Business Strategies and Employment Decisions: Interviews with New Zealand Firms

A firm’s business strategy does not exist in a vacuum; it requires employees to implement it. However, firms often say that they have difficulties hiring certain types of employees. Through interviews with firms and analysis of the 2008 New Zealand Business Operations Survey, this research explored the interaction between strategy and employees’ skills, and differences between high value-add (HVA) and medium value-add (MVA) firms. MVA firms focused more on production methods, technical skills, and margins over costs. HVA firms focused more on the business skills of a few, professional core employees, as well as the marketing aspects of their products