Problem: The professional practice of engineering always involves engineering management, but it is difficult to know what specifically to include in the undergraduate curriculum. Approach: The population of New Zealand practising engineers was surveyed to determine the importance they placed on specific professional practice and engineering…

This study explores cultural factors affecting international team dynamics and the implications for industry practice and higher education. Despite decades of studying and experience with cultural diversity, international work groups continue to be challenged by ethnocentrism and prejudices. Central to the context is that cultural differences in…

This research establishes the role of communication education in employability by determining how employers of graduates view communication, identifying communication skills that employers view as relevant, and establishing whether these skills are included in communication courses. To achieve these aims, local businesses were surveyed, and the…

In this study, nonprofit organizations (NPOs) in New Zealand were surveyed to explore influences on adoption and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). We sought to extend existing research by considering "institutional" influences alongside organizational and environmental features and by examining how institutional…

School leadership in New Zealand has gained more attention in recent years. The New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) began collecting data on all principal advertisements in the "Education Gazette" in late 2007. This brief report analyses principal vacancies advertised in the "Education Gazette" in 2009 and…

The training requirements of foreign-born workers may be different from those of native-born workers in similar jobs. Over recent decades Australian immigration policy has focused predominantly on accepting high-skilled migrants. Although this focus has resulted in the successful integration of foreign-born workers into the Australian labour…

This paper presents the findings from research using the critical incident technique to identify the use of key competencies for communication management practitioners. Qualitative data was generated from 202 critical incidents reported by 710 respondents. We also present a brief summary of the quantitative data, which identified two superordinate…

International research findings and anecdotal evidence alike suggest that new accountancy graduates often begin their careers with inadequate oral communication skills. However, there is a lack of well-grounded empirical data concerning precisely what accountancy employers mean by "oral communication" and what specific skills they value…

This report comes from a three-year program of research, "Securing Their Future: Older Workers and the Role of VET." Previous work from the program looked at how well workers were matched to their jobs, based on their literacy and numeracy skills and the use of these skills in the workplace. In a continuation of that work, the research…

Modern organisations have become more complex, less mechanistic and increasingly sensitive to rapid changes in the external environment than in previous eras. Today, executives lead employees through a maze of complexity and changing contexts. However, another group of dedicated professionals, the human resource managers and practitioners, also…

This paper aims to provide a picture of the occupations in the community services and health industry, and how the workforce obtains the required skills. The authors argue that planning for the industry should concentrate on occupations specific to the industry and those which require high skill levels. Findings suggest that the qualification…

In order to develop strategies for training future journalists, the New Zealand Council for Educational Research sponsored a survey of all journalists in all branches of the profession in New Zealand in 1987. The response rate was over 46%; 1,249 New Zealand journalists returned the survey. Major findings revealed that: (1) the proportion of…

Rapid technological change, increasing globalization and a changing world of employment with multiple roles during one's professional life are necessitating a change from knowledge to learning societies. Full participation requires lifelong learning skills, meaning the ability to solve problems, work both independently and in a team, communicate…

Over the last 15 years, surveys in a range of English-speaking countries, from North America and the United Kingdom, to New Zealand and Australia, have consistently shown that employers rank oral and written communication skills as highly as or more highly than any technical or quantitative skills. However, in New Zealand there has been very…