Although Porter's (1990) work on national competitive advantage is both widely taught and widely quoted, relatively little empirical research has been undertaken using the model to evaluate the competitive advantage of a particular country and its affect on an industry as the context for developing market strategy. This research looks at the New Zealand economy from the perspective of a number of winery CEO's who are responsible for setting strategic intent at a time of rapid change. There has been considerable interest recently in the resource view ofstrategy and discussion of the efficacy of Porter's (1990) Five Forces model of industry attractiveness and what drives organisational profitability. This research looks at one more influential factor. It is clear that the overall competitive advantage of a country has an affect on organisational performance; the extent of this affect is not measured here.