Professor Robin Gauld is excited to be leading the Business School into a new era, having taken over as Dean at the end of 2016.
Professor Gauld was previously Head of the University's Department of Preventive and Social Medicine. He is also Co-Director of the University's Centre for Health Systems, which spans the Business School and the Health Sciences Division, and is a Member of the British Academy of Management and of the International Public Management Network.
A social scientist whose degrees are in public policy, administration and management, he studied and taught public management at the University of Hong Kong. He was a Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellow in 2008-09 at Boston and Harvard universities.
He is considered New Zealand's most authoritative analyst of its health care system, having spent over 20 years working in social health at Otago.
Professor Gauld's research interests include health policy and management, health services, health systems and e-Government. Much of his research and teaching draws on business concepts like management, human resources, organisational analysis and design, information science, and leadership.
He co-wrote Dangerous Enthusiasms, a book on public sector IT disasters, which was selected as core text for a Harvard Kennedy School of Government Course in “Knowledge Management”.
He sees the role of the Business School as providing leadership as a force for good. He will be looking at how the Business School can redefine its strategic advantages to meet the needs of the students, the community and the University.
“The University is a vibrant place and there is huge potential to drive business studies and research in new interdisciplinary directions in the future.
“I'm looking forward to leading a discussion on what specific additional skills students need to take into the workplace of the future, and on what they seek from their academics and mentors so the value of the student experience here is maximised.”
Professor Gauld is also looking forward to exploring potential synergies between health and business.
“There is an increasingly inter-disciplinary and outward focus in public health now, and a recognition that the health of a community contributes to the health of an economy – there is a responsibility to societal health and addressing inequities, alleviating the circumstances of the vulnerable as a way of contributing to the economy.
“New organisational systems and people trained in management and leadership specifically for health administration will help to deliver a more holistic health system to meet these changing needs.
“Health management is a good academic fit, so there is a real role for us in this area,” he said.
