Born and bred in the Waikato I have obviously become an avid supporter of most sporting codes with a particular interest in rugby and athletics. One of my more memorable achievements was the opportunity to represent Waikato in rugby at numerous age group levels.

Sheldon is aspiring to work in web development when he graduates next year with a Bachelor of Electronic Commerce degree. "I'd also like to apply my marketing major to help businesses become more customer driven."

"I come from Taiwan and have been in New Zealand for about 7 years. My BEcom major is Electronic marketing and communication. I like music and play guitar. I play bands in Taiwan and New Zealand. The photo of me is taken in a concert that I took part in."

Associate Professor David Taylor, who enjoys a round of golf in his spare time, was advised to stick to his day job. David teaches Introduction to Marketing & International Management, a compulsory paper of the Bachelor of Electronic Commerce degree.

His research interests include the role of marketing in SME's and marketing mistakes.

Not only does David appreciate golf, he has an appreciation of wine also. Having completed a wine appreciation course, David now enjoys a palate which is no more discerning than it was before. "For me it all comes down to personal preference, if you like it, drink it."

Spike@School (our school website and learning management system) has really taken off. We have 70+ schools and have just recently become an approved development partner with the Ministry of Education for Learning Management System development!
I still do some work for NZ Steel and for commercial website clients but really Spike@School is my main business now

Prof Bob McQueen is the qualification convenor for the Bachelor of Electronic Commerce, and teaches one of the core courses (Info Tech in Organisations). Outside of university, he has interests playing rugby, basketball and tennis, and is a keen small block lifestyle farmer.

Spare time is a rare commodity for Dr Stuart Dillon. But when time permits he enjoys fly-fishing and spending time in his boat.

Stuart is a lecturer of The World of Electronic Commerce, a compulsory paper of the Bachelor of Electronic Commerce degree.

His research interests include decision problem structuring, e-government and e-project management.

Aside from nautical interests, Stuart also spends time renovating his house, landscaping his property, and watching sport on TV.

Fred Gan enjoys soccer, fishing, and surfing the net.

He recently created a commercial website for a Hamilton company, and established an internet café in Hamilton.

Fred, who is a student of the Bachelor of Electronic Commerce degree, plans to enter the IT industry when he graduates. He wants to work in Computer Aided Design (CAD).

"Through the degree I've become a Microsoft certified systems engineer, Microsoft certified professional, and a CISCO certified network administrator."

Kang Li is a great fan of soccer, and recently joined the University of Waikato soccer team.

He enjoys listening to Chinese pop music, and has a particular interest in surfing the internet to look at different web designs.

"When I graduate I want to join a big company such as Sony, and work in Mac research."

That goal is two years away for Kang, who started his Bachelor of Electronic Commerce this year.

"The Waikato Management School is a great place to study, and I particularly like the flexibility of the degree. It gives you time to try different subject areas before deciding on the majors you will specialise in."

When Matthew Mead isn't studying, he works in a video shop, plays golf and soccer, and spends time on the X-box. He also enjoys computer programming.

Matthew, who was a student of the Bachelor of Electronic Commerce degree, has a job secured as a Graduate Business Analyst at Cap Gemini (CGNZ) in Wellington when he graduates next year.

"For the first few years I'll mostly be conducting research and training, but will move on to specialise in mobile commerce and the virtual office place."

Learning and laughter are characteristic of Neil Harnisch's lectures. Not only does Neil enjoy humour personally, he brings it into the classroom where he is willing to be the jester to help people remember.

"Humour is important in teaching because it stirs creativity and engagement. It's a sword that can cut tension or make pointed barbs, so you have to know how to use it otherwise you can stab people with it," he cautions.

Neil teaches Introduction to Management, a compulsory paper of the Bachelor of Electronic Commerce degree. His research interests include strategic alliances in telecommunications, educational technology, and humour and play in organisations.

The Bachelor of Electronic Commerce from Waikato University has more than adequately prepared me for every situation and obstacle I have faced as part of my position.

I can feel assured and confident that when I face a client I have the skills and disciplines to not only represent my company, and educator; but more importantly, myself as an individual.

With a Bachelor of Electronic Commerce and a Masters in Management Systems from New Zealand’s leading business school under her belt, Yanan Zhao has landed herself a job in Auckland coordinating university study exchange programmes.

“You need project management experience if you want to work in information systems,” she says. “I’m hoping this job will give me that opportunity, plus I really enjoy working with people from different cultures.”

Originally from Beijing, Yanan transferred to Waikato Management School after studying for a year at a Chinese university in Beijing. The first semester at Waikato was, she says, the hardest, but she stayed with a New Zealand family which helped her get used to life in a new country.

Yanan also took full advantage of the English coaching offered by the University’s Teaching and Learning Development Unit. “I’d go to them with notes I had taken during the lectures,” she says, “and they would help me make sense of what the lecturers were saying.”

