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Business research
Research projects
Some research projects from our broad range of research expertise in business at Massey.
A Moral Truth
New Zealand has a long and rich tradition of journalism that holds power to account. This book by Dr James Hollings pulls together stories, dating from 1863 to reveal hidden truths. Some will be well known. Many will not. Some still shock and disturb. All show the craft, compassion, toil and persistence of the journalists and editors who unveiled them.
Bank e-loyalty improved by personal relationships
A study by Massey University and Curtin University researchers shows that banks can’t rely on the strength of their technology platforms to create loyalty with their business customers.
Mobile and online technologies have revolutionised banking, but there were no studies examining if technology creates brand loyalty like face-to-face relationship building. Massey's Dr Henry Chung and his colleagues collected data from 336 New Zealand small and medium-sized businesses and compared their commitment to local and national-branded banks with their commitment to foreign-branded banks. The study found that good, personalised relationship building did lead to an increase in e-loyalty.
Biopolitical Media: Catastrophe, Immunity and Bare Life
Alan Meek’s book presents an historical account of media and catastrophe that engages with theories of biopolitics in the work of Michel Foucault, Giorgio Agamben, Michael Hardt, Antonio Negri and others.
Complex adaptive systems
Complex adaptive systems is a new interdisciplinary field of science for understanding and predicting behaviour by viewing complex systems (e.g. organisations, communities, cities) as living organisms. This is in stark contrast to the prevalent Newtonian view of the universe, which by extension, views human organisations as machines. In living systems, entities constantly evolve and adapt in the face of new circumstances in order to sustain themselves.
Professor Kambiz Maani’s research has been investigating how the principles of complexity science can be effectively applied to organisations and leadership. His work has resulted in a book Multi-Stakeholder Decision Making for Complex Problems.
Cultural identity influences motivation and style of play
The cultural identity of individual rugby players in a team changes the way the team plays, according to a Massey University study co-authored by Dr Yusuke Kuroda and Dr Farah Palmer. The research shows the Māori All Blacks, a team of players who share the same cultural heritage, are more playful and spontaneous and take more risks than the Japanese National Team, which has a mix of nationalities. The difference is down to the players’ cultural identity and norms. This has an application for management practice and the understanding of the motivational characteristics and cultural profile of any team.
Culturally-centred health communication in African American communities
Professor Mohan Dutta worked on a culturally-centered health communication project on heart disease among African American communities in the Lake and Marion counties of Indiana. This community-grounded project interrogated the unhealthy structures that constrain the health and wellbeing of African American neighbourhoods in the US. It became the basis for multiple organic projects rooted in the aspirations in the community for health and wellbeing.
Cultural response could improve Māori financial literacy
A report on the spending habits of Māori women has identified that a culturally-responsive community model could help improve financial literacy among Māori.
The research project, conducted by the Westpac Massey Fin-Ed Centre and funded by the SkyCity Auckland Community Trust, aimed to provide useful insights for creating targeted financial literacy programmes for Māori women. The results included showing a higher likelihood to borrow from family at short notice and a low engagement with bank loans.
De-biasing pilots
In general aviation, cognitive biases can lead pilots to continue on their initial flight plan when deteriorating weather conditions suggest that the safe option might be to turn back or to divert. This is one of the primary causes of fatal accidents.
Associate Professor Andrew Gilbey and Dr Stephen Walmsley (Massey PhD graduate) have been investigating de-biasing pilots who were considering whether to continue a flight into deteriorating weather conditions, in attempts to find ways to make them more likely to divert or turn back. The de-biasing appeared to have little effect, showing how pervasive and enduring the effects are of cognitive biases in general aviation decision making.
Defining the New Zealand Protein Market
In this research project Professor Christoph Schumacher worked on modelling the global protein market (in terms of human and animal supply and demand) five, 10 and 15 years into the future. The project also worked to define the position of New Zealand in the context of the global protein market.
