PhD journey on procuring innovations - moving into 2016

In 2015 I succeeded in getting my research design and my ethical application approved. I combined this with lecturing a procurement paper and sustainability paper here at the Auckland University of Technology and continuing with teaching FMANZ master classes and a paper in Built Asset & Facilities Management. Lecturing again was great fun. I appreciated the student interactions and was lucky to read some really good reports. But then of course, when one does a PhD the learning & reading never seems to stop.

My PhD topic on how construction SMEs (small and medium enterprises) procure their green-tech innovation keeps fascinating me.  As does our Dutch research on how SMEs conduct their procurement(purchasing) activities. This research will enter its 3^rd year, now focusing on developing procurement tools. Meanwhile Melissa de Rijk from Hanze University has almost successfully finished her master research on how Dutch construction firms (main contractors) procure innovations.

The synergy between these two streams of research and my PhD may seem obvious. However this synergy is limited by the variety of SMEs and the exact research questions. There is much we have yet to learn about SME procurement, let alone how SMEs procure innovations, let alone how (SME) construction firms procure green-tech innovations. I see green-tech innovations quite broadly, for example product innovations used in New Zealand Prefab construction, or innovations from companies who are member of the NZ Green Building Council.

Writing conference papers related to my research has been prolific during 2015. In October I presented my research design at the conference Understanding Small Enterprises (USE 2015) which was hosted by my Dutch Hanze University of Applied Sciences. In February 2016 I will present a paper at the conference Australian Centre for Entrepreneurship Research Exchange (ACERE 2016) in Brisbane on how to design procurement management tools for SMEs. The ACERE again promises to be a relevant and an interesting conference.  (Both papers will also be published via the AUT researchgateway.ac.nz in FEB 2016).

For my PhD I am currently conducting interviews with experts & professionals here in Auckland. These interviews so far reveal some interesting procurement practices one would not always expect in relatively small companies. But then these companies are perhaps front-runners in how they manager their suppliers for successful innovations. Such topics will be discussed with more experts and professionals during a round-table discussion at the AUT. This discussion will be done in a specific setting, also called world(research) café. The planning is to organize this in the 4^th week of February 2016.  

But for now: A Merry X-mas and a Happy New Year. Cheers, Anne Staal