Business Development

Icebreaker Limited

New Zealand

Nothing to Hide: Managing Intellectual Assets Throughout the Supply Chain

Written by

Antonio Díaz Andrade

Senior Lecturer, Business Information Systems Auckland University of Technology

The case was developed with the cooperation of Icebreaker Limited solely for educational purposes as a contribution to the project entitled ―IPR Strategies for Emerging Enterprises – Capacity Building for Successful Entry to Global Supply Chain,‖ conducted under the auspices of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). The case is neither designed nor intended to illustrate the correct or incorrect management of the situation or issues contained in the case. Reproduction and duplication of this case for personal and educational use is encouraged. No part of this case however can be reproduced, stored, or used for purposes other than the above without the written permission of the author(s) and APEC.

© 2010 APEC Secretariat

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New Zealand

An Overview

New Zealand, an economy with just over four million people, was regarded by economic analysts as a relatively small market, whose sustainable profitability could only be achieved by improving its competitiveness in the international market. Hence, while agricultural (e.g., meat products, dairy products, wool, etc.), horticultural (e.g., fresh and processed fruits, vegetables and seeds) and forestry (e.g., logs, wood chips, sawn timber, paper and pulp) products still made up more than 50% of all New Zealand exports, the economy had transitioned from a traditionally agrarian economy heavily dependent on concessionary British market access to one that was globally competitive. During the last few years, New Zealand had been increasingly gaining a strong competitive advantage in telecommunications, electronics, wine, tourism and textiles. The exponential growth of the apparel industry could be seen in the increase in clothes exports amounting to NZ$315 million in 2007 from NZ$194...