Employment in Nauru
A report by Massey University Professors Jim Arrowsmith and Jane Parker for the United Nations' International Labour Organization (ILO), "Situational Analysis of Employment in Nauru", explored prospects for employment diversity in Nauru. Similar projects have been conducted for the ILO in Tonga and Papua New Guinea.
Escaping the low skill, low pay, low commitment and low performance work cycle
This project involves a survey and qualitative research to explore how both productivity and employee engagement can be enhanced by better people-management practices. It examines current gaps and priorities in management capabilities and the drivers and constraints on HR strategy.
Executive and Management Education Survey study
The Executive and Management Education Survey study sought to understand and disseminate the views of New Zealand respondents on executive and management education, and to compare these findings with those from Australia. The study was undertaken to help inform and improve the content and delivery of management education delivery in both contexts.
Awards and recognition
Professor Stephen Croucher has been recognised in the publication 'Communication Education', as being ranked in the top one per cent of communications scholars for research productivity. Professor Croucher was the 17th most productive communication researcher, and the only researcher based outside the United States and Europe to make the list.
Communication scholar in top 1%
Professor Stephen Croucher
'Communication Education' quarterly journal
Chief flight instructor Craig Whyte was awarded the Director of Civil Aviation's Flight Instructor Award. This recognised his decade in the role of chief flight instructor at the School of Aviation, a period that included the introduction of the technologically-advanced Diamond aircraft.
Director of Civil Aviation Flight Instructor award
Craig Whyte
The Director's Award for an Organisation recognised the School of Aviation's 30-year history of producing aviators with solid academic knowledge and technical skills.
Director of Civil Aviation Organisation award
School of Aviation
In 2018 Dr Flora Hung-Baesecke was invited to join the editorial board of Public Relations Review, the oldest public relations journal and an A journal on the ABDC and SSCI journal lists.
Editorial board appointment
Public Relations Review
Professor Mohan Dutta was recently appointed as one of thirty-one notable scholars to be Fellows of the International Communication Association (ICA), in recognition of distinguished scholarly contributions to the broad field of communication.
Fellow of the International Communication Association
Professor Mohan Dutta
International Communication Association
Dr Jason Mika from the School of Management received the 2018 Fulbright-Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Scholar Award. The award is for a New Zealand academic, artist or professional to lecture or conduct research at a United States institution in the field of indigenous development.
Fulbright-Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Scholar Award
Dr Jason Mika
Paul Kearney, the chief of standards at Massey University’s School of Aviation, received the Greg Vujcich Memorial Award in 2017 from the NZ Airline Pilots’ Association for his outstanding involvement with aviation.
Greg Vujcich Memorial Award
Paul Kearney
NZ Airline Pilots’ Association
In 2016 Mikael Boulic was awarded the Emerging Researcher Award by the Health Research Council of New Zealand. The award was in recognition of a project to improve health outcomes and indoor environments in primary schools, in an effort to decrease rates of illness, decrease absenteeism and the level of chemical pollutants using a low-cost solar ventilation unit.
Health Research Council Emerging Researcher Award
Health Research Council of New Zealand
In 2016 the industrial innovation team at Massey won a Special Appreciation Award from the Asia Pacific Quality Organisation (APQO), the professional body for quality-related organisations internationally.
Industrial Innovation - Appreciation Award from the Asia Pacific Quality Organisation
Industrial Innovation team
Asia Pacific Quality Organisation (APQO)
In 2017 Dr Pushpa Wood was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to financial literacy and interfaith relations.
Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit
Dr Pushpa Wood
Dr Matthew Roskruge, Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Rārua, co-director of Te Au Rangahau (Māori Business and Leadership Centre) was awarded funding to explore what social capital means within a Māori world view and how it can be used to create positive outcomes.
