title: Predicting total quality management adoption in New Zealand: The moderating effect of organisational size

authors: Haar, Jarrod M.

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: Purpose – The paper seeks to understand the adoption rates of total quality management (TQM) by New Zealand firms, and the role that organisational size plays in determining adoption rates.

Design/methodology/approach – A survey of 997 random New Zealand firms of all sizes yielded 228 responses. Factors tested to predict TQM adoption were organisational size, workplace autonomy, performance standards, use of teams and group problem solving. In addition, organisational size was tested as a potential moderating variable on the other factors.

Findings – Overall, 33 per cent of firms in New Zealand used TQM, with an addition 5 per cent no longer using TQM, indicating strong adoption rates by international standards. All the direct effects and moderating effects were supported. Consequently, firms with higher level of workplace autonomy, use of performance standards, use of teams, and use of group problem solving were more likely to have adopted TQM, and this was more likely for larger firms than smaller firms. As a result, strong support was found for the interacting effect of organisational size.

Research limitations/implications – The implications are that TQM adoption rates are much higher in New Zealand than suggested in the international literature. A highlight of the present study is the focus on firms of all sizes, rather than being limited to only larger sized firms.

Originality/value – This paper provides much needed information on the state of TQM in New Zealand and provides a unique approach by testing the moderating effects of organisational size on predictor factors on New Zealand firms.

text: Predicting total quality management adoption in New Zealand: The moderating effect of organisational size Purpose – The paper seeks to understand the adoption rates of total quality management (TQM) by New Zealand firms, and the role that organisational size plays in determining adoption rates.

Design/methodology/approach – A survey of 997 random New Zealand firms of all sizes yielded 228 responses. Factors tested to predict TQM adoption were organisational size, workplace autonomy, performance standards, use of teams and group problem solving. In addition, organisational size was tested as a potential moderating variable on the other factors.

Findings – Overall, 33 per cent of firms in New Zealand used TQM, with an addition 5 per cent no longer using TQM, indicating strong adoption rates by international standards. All the direct effects and moderating effects were supported. Consequently, firms with higher level of workplace autonomy, use of performance standards, use of teams, and use of group problem solving were more likely to have adopted TQM, and this was more likely for larger firms than smaller firms. As a result, strong support was found for the interacting effect of organisational size.

Research limitations/implications – The implications are that TQM adoption rates are much higher in New Zealand than suggested in the international literature. A highlight of the present study is the focus on firms of all sizes, rather than being limited to only larger sized firms.

Originality/value – This paper provides much needed information on the state of TQM in New Zealand and provides a unique approach by testing the moderating effects of organisational size on predictor factors on New Zealand firms.

year: 2008

title: Picturebooks in teacher education: Eight teacher educators share their practice

authors: Daly, Nicola

abstract: There is a great deal of contemporary research demonstrating the effective use of picturebooks in the classroom; however, there are few studies recording perceptions and use of picturebooks in Initial Teacher Education [ITE]. This study explores the reported use of picturebooks within a New Zealand university-based ITE degree programme. The data discussed in this article was collected using semi structured interviews with eight teacher educators from different learning areas of the New Zealand Curriculum. In order to unpack the power of using picturebooks as part of teacher preparation a discussion of why and how picturebooks are used by teacher educators is presented. These themes include modeling pedagogy for future teachers; dealing with negative attitudes to certain curriculum areas; plugging gaps in pre-service teacher knowledge among others.

text: Picturebooks in teacher education: Eight teacher educators share their practice There is a great deal of contemporary research demonstrating the effective use of picturebooks in the classroom; however, there are few studies recording perceptions and use of picturebooks in Initial Teacher Education [ITE]. This study explores the reported use of picturebooks within a New Zealand university-based ITE degree programme. The data discussed in this article was collected using semi structured interviews with eight teacher educators from different learning areas of the New Zealand Curriculum. In order to unpack the power of using picturebooks as part of teacher preparation a discussion of why and how picturebooks are used by teacher educators is presented. These themes include modeling pedagogy for future teachers; dealing with negative attitudes to certain curriculum areas; plugging gaps in pre-service teacher knowledge among others.

year: 2015

title: A newly-available resource for historians of early New Zealand: The Marist Missionary Letters (1838-54)

authors: Jennings, William

abstract: The 7000 pages of primary documents of the Lettres reçues d’Océanie constitute a vast new source for the study of the Pacific during the period 1838-54. Published in 2009 after sixteen years of transcription, the Lettres are the collected correspondence of the first French Marist missionaries to New Zealand and other Pacific islands. In the words of Pacific historian Hugh Laracy, they are ‘the single most important foundational contribution to Pacific history in its fullest extent since J. C. Beaglehole’s magisterial editions of James Cook’s Journals. About 2000 of those pages are transcripts of letters written in New Zealand that open up a fresh perspective of life before the wars of the 1860’s. This paper will locate the early French Marist Māori mission within the context of New Zealand public history before exploring how the Lettres reçues d’Océanie can complement existing views of early colonial New Zealand. To better contextualise the correspondence, it would be useful to begin with a brief background of the Marists’ presence in New Zealand.

text: A newly-available resource for historians of early New Zealand: The Marist Missionary Letters (1838-54) The 7000 pages of primary documents of the Lettres reçues d’Océanie constitute a vast new source for the study of the Pacific during the period 1838-54. Published in 2009 after sixteen years of transcription, the Lettres are the collected correspondence of the first French Marist missionaries to New Zealand and other Pacific islands. In the words of Pacific historian Hugh Laracy, they are ‘the single most important foundational contribution to Pacific history in its fullest extent since J. C. Beaglehole’s magisterial editions of James Cook’s Journals. About 2000 of those pages are transcripts of letters written in New Zealand that open up a fresh perspective of life before the wars of the 1860’s. This paper will locate the early French Marist Māori mission within the context of New Zealand public history before exploring how the Lettres reçues d’Océanie can complement existing views of early colonial New Zealand. To better contextualise the correspondence, it would be useful to begin with a brief background of the Marists’ presence in New Zealand.

year: 2012