Business School

Management, people and organisations

Organisations cannot survive without people and cannot reach high levels of performance without building their managerial capabilities. Research on human relationships in organisations is therefore always going to be highly relevant to managers, employees, unions, and governments.

Organisations also have important interactions with the cultures and societies in which they are embedded, which need systematic research. Among other topics, researchers in the department are studying:

Leadership and organisational effectiveness
How New Zealand managers understand leadership, and how they can become more effective in leadership roles. This research stream links the department with the New Zealand Leadership Institute.
Workforce strategies, employee well-being and workplace performance
How organisations adopt work and employment practices and how these practices affect employee well-being and organisational performance.
The management of distributed work in global firms
How teams operating across borders can become more effective.
The role of labour standards in global regulation and international trade
How domestic employment relations are increasingly influenced by international employment standards.
Cross-cultural and diversity management
How managers and business organisations interact with different cultures and societies, and how they can become more effective in diverse cultural and social contexts.
Relationships between boards of directors and management
The behavioural aspects of managing boards and ensuring good governance. This stream of research is linked to the work of the New Zealand Governance Centre.
Business sustainability
The challenges organisations face to become more sustainable and the ways in which business leaders can help them respond.