Albany campus attracts world-class professor

Massey University’s College of Business will significantly strengthen its communication, marketing and research offerings at the Albany campus next year with the appointment of three new professors and the introduction of a new communication major.

Professor Harald van Heerde, who takes up his new role of Research Professor of Marketing in January 2013, is considered one the world’s leading marketing scientists. Originally from the Netherlands, he earned his PhD in Economics at the University of Groningen and moved to New Zealand in 2006 to work at Waikato University.

He says his move to Massey will see him focusing on research – his own, as well as helping to guide the research of other staff and students. He will also teach research methods papers.

“Research is my passion and it was very important to me that it be a large part of my role. I want to enhance the research profile of the college by helping others to lift their game and get published in high-ranking international journals.”

Professor van Heerde is the associate editor of Marketing Science and International Journal of Research in Marketing, and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Marketing and the Journal of Marketing Research. He is also a recipient of the William O’Dell and Paul Green Awards.

His own research is focused on “measuring the effects of marketing”, and he currently has a Marsden Fund grant for a project entitled ‘Can New Zealand firms spend their way out of a recession?’

“I use large data sets and develop new models to measure the impact of things like advertising on sales. So many in the marketing industry base their decisions on gut feelings, but I want to be able to measure return on investment in a quantitative way,” he says.

Professor van Heerde says he is excited by the opportunities offered at Massey, and relocating to Auckland will have the added bonus of bringing him closer to New Zealand’s main business community.

“I work very closely with the companies whose data sets I use for my research, so it will be much easier to establish closer ties with industry and really keep in touch with practitioners in Auckland. I think it will also be very valuable for my students, who I want to give the latest insights in marketing research, both from an applied and academic perspective.”

Professor van Heerde is moving to Massey University with his wife Associate Professor Valentyna Melnyk, a highly regarded marketing and consumer behaviour academic. He says the move is very much a joint decision, with Massey offering exciting opportunities for both.

In the new year the couple will also be joined at the Albany campus by Professor Shiv Ganesh, who is the current editor-in-chief of the Journal of International and Intercultural Communication and a recent winner of the prestigious Frederic Jablin Award for his contribution to the field of organisational communication.

His research interests include globalisation, civic engagement, digital technologies and social movements, and he was recently awarded Marsden funding for a research project into the changing face of collective action in New Zealand.

A third new professor will join the Albany campus at the start of 2013 to oversee the College of Business’ research programme. Professor Kambiz Maani comes from the University of Queensland, where he was Professor in Systems, Thinking and Practice, and has a strong agri-research background.

Albany-based communication students will also benefit from the arrival of Dr Chris Galloway, a new senior lecturer in public relations. As a result, the Bachelor of Communication will now offer a public relations major at Albany, alongside the communication management and marketing communication majors currently offered.

Dr Galloway has extensive industry experience gained at organisations including Telecom and Meat New Zealand, and has been the PR discipline leader at Australia’s Swinburne University for the past five years.

Professor Ted Zorn, head of Massey’s College of Business, says the new appointments and course offerings are an exciting development for business students at the Albany campus.

“We are extremely pleased to have attracted three new professors and a new associate professor. All are outstanding researchers who publish in the very best journals in their fields and whose work has immense practical value for the business community,” he says.