Negotiating the way in this Vuca world

Published date14 January 2022
You know the one

Thames St, next to Poshtel.

The outside looks a bit like a bee hive (now) — boxy, yellow with black stripes. Handy that, because we are The Business Hive — and our logo sits at the very top.

Design-wise, that’s the inspired visual concept by local design company Design Federation.

Execution-wise, you’re seeing the consummate skills of Ace Painters and MJ Ireland Signs.

Why am I telling you this? It’s because the very image of our building illustrates a cornerstone of our business values — that smart, collective efforts outclass simple intention (in this case, paint the building).

We’re heading into a year where expert business predictions are a truly mixed bag. The whole world is facing increased volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (it’s termed a Vuca world).

We don’t have the immigrant labour force we’ve relied on.

We have ongoing supply chain disruptions.

We know that Millennials and Gen Z (adults under 38) are increasingly seeking purposeful work and flexibility (which could be underpinning the great resignation).

Here in the Waitaki, work is more concentrated in a few industries than in other parts of the country.

Our 2020 HHI (Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, where an index of zero represents economic activity evenly spread across all industries) was 144.2 compared with 47.5 nationally.

This matters because the more a region’s economic activity is limited by industry...

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