I’ve just been interviewed by a researcher from the University of Otago. Otago has undertaken a long-term research programme looking at how New Zealand firms derive world class competitive advantage from their geographical location, the networks they utilise, industry clusters they are involved in and from local sources of world-class science and technology.

Their focus at the moment is on fashion/apparel firms but the lessons they learn should be industry non-specific.

It was interesting doing what was, in essence, an industry wide SWOT analysis. Especially so given that this industry is particularly challenged on a number of levels; external competition,labour market conditions, distance from markets etc etc.

I await with interest the results of the research which will, hopefully, identify some ways to gain and maintain world class competitiveness for or businesses.

Ben Kepes

Ben Kepes is a technology evangelist, an investor, a commentator and a business adviser. Ben covers the convergence of technology, mobile, ubiquity and agility, all enabled by the Cloud. His areas of interest extend to enterprise software, software integration, financial/accounting software, platforms and infrastructure as well as articulating technology simply for everyday users.

3 Comments
  • Thats really interesting – when are the results out and have they done anything similar research before?

  • Anything similar or similar research i mean..

  • Hi Lucy

    The data analysis of this part probably won’t take too long – but that will, I guess, just give a snapshot of “what goes on now”. The true value lies in coming up with strategies to maximise advantages for NZ businesses.

    I’ve got a few ideas and possibly it’s something that the NZX could be part of………

Leave a Reply to benkepesCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.