Friday 28th April 2000 |
Text too small? |
![]() |
Telecom chief executive Theresa Gattung: "In New Zealand there's this huge divide, particularly about business and non-business, and about small business and big business. Small business is good, big business is bad.
"That report [the ANZ EVA report] that a lot of companies have destroyed shareholder value ran for a couple of days in the New Zealand papers and then disappeared off the radar screens. It had no legs.
"And you'd have to say that's because [newspapers] think their market, their customers, aren't interested. And you say, 'How could that be? How could it be that people don't understand?'
"They understand in their own sense. I come from a family of small businesspeople. People understand in an intimate way in relation to their own situation but there just seems to be this gap in terms of understanding it in a wider community sense. And I've never really figured that out.
"The closest I can get to understanding is that I believe New Zealand was peopled with immigrants from the British Isles who were coming away from elitism and a class system.
"We're so desperate to make sure it doesn't happen again here that the linkage in terms of big business and wealth creation 'for a few' means there's just a sort of anathema to it.
"I do think shareholder value in terms of wealth creation is not regarded as a social good in this country, so it doesn't surprise me that CEOs haven't been focused on that by their boards."
No comments yet
July 9th Morning Report
July 8th Morning Report
Half-way predictions scorecard
SKT - Sky appoints new Chief Financial Officer
July 7th Morning Report
CDC Independent Valuation - 30 June 2025
TruScreen Group Limited SPP Update
THL provides updated guidance
CEN - Greymouth gas deal
July 4th Morning Report