Rutherford Discovery Fellowship for Māori Social Capital research
Dr Matthew Roskruge
New Zealand Organisation for Quality awarded the Massey quality team their special services award in 2015.NZOQ is a non-profit, professional society dedicated to providing leadership in the adoption of the principles of quality management and best practice in New Zealand.
Special services award from NZOQ
New Zealand Organisation for Quality
Senior lecturer Associate Professor Nives Botica Redmayne, from the School of Accountancy, has been appointed as Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand vice-president for New Zealand. The appointment is in recognition of Associate Professor Botica Redmayne’s contribution to the accountancy profession through her engagement with the accountancy practice and her research.
Vice-President appointment for School of Accountancy senior lecturer
Nives Botica Redmayne
Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ)
Dr Farah Palmer was awarded the 2018 Women of Influence Board and Management Award. The awards recognise and celebrate women from all walks of life who make a positive difference in the lives of their fellow New Zealanders.
Women of Influence Board and Management Award 2018
Dr Farah Palmer
Women of Influence
Student research
Jane Hurst's PhD thesis investigated women's expectations of women in the workplace, and whether a gender bias existed. It showed that women have higher expectations of female managers, expecting them to be more aware of the complexities of their lives and to offer more flexibility to accommodate those complexities.
Jane Hurst
Doctor of Philosophy
Jo Mutter's doctorate focused on the impact of global mobility in the workplace on the families that are left behind. How do they incorporate these ‘new’ forms of global employment into their lives, and how does it affect their home and their own careers?”
Jo Mutter
Doctor of Philosophy
My thesis examined the hybrid features of convertible bonds. From the investment perspective, my thesis provides valuable insights into the degree of mispricing of convertible bonds. From the financing perspective, I examined why multinational corporations typically have lower long-term debt ratios than domestic corporations, forgoing the risk-reduction benefits of international diversification.
Karren Khaw
Doctor of Philosophy
Natalia D’Souza doctoral thesis was on workplace cyberbullying. She found that nurses not only experience bullying by other staff, but also by patients and their families.
Natalia D’Souza
Doctor of Philosophy
My PhD is titled Cleared to Disconnect? An Exploratory Study of the Interaction between Airline Pilots and Maintenance Engineers. Accurate information regarding the maintenance status of an aircraft is essential for safe and efficient airline operations. I found evidence of communication barriers that influenced the efficacy of information exchange between pilots and maintenance engineers.
Tahlia Fisher
Senior Safety Specialist, Air New Zealand
PhD (Aviation)
Named Chairs
We have a number of named chairs reflecting our connections with business and alumni and excellence in our research areas of expertise.
MSA Charitable Trust Professor in Finance
Prof Ben Marshall
Ben has published in leading journals and is among the top 1% of authors based on paper downloads from the working paper website SSRN. His work has received extensive media coverage and he has consulted to public and private companies.
Sir Stephen Tindall Chair in Retail Management
Prof Jonathan Elms
Jonathan joined Massey in 2014 after spending seven years at the Institute for Retail Studies (IRS), University of Stirling. He leads the Bachelor of Retail and Business Management and is the Director of the Centre for Advanced Retail Studies.
Dean's Chair - Finance
Prof Nuttawat Visaltanachoti
Nuttawat is in the top 1% authors based on the research download in the Social Science Research Network (SSRN). He has published in leading international journals, blogs and popular financial media.
MSA Charitable Trust Chair in Marketing
Professor Malcolm Wright
Professor Wright is experienced in marketing in both the corporate and academic worlds. He has spent over twenty-five years teaching, researching and writing about all aspects of marketing, including as an author of the multi-edition textbook Consumer Behaviour: Applications in Marketing. He is Chair of the Australian Advisory Board for the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science, director of Consumer Insights Ltd., and a Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy.
Dean's Chair in Communication
Professor Mohan Dutta
Professor Dutta’s expertise is in health communication in relation to indigenous health, health and migration, and poverty. He has received over $4 million in funding to work on culture-centered projects of health communication, social change, and health advocacy.
