Creating value for NZ Inc through cleantech
Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe says he is incredibly frustrated by zealots on either side of the global warming debate.
Tuesday, June 08 2010 || Comment || BY Unlimited staff
There is a lot of negative sentiment in the business community to the emissions trading scheme, at the moment. It's not the only mechanism and personally I’m not sure the ETS is the right mechanism but again that’s not the point. You’ve got to move forward so I am one of the few business leaders that I hear supporting the scheme.
I am totally fed up with the debate. We can debate what’s right and wrong and do that for another 10 years. Ultimately you have to put a marker in the sand and move forward. Accept it isn’t perfect but it does allow us some certainty to make investment decisions and make choices.
When you are living in a void of uncertainty, you make very inefficient and ineffectual decisions because you are always hedging your bets. If you spend all your time hedging your bets, you’re not harnessing and focusing your resources and efforts on the way forward. That is unproductive and dissipates that leadership opportunity.
My belief is the short election cycle in NZ does impede creating long term value for the country. There is no future if politicians take enormous political risk and fail at the next election. That’s not good for the country because you just get a revolving door of politicians and parties and you never move forward. We have tremendously high expectations of our politicians but you do have to be pragmatic. But you certainly have to push the boundaries otherwise you never move the country forward.
Why are people into Apple? When they launch the iPad, why do half a million people go out and buy an iPad in the first week? It’s because people see intrinsic value in the brand. I think we can create that desire to want to be associated with New Zealand.
The people in this group understand the power and intrinsic value you can create in a brand and they have a great passion for the brand of New Zealand, but I think they share a great fear how we could destroy value in that brand if we don’t nurture and respect it.
If someone feel like a customer now on Air New Zealand, it is a great improvement. In the past you felt like and object with one purpose of existing, pay. Maybe the same should be applied in overseas export markets. Maybe New Zealand should stop feeding useless bureaucrats in NZTE, embassies and consulates, and make use of the 40% of top skilled expats kiwis that already have left the country because they could not stand the inapt beancouter culture. Now we hear that only 20$ of the skilled immigrants stay. The use New Zealand as a stepping stone to something better. There are two possible reasons for the New Zealand failure. Stupidity or ignorance. Ignorance is curable, stupidity is not. harriss.rick@gmail.com
Posted by Rick Hariss at 12:45 on June 10, 2010
I'd like to see Air NZ expressly state their value proposition in an equation that includes the airline fare in $$. eg. Business travellers your value = xx + xy. Am sure it will be interesting compiling one for the non-business travellers :-)
Posted by KeaSqueak at 11:46 on June 9, 2010
As a businessperson who up until recently was flying 4-5 long haul flights a year, I will always fly Air NZ for business or pleasure after the enormous strides they have made in the past 3 or 4 years. Every time I step onto one of their planes I am made to feel like a customer, and that is a fantastic feeling when done well. Compare that to flying domestically in the US, and there is night and day between the experiences.
So a notional equation about the value proposition is pointless for me, and proves to me that price is not the only proposition an airline can compete on.
Posted by DW at 02:15 on June 9, 2010
Whilst Rob's has a valid point about extremists there needs to be consideration to the thought that without them we don't achieve middle ground. Just mull that concept!
Posted by Beach cleaner at 04:20 on June 24, 2010
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