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Research Partners
Consulting is about getting the most suitably qualified people together to provide a business solution. Finding the 'right' people and securing their services is not always that easy. For this reason, OPRA has taken the risk out of consulting activity by not only building a strong internal team, but by creating alliances with some of the most respected practitioners in New Zealand.
Only organisations and individuals who share OPRA's commitment to research-based, practical solutions are invited to become an associate of OPRA. Through our synergy with associates, OPRA has the capacity to tackle any project - regardless of size or location. Consequently, clients can be confident of sourcing the most robust consulting support to help facilitate organisational excellence. OPRA's associate partners are detailed below:
Davidson Consulting Limited
Davidson Consulting Limited was founded in 1997 by director Jane Davidson, author of Evaluation Methodology Basics: The nuts and bolts of sound evaluation (Sage Publications, 2004).
Davidson recently returned from the United States, where she served as Associate Director of The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University. There, she launched and directed the world's first fully interdisciplinary Ph.D. programme in Evaluation.
In a diverse career that began in Aotearoa/New Zealand, Davidson has worked in a wide range of evaluation, consulting, training, and quality assurance-related roles in education, government, and business. Her main areas of specialisation are in programme evaluation, performance appraisal, needs assessment, organisational culture, organisational learning, and the evaluation of organisational change.
Davidson received her Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University (CGU) in organisational psychology, with substantial emphasis on evaluation. As part of the rigorous doctoral programme at CGU, she studied with some of the leading theorists and practitioners in evaluation and management, including Drs Michael Scriven (her dissertation chair), Peter Drucker, and Vijay Sathe.
Dr Tom Mulholland
Dr Tom Mulholland is a futurist, medical doctor, international speaker and author. He has a first class honours degree in Molecular biology, a medical degree with a Post Graduate diploma in Sports medicine and Post Graduate training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. He is the founder of the Healthy Thinking® Institute and initiated extensive research into attitudes, behaviours and emotions in the workplace.
He is the author of 2 international best selling books which have been translated into 12 languages, has hosted his own daily television show, Dr Tom, The Attitude Doctor and traveled globally, training leadership teams. His list of clients includes Microsoft, Hilton, Hewlett Packard, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Rabobank and hundreds more.
His workshops and keynote speeches are internationally acclaimed having been invited to speak at the First global summit of Professional Speakers in Singapore, and conducting speaking tours of India and Europe.
Dr Mulholland believes that it is not work that is stressful, but our perception of it that is. Giving people fringe benefits has no long lasting effect on personal satisfaction and performance. He firmly believes that the giving people the tools to change their thinking, emotions and actions, creates high performing teams and organizations. As a self described Emotional Architect, Dr Mulholland creates Healthy Thinking® Hotels, Schools, Families and Companies.
Dr Mulholland and Dr Englert share the same common vision.
"The ability to measure is the foundation of science. We aim to measure and prove the effectiveness of our programs through key performance indicators in business and health. We will show a strong return on investment in training and development, across a wide range of bottom lines"
Dr Duncan Jackson, Massey University
Duncan holds a degree in psychology from the University of Auckland, and a Ph.D. in industrial/organizational psychology from Massey University.
Currently, Duncan is a faculty member in the School of Business at Massey University (Albany), where he teaches management, assessment in human resource management, and data analysis. His primary areas of research include assessment centers, talent flow in New Zealand, and the assessment of cultural intelligence. His research has been accepted for publication in leading academic journals, including the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Human Performance, and Public Personnel Management.
Drasgow Consulting Group
Drasgow Consulting Group (DCG) specialises in helping organisations to carry out research projects related to personnel selection, assessment, and development. DCG has nearly 30 years of experience in psychometrics, statistics, and research methodology, as well as expertise in developing and validating conventional and computer-based assessments of cognitive ability, personality, job performance, leadership, interpersonal communication, work attitudes, and discrimination.
DCG staff and partners have been involved in numerous undertakings aimed at improving various aspects of human resource practices in commercial, industrial, and governmental settings. Their client list includes large corporations, educational institutions, the military, and government organisations.
By virtue of DCG's particular expertise in psychometrics and statistics, they often collaborate with other consulting firms to produce better products and research outputs.
The Lab
The Lab is a group of organisational psychologists, computer scientists, and statisticians from New Zealand. The goal of The Lab is to achieve remarkable insight and business efficiencies from robust analyses that challenge the scope of applied psychology in New Zealand.
The Lab has applied researchers who see the distinction between methods used in academic psychology and applied psychology as an artificial one. Today, the best applied psychologists in the business world publish their work in peer-reviewed journals, just as psychologists in universities do.
The Lab works across industries in organisational development, human resources, marketing, commerce, and social research. They act as a conduit between the latest research findings and their application in the world of work. The unifying theme of The Lab is that they draw on the research literature to justify their approach, and review their approach in light of the empirical evidence.
