Starting my PhD - departing harbour, fine weather with sunny spells

TO ALL:
with either an interest in New Zealand; purchasing/procurement; disruptive innovations; or managing a PhD; to all good friends, good colleagues, professionals/researchers.

Where to begin this blog?

My family and I are making a journey. We started from a cosy village in Northern part of The Netherlands, flew around the globe and settled in Auckland New Zealand. We love the climate and the relaxed way of living. What would we want more:  a nice & clean (though small) house, a bay view with only 200 mtrs from the Takapuna beach & cliffs & islands, and the stunning  Hauraki Gulf.  

Kiwis are a friendly folk, and Auckland is full of friendly folk from all over the world.  Not a bad place to live and to study.  We hope to make many trips with our old Honda 4WD (nicknamed Honnepon, which means sweetheart in Dutch) and long strolls along the beach.

Parallel to this physical journey I started my journey on my PhD.

In fact this journey had started much earlier, somewhere in 2009. At that time I was lecturing undergraduates at Stenden University on what we had coined “Green Logistics”. When our students calculated the milage of an average food basket, we realised that big improvements on sustainability would take a long time. A step-by-step approach seemed most feasible (and more convenient).

Later-on at the Institute of Facility Management of Hanze University I became more involved in applied purchasing and supply research supervised by Professor Gert Walhof. My focal area was (and still is) on:  How small firms (SMEs) can improve their purchasing capabilities.

We conducted some interesting case-studies, read some articles and soon realised that this purchasing research area was both relevant to business and new to academics. (See publications of Paik, Ellegaard, Ramsey, Pressey, Morressey).

In 2012 I attended the IFPSM PhD Summer School in Salzburg. (As a matter of fact: now listening to Mozart while writing this blog). This was a mind-breaking experience with a good mixture of experienced professors and ambitious PhD students. I had prepared a powerpoint presentation on “How do small firms (SMEs) purchase innovations”.

However my most important two slides where the famous quote from Alice in Wonderland:  If you do not know where you are going – any road will take you there. And the poem of Robert Frost on Two roads diverged in a wood … And I did not know which one to take….

I came back in Holland exhausted, but then knew I wanted to start a PhD.

I received a good lot of support from many people within the Hanze University. In late November 2012 my wife Aletta and I flew to Australia & New Zealand where I discussed PhD possibilities at a number of great universities.  Nice weather, interesting people, good discussions.

My subject was by then narrowed down to: “How do SMEs purchase patented innovations”.  My research proposal was later reviewed at the WION, the annual Dutch workshop on academic purchasing research. (People were more enthousiastic than I was at the moment, my proposal arriving at its 10th version). The WION is a wonderful environment to discuss research with colleagues.

In May 2013 Professor John Tookey of the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) invited me to submit a (yet amended) research proposal more focused on sustainable innovations in the New Zealand construction industry, which got accepted. My research will [somehow] relate to current SME purchasing research conducted at Hanze University and Windesheim University as sponsored by the Dutch Purchasing Association NEVI.

Meanwhile (still somewhat to my own surprise) the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle came together as my Hanze dean mr. Ron van der Weerd arranged funding by Hanze University, and as John Tookey arranged a scholarship. Together with the family savings this allowed the four of us to walkabout to New Zealand. (Kiwis: sorry for this nice Australian phrase).

We have said good bye to all our good friends, family, colleagues. Departed our save Dutch harbour and landed up North Shore. The academic weather is fine; with some good sailing winds for e.g. editing our South Africa IPSERA paper and reading interesting stuff. Lots and Lots of PhD-things to do in the coming 36 months.  My (current) research question:

“What is the role of procurement on disruptive waste-reducing innovations in

small New Zealand construction firms?”

With this research I hope to give a better understanding of the adoption of radical innovations in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). The context is the currently booming New Zealand construction industry.  After my literature research I intend to conduct a survey amongst SME owners/users of (non)-patented radical waste-reducing innovations.  Being mode II innovations I will also scan other stakeholders and hope to conduct (action-research) case studies. Meanwhile I will draw parallells to NZ and e.g. Dutch practices. I plan to conclude my PhD in the end of 2016.

 

My next 400-word blogs could cover some thoughts & ideas on:

Dec: Rigor and relevance in academic research.

Jan: Purchasing in Small firms / SMEs.
Feb: Purchasing in Holland; versus procurement in New Zealand.
Mch: Procurement in Construction Industry.
Apr: Innovation with(out) procurement.
May: On IPSERA in South Africa.
Jun:  Purchasing / Procurement Education.
etc.

In parallel we run a Dutch language family blog called Staaltjesdownunder.
Hope you enjoy reading my blog. Look forward to your comments!

Best regards
Anne Staal