

Today’s leaders build other leaders at all levels of their organisations, guide them by example and trust them to do the right things.

‘‘To me diversity is all about creating great teams that make better decisions — there is so much power in the diversity of thought and experience,’’ said one focus group participant.’’