Waikato Management School research excellence

Rankings reflect Waikato Management School research excellence

Waikato Management School has been confirmed as New Zealand’s leader in management research in the tertiary research rankings released today. The School was the top performer in two of the four research categories in which staff submitted research portfolios, including the major business-related category - Management, Human Resources, Industrial Relations, International Business and Other Business. The School was ranked in the top five in all four categories.

“We are celebrating today being the number one business and management school in the country,” said Waikato Management School dean Professor Mike Pratt.

“The result recognises that our School has world-leading researchers who create value for New Zealand.

“The result is even more significant because we believe the PBRF ranking system understates the quality of our research. Much of our work is at the leading edge of management research – in areas which are critical to the future success of business – but this is more difficult for the PBRF system to measure.”

In addition to the main business category, Waikato Management School was ranked top in Accounting and Finance, third in Economics, and fifth in Marketing and Tourism. “In both those latter areas we have recently appointed - or are in the process of appointing – a number of additional professorial staff, which we believe will give us New Zealand leadership in all areas of our teaching,” he said.

Despite the “extremely positive” result, Professor Pratt reiterated that the PBRF rankings measured only one aspect on which a tertiary institution’s success depended. Other critical factors were the quality of teaching, student experience, and the institution’s impact on its local, national and international communities. In all these areas, Waikato Management School believed it was New Zealand’s strongest performer, he said.

“Waikato Management School has created a superb environment for research, corporate partnering, and students. The momentum we have built over the past few years in all these areas is continuing and we have an exciting agenda for the future.”

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