5 Things You Need To Know Today!

5 Things You Need To Know Today!

By The Main Report Editors

Welcome to EXECUTIVE FOCUS for 18 - November - 2013. Below you will find
today's top five stories containing valuable content and daily talking points.

/ Bad Manners Can Cost New Business

Executive Focus

New research from Aust has revealed failure to return phone calls, a poorly written email and not setting aside time to meet in person is bad for business. Virtual office group Servcorp commissioned Galaxy Research to look at how etiquette affects business.

Servcorp's COO Marcus Moufarrige says "nothing says more clearly to a client or prospect that they are just another item on your to-do list than being too busy to return a voicemail or receiving a rushed typo-ridden email." He says it is worrying to see businesses prioritising their needs over those of their clients, and businesses could be putting future growth prospects at risk by using technology in isolation.

78% of the 457 business leaders surveyed say failure to return calls can affect their decision on awarding a contract. 58% say poorly written emails with grammatical errors and typos may also affect their choice, while a third of the leaders could hinge their decision on the failure to set aside time to meet in person.

/ A Plane Can Be Emptied Very Quickly

www.nztransport-logistics.co.nz

It seems amazing getting people off a plane can take so long when it lands at the end of a journey. But the feat can be carried out a lot more quickly as this emergency evacuation test of the airline behemoth the Airbus A 380 shows. To pass aviation safety regulations, all passengers must be able to get off the plane in 90 seconds...all 850 of them.

/ Truffles - More Valuable Than Gold

www.themainreport.co.nz

Eleven white truffles have gone under the hammer in Italy for 274,200 euros (NZ$445,525), including a pair bought by an anonymous buyer in China who paid out 90,000 euros. The Chinese buyer outbid competitors for a 950-gram pair of truffles, paying three times the price of gold for the white delicacy.

/ Deer And Boars Running Wild In Japan

Executive Focus

Herds of deer and wild boar are rampaging through parts of Jaan as there are not enough people hunting them. Since 1970, Japan’s hunter numbers have fallen by more than half, as Japan Times reports. And of the 200,000 or so remaining, 65% are men over the age of 60. But women are coming to the rescue - women in their 20s and 30s are one of the few hunter populations whose numbers are growing or staying the same.

Neither deer nor boars have any natural predators, which explains why local governments all over Japan have been organizing big parties of existing hunters. But Japan's gun ownership laws make things tough. Prospective gun-owners must first attend a lecture and pass rigorous background checks which examine criminal records, mental illness history and compliance with hunting law. Then comes a test on hunting law, firearm care, the use of nets and traps, and knowledge of different types of game.

And after this, a buyer of the two legal guns—shotguns and rifles—must tell the police exactly where they store the gun and ammunition so the police can check for compliance each year. They must also inform the police every time they've fired the weapon.

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/ Truckometer Points To Economy Hitting Top Gear

www.nztransport-logistics.co.nz

The ANZ Bank Truckometer indices suggest the NZ economy is hitting top gear. The indices use traffic volume data from around the country, and the ANZ Light Traffic Index (which predicts activity trends 6 months ahead) lifted 1.85% in October, its strongest monthly rise since May, while the Heavy Traffic Index (which is contemporaneous with GDP) lifted 0.3% suggesting strong economic activity has persisted into the start of the final quarter of the year.

ANZ says in its commentary the third quarter saw the strongest quarterly increase in the history of the heavy traffic series. “All else equal, this suggests a possibility of a spectacular Q3 GDP result. This certainly would tie in with anecdotes of a very strong primary sector bounce-back from drought. Dairy production is currently running about 5% ahead of last year’s production for the first 5 months of the season”. The upward trend in the Heavy Traffic Index is steep. This bodes well for near-term GDP out-turns.

The Light Traffic Index rose 1.8%, a welcome result after a couple of months of small falls which were suggesting the upward trend was at risk of running out of steam. The index is predicting solid GDP growth for the remainder of the year, averaging a robust 3 ½% annual pace. A period of consolidation early next year would not be at all unreasonable after such a surge. The trend in the Light Traffic Index is finally above its pre-recession level.

ends

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