New Zealand study: Serendipity key to business growth

Call it luck, chance or divine intervention, it seems that serendipity is a key factor in fast business growth, according to a New Zealand study. The University of Canterbury study of businesses in New Zealand and in Iran found that favorable circumstances, or serendipity, helped lead to faster growth. "We investigated how some businesses grew so fast and found that most of them believed that serendipity played an important role. They still had to use entrepreneurial marketing strategies to pursue the opportunities that were uncovered by serendipitous circumstances," Morrish said in a statement. "We compared New Zealand to a non-western country, Iran, to see whether there were differences or similarities. The Middle East is a huge market for New Zealand exports. Doing business in any overseas market requires understanding of their belief structures, " she said. "Serendipity appears to cut across both cultures, but is viewed in somewhat different ways, such as the spiritual or religious dimension." Some Iranian entrepreneurs believed their faith guided their intent to serve people better, especially their customers, and this led them to serendipity. "Despite the spiritual differences which are associated with the entrepreneurs' religious beliefs, there are a number of similarities that could be observed in both Iran and New Zealand," she said.