After the IPSERA Conference - back in New Zillan

After the IPSERA conference my family and I enjoyed a nice holiday at the KariKari peninsula.  Our Honnipon, our old 4WD Honda had some long rides over white and very empty beaches which were covered with sea shells and other things two boys will enjoy. We probably enlarged or sea shell collection by at least 2 kilos. (What to do with them…). The boys also caught two snappers which we fried battered. For me it went down well with a local beer; the boys had their Australian Bunderberg. 

 We visited the Northern-most point of New Zealand, Cape Reinga. Although it rained and was foggy we did not feel the mysterious Maori souls going up to heaven. But then the boys loved sand surfing from the high dune tops. A good family holiday.

Getting back into the normal rhythm of AUT campus life proved somewhat more difficult. The IPSERA was a past highlight and then one has to focus on new goals. In part these were hidden in the literature: (1) on quality: how to ensure academic rigour and managerial relevance, and (2) on the content: how to further delineate the topic and improve the conceptual model. This took re-reading and additional lit review and (I hope) will strengthen my research proposal.

In parallel with much re-reading our joint Dutch research on purchasing within SMEs went into the empirical phase with cross-case studies conducted by a number of graduating bachelor students. At the same time we designed a Dephi study. These activities are all closely related to my own PhD research and help me on research content and on research methodology.

What also greatly helps is the fact that our IPSERA competitive paper has been shortlisted as an article for the Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management.
Asterix & Obelix would have said Hurray! 
Being shortlisted gives us some proof on the relevance and quality of our paper. In parallel Gert Walhof and I have been working on a paper discussing four purchasing case studies in Dutch SMEs in 2013. This all means writing, reflecting and re-writing.

Quite another strand of work has been preparing four sets of Master Classes for the Facilities Management association in New Zealand, the FMANZ. This builts on work of Hanze FM-graduate Herma Schutte. Developing these classes was done with some highly-motivated FMANZ & AUT people and some colleagues from my Hanze university. The Master Classes will run from September – December 2014. Moreover, we will try to get some Hanze graduates to NZ for an FM traineeships within NZ companies.

My research proposal now focusses on entrepreneurial construction firms and how they I purchase (procure / acquire) non-incremental 'green' innovations. I plan to defend my proposal in September, after having obtained some valuable feedback from people in Holland and in New Zealand. My empirical phase will then start with interviewing a number of experts and innovative entrepreneurs in the NZ construction industry. This promises to be a dynamic and interactive phase of my research.