All Blacks coach Steve Hansen may be the best advertisement yet for media training.

Policymakers inevitably get things wrong from time to time, writes Brian Fallow. But if they are to learn from their mistakes, they first have to acknowledge that they are mistakes.

When Morag McCay needs a tasting panel for her uniquely Asian food products, she heads five minutes down the road to the University of Auckland.

Are you interested in getting full and involved participation from your people? Instead of telling someone to do a task, ask them how they think it should be done.

Juha Saarinen takes a look at new Australian PM's tech credentials and we're giving away a Microsoft Surface worth $800!

It will put Silver Fern Farms in a strong position, writes Fran O'Sullivan. But that won't stop the emotion over the injection of Chinese ownership into a company that other players were endeavouring to keep NZ controlled.

Marketing man Graham McGregor on the value of a one-sentence description of your product or service.

What would have made a big difference if you could have put it into practice earlier? Share your comments with us.

Shanghai Maling Aquarius is understood to have a $300 million war chest to back its bid for a slice of the Kiwi meat co-operative.

Rental cars are costly. If the upfront hire fees aren't enough, there are lots of other charges that can double the cost. That can be anything from increased insurance costs to reduce excesses, to hiring a child seat.

The words "double Grammar zone" plastered across a real estate billboard is enough to make any red-blooded agent salivate, writes Bernard Hickey.

You can make a standard KiwiSaver first-home withdrawal without the additional top-up from the HomeStart grant. Helen Twose talks about the rules.

Pip Dunphy effectively blew the whistle on Solid Energy's pending insolvency when she resigned her chairmanship less than a year into the role.

There is a huge difference between the timing and level of disclosure of the four Government-controlled NZX-listed companies - Air New Zealand, Genesis Energy, Meridian Energy and Mighty River Power - and other Crown entities.

There's a problem with the male-female mix on television at 7pm, writes John Drinnan.

NZ can't rely on the likes of Russia to meet our obligations, writes Brian Fallow.

Being there for staff 100% of the time is neither good management nor good delegation, writes Robyn Pearce.

Even though NZ is a small player globally, we should pay a great deal of attention to what's happening with internet governance, writes Juha Saarinen.

There is already considerable foreign investment in New Zealand agribusiness, writes Fran O'Sullivan. Several Chinese companies have meat interests and there is major Japanese investment in Anzco.

Marketing consultant Graham McGregor says webinars are an extraordinary modern way to get your message out.

As businesses grow and expand, certain aspects of the day-to-day management of the organisation inevitably become more complex.

You'd think any government would do what it could to protect a valuable asset, however it's the big banks that are trying to save the Barrier Reef from destruction.

A new video series and website aims to get us on the on-ramp to savvy investment.

Persistence pays heaps. Most people in sales give up after the first go. Don't be in that category, writes Debbie Mayo-Smith.

Interest rate cut this week is certain but all eyes will be hunting for clues to the future.

If Kiwis had been honest about finding a flag that reflected the national character, it would have been an open-home flag, writes Bernard Hickey.

A reader asks Helen Twose: Is buying a first home off a plan and putting a 10% deposit on it considered an estate in land under the KiwiSaver rules?

When you work with a new client, you do research on It. That's what I do too.