By Philippa Stevenson
Dairy Board directors, who run a multinational business with more than 80 subsidiary and associate companies worldwide, are to hold their first meeting outside New Zealand.
The 13-member board will meet on October 1 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, headquarters of its $1 billion Latin America business.
The practice is common
among transnational companies.
Chief executive Warren Larsen said the board was aiming for two meetings overseas each year in different markets.
October's meeting will be preceded by a week-long study of the Americas.
The next meeting will be in late March 2000 in Southeast Asia.
Mr Larsen said the shift was the result of the board's structural reorganisation from regional companies to a global perspective, and would have "an absolutely clear-cut focus on the commercial business."
"We want to get the directors as close as we can to the operating subsidiaries in the markets, get them to address trade policy issues, and assess investment plans for each country."
There will be four teams of directors and management. One will familiarise itself with the North American New Zealand Milk Products ingredients, or commodity, business, another will tour the market in Mexico and Central America, one will head to Chile and Argentina, and the fourth will go to Venezuela and Brazil.
Mr Larsen said directors had familiarised themselves with the regional businesses for which they were responsible, and the new format would result in significant savings.
Any query on cost was a "ridiculous question insofar as this is a global business. New Zealand is a village in this context, and if the directors are to do their job competently ... they need to understand how the markets work, what the investment opportunities are, and see those first hand.
"The more exposure they get to those conditions the better able they will be to act in their shareholders' interests."
After the board meeting, outgoing chairman John Storey, chairman-elect Graham Fraser and Mr Larsen will go to Washington to meet trade officials.
