This discussion paper comprises a draft chapter completed for inclusion in an anthology of GLOBE country reports to be published late in 2001. This chapter begins with an overview of New Zealand’s historical development, and the cultural themes that have emerged since European settlement in the 1800s. It provides a context for subsequent discussion of the GLOBE cultural scales in New Zealand, and their links with the style of leadership preferred in our business organisations. Appendix one provides an overview of the project.