Monday, April 30, 2012
Tim Grosser's Te Reo comments offer opportunities for NZ
Forget NZ's Clean and Green delusion, our one truly unique offering to the world is that of Maori culture - nobody else in the world has it, and yet we dismiss it with an almost colonialist disdain, as it's of lesser value than the overriding British culture that we inherited from a distant time when this country was a part of that nation's empire. Yet, as I saw at the opening of NZ's embassy in Cairo, the karakia (prayer) and powhiri (welcoming ceremony) performed by a London-based Kapa Haka (Maori cultural performance) group absolutely floored the Egyptians who attended the event - they were absolutely gob-smacked! This is even more amazing when one understands the Egyptians' sense of their own 6000+ year old history, yet they saw Maori culture as unique, exciting and of great value, at least it was to those whom I spoke with at the time. They said they had no idea that New Zealand had such a rich and exotic culture and wanted to know more. Interestingly, when I met with some of the Kapa Haka group participants and told them of the Egyptians' reaction, they were surprised that they'd made such a strong impression with the locals..!
Closer to home, there are a lot of similarities between Maori culture and especially those of Asia, the Middle East and Africa. This includes how relationships are formed and fostered, as well as other shared values and traditions. Take the Maori greeting, Kia ora, and the Chinese equivalent, Ni hao. In basic terms, both virtually mean the same thing, so why are we not leveraging off such a simple bridge between cultures?
Another example is the traditional Maori greeting, or hongi, where two people press their noses together to share the air. The local Beduin in the UAE and some other Gulf States do something similar, and when I lived there in 1999/2000, the locals were fascinated by the fact that they shared something with a totally different culture. They were further impressed when I mentioned Maori achievements in long-distance sailing and navigation. The Arabian Peninsula has a great tradition of seafaring going back millennia, and provides yet another link between NZ and the Gulf. Maybe it's time we start using it.
My final argument in support of adding Te Reo Maori to the syllabus is the fact that our migrants community see it as an integral part of what it means to be a Kiwi - look at the stats of the numbers of migrants learning Maori language as proof.
Last year, I mentored an expat from Fiji who was taking a course in Social Work at a local tertiary institution, run by Maori. She had a lot of concerns about not being able to understand Maori culture and I suggested to her that she look for those aspects of the culture that had parallels with her own Fijian, Indian and Muslim values and traditions. I got a text message at the end of her first day thanking me and saying that it was the best advice I could have given, and that she was able to immediately pick up on shared aspects of Maori and her cultures. Being able to find those links will bode well for her in her chosen career, not only in her dealings within the Maori community, but with those of other Pacific peoples and other migrants as well.
Maori language and culture have both great value and relevance to New Zealand in the 21st Century and we ignore utilizing it to everyone's mutual advantage at our detriment. Let's use Te Reo as a way to bring all the people of this country together and then proudly take it to the world.
Mau te rongo (let peace reign)
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Worried about the global economy? Why not look for opportunities instead?
- · The fact that more money is made in slumps than in boom times – and the fact that we’re all experiencing a major global economic downturn that looks like it’s going to be around for a lot longer than anyone expected;
- · In times like these, individuals and organizations are looking for ways to increase productivity and reduce costs, and asked the philosophical question, “What do you offer that would fulfill such needs/wants/objectives?” and…
- · The need to take a medium-to-long-term view on forging relationships to build sales that will increase as times improve – if you’re there for a client in tough times, imagine how that might affect their loyalty towards you when things get better.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Palestinians try a different route on the roadmap for peace…
- · Israel’s right to exist will remain a cornerstone to the peace process;
- · Hamas will need to officially recognize its neighbor and bring its followers under control – the group hasn’t won the war against the Israelis, but now has an opportunity to win the peace. While currently is an unpalatable request to make to Hamas, it’s an imperative if progress is to be made;
- · Accept that all of Palestine’s objectives may not be met immediately, especially the return of East Jerusalem as its eventual capital;
- · Be prepared to be responsible for any attacks on Israel by their own people, and like any country, accept its neighbour’s right to retaliate, either diplomatically or, at worst, militarily. This would include the will to put Palestinians on trial within Palestine for crimes committed elsewhere;
- · It saying that, Palestine also needs to be recognized as having the right to defend itself against outside aggressors, albeit within internationally acceptable limits;
- · Work out how to effectively govern two geographically and (currently) politically separated areas, i.e. Gaza and the West Bank. It is doubtful that Israel will cede any of its territory to connect the two, at least not in the foreseeable future;
- · Figure out where the heck they will put the Palestinian diaspora if a large number of those living overseas decide to return. Israel has the same issues with its own population growth and there’s only so much land to go around, with neither side willing to give up any to their opposite number;
- · Seek a long-term, diplomatic solution to the question of possible compensation for land taken by the Israelis since the time of the establishment of the country in 1948.