Yanan made rapid progress, and was able to pick up part-time work with the Waikato Management School webteam while she completed her masters degree. She then worked as a full-time student advisor for ten months.

So how did she rate her overseas experience?

“I’d definitely recommend the experience,” she says. “Spending time overseas makes you a more understanding person, and doing a BECom I gained useful skills that you can take to almost any job.”

With a Masters degree in supply chain management from New Zealand’s Number 1 business school, it’s been no problem for Lily Wang to find a job.

“After I graduated, a New Zealand dairy technology company, Sensortec, employed me to manage their entire supply chain from raw materials to stock control and despatch,” says Lily, who has a Masters in Management Studies from Waikato Management School. “It was a very challenging job, but I learned a lot in a short time.”

She says that experience enabled her to get a job with dairy giant Fonterra, New Zealand’s largest business organisation, working in the company’s supply chain group.

Lily now helps look after Fonterra’s pallets all over New Zealand, and organises how they’re deployed with the aim of minimising storage and freight costs for the company.

Lily has a degree in mechanical and electrical engineering from Jinan University in China, but after two years working for a telecom company there she decided to go back to university.

“I was quickly promoted in my job, but I felt I needed to gain some management skills. I heard Waikato University was the best in the world for management studies, so I decided to go to New Zealand to study.”

Lily chose to major in supply chain management without even knowing what it was. “I’d heard it was an up-and-coming area of study with lots of potential, so I signed up for it anyway,” she says. “It then took me six months to find out what it was all about!”

She was very impressed with what she found at Waikato Management School. “In the first semester, I really struggled with English and the new subject. In one course I only got 30%, and I almost gave up and went back to China.”

But her lecturers and professors gave her lots of support and encouragement. “They made me so much more confident. In China we are told to be quiet in class, but in New Zealand the style of teaching encourages people to share new ideas and communicate. I started to love studying, I found it fun, and from that time on I got straight As.”

Lily says studying at Waikato Management School was great preparation for a career. “I improved my English and communication skills, and it speeded up my thinking.” The proof, she says, is her success in getting a job with a leading New Zealand company.

Weiwei Li used to work in information systems; now she’s at New Zealand’s leading business school researching better ways for businesses to communicate along the supply chain.

Li first came to Waikato Management School as an undergraduate. “I wanted to study overseas and I’d had some training in computing and communications, so it was a natural step for me to choose the BECom at Waikato.”

Studying at Waikato Management School -- the only university in New Zealand to offer the BECom degree -- was a big change for Li. “The assignments were less structured, you had to think more and put more of your own thoughts in your work,” she says.

Li also had the opportunity to work part-time as a lab assistant and a tutor. She then took a full-time job as a technical administrator at the School, while continuing her studies part-time.

Li graduated with a first-class honours degree, majoring in information systems and management, and has now embarked on doctoral studies. Her research topic looks at how firms can better integrate their information systems as the basis of integrating their supply chains.

“One way to reduce supply chain costs is to improve communication of information,” explains Li. “I plan to look at the impact of information systems on supply chain integration.”

Li is currently spending a year in Germany collecting data from manufacturing companies there.

Chen Jihong has everything she needs for a successful career: a Bachelors degree in computer science from Qingdao Haiyang University, a Masters degree in management systems from New Zealand’s top-ranking business school, international work experience and good English.

She’s certainly a good prospect for any hi-tech international company operating in China, and US computer giant Hewlett Packard was quick to offer her a job in Dalian as a technical support engineer when she arrived back in China in 2006 with a Masters degree from Waikato Management School in New Zealand.

But two years on, Chen Jihong is back at university -- this time as a PhD student with a full scholarship. And she chose to come back to Waikato Management School. “I never dreamed I’d go on to do a PhD,” she says. “The professors at Waikato Management School gave me lots of support and encouragement, so I decided to try my best.”

Chen’s PhD research topic is linked to her job at HP. “At HP, we dealt with US customers over the phone, solving technical problems for computer users,” she explains. “I really enjoyed the work, but many of my colleagues who didn’t have international experience got quite frustrated dealing with US customers.”

Chen found the company spent a lot of time and money on training their staff, but still there were problems.

Chen is now researching knowledge transfer and knowledge building in a cross-cultural business environment, and she says she hopes to find a more effective process for training staff.

“I think companies need to pay attention to work-based training, covering cultural, technical and business process issues, and teach staff how to apply this learning in the workplace.”

It’s a skill Chen learned as a student at Waikato Management School. “Studying in New Zealand is totally different to studying in China. I’m usually quiet in class, but in New Zealand, I had to get used to asking questions in class, and I had to apply what I learnt in real-world work situations. It was hard, but now I feel very comfortable dealing with new environments.”

Chen says she hopes to do further research when she finishes her doctorate.