Monday, September 12, 2011
10 years on from 9/11 Islam's fundamentalists have lost the war
Monday, August 15, 2011
2011, the year social media flexed its muscles
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Export or die!
The title of this piece refers to the catch-cry of the British Motor Industry some 65 years ago. Back at the end of WWII, the UK’s motor vehicle manufacturers put a serious effort into exporting their products, globally, especially to the Americas, Australasia and elsewhere in order to re-start the country’s economy, almost destroyed by the then-recent conflict.
I believe the Export or die philosophy is relevant today, especially for SME-level businesses in the USA, where the nation’s economy needs some serious action to get things going again and people back into jobs.
At the start of this decade, during the economic downturn that occurred after the dot-com boom went bust, I wrote an article in a small, Northwestern US business newspaper about how much of the world wanted to ‘buy American’, and the difficulties they faced trying to do so. This desire for US goods is still there today; why?
- ‘Made in USA’ still offers a perceived guarantee of perceived consistent quality and reliability in many global markets;
- Because of the huge domestic market and the ability to make things in large volumes, US-manufactured goods are often surprisingly competitive, internationally. This is especially true for niche manufacturers. In fact, these companies might find that they’ve got global markets they didn’t even know about just waiting to buy their goods and services!
- As a global trend-setter, products and services from the USA often have an in-built prestige about them. Many consumers in other lands love to be seen with the latest and greatest – best of all, it doesn’t have to be made in Asia. Many American-made goods from smaller-sized enterprises could and should be perceived as being just as desirable as the latest offerings from the multinationals;
- Add to that, the Internet offers global access to American goods and services like never before.
So if that’s the case, then why aren’t more SME-level American companies getting into international markets? My observations are that:
- American SMEs have little understanding of the global marketplace, the downside of its having such a large local economy;
- A lack of belief that a small business can compete, internationally. I can’t recall how many times American businesspeople are shocked when I tell them about how New Zealand, a nation of SMEs, competes globally without subsidies. In fact, my adopted homeland’s plastics moulding industry is competitive, internationally; it’s therefore safe to say that its US-based counterpart would be equally so;
- American SMEs seem to have a fear of the unknown when it comes to exports;
- While the US Department of Commerce and other agencies have sone pretty good export programmes, I believe that SME-level exporting is still very much a low-profile activity for these organizations;
- The American banking system is archaic by world standards when it comes to handling international transactions. I remember the Letter of Credit for an export order for a Middle East client having to go through THREE different US banks for the transaction to be completed, as only one of these institutions was set-up for international business! Compare that with my ability at the time to go to the local branch of any of the banks I dealt with in NZ to do a foreign exchange transaction…
Many business media commentators in the USA have said that it’s the SMEs that will create the jobs that will help pull the country out of the nation’s worst recession in living memory. However to grow businesses, they’ll need customers, and those may not be found within the local economy. This is why I suggest that Federal, State and Local Governments should begin promoting export development far more proactively than it has done in the past, especially in the fast-growing economies of Latin America and Asia.
It’s all there for the taking, there are export development programmes, all kinds of advice and assistance available for exporters, and an infrastructure of US Embassies and Consulates in place around the world ready to help – all it needs is American small business owners to believe it’s possible for them to succeed in a global economy.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Why is the essence of marketing so hard to understand?
- NEED
- WANT