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    Antecedents and outcomes of personnel perceptions of the effectiveness of career management practices in the New Zealand Defence Force : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2007) White, Stephanie Nicole
    This research examined antecedents and outcomes of perceptions of the effectiveness of career management practices (PECMP) using a military sample. Past research has shown mixed results regarding the relationship between experiencing career management practices and organisational commitment and turnover intentions; however positive relationships have been found when perceptions of career management are measured. This present study hypothesised that PECMP would be positively related to commitment (affective and continuance) and job satisfaction and negatively related to turnover intentions. Based on the literature a number of variables were hypothesised as antecedents of PECMP. A sample of 436 Regular Force New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel responded to a NZDF attitude survey, which measured commitment, job satisfaction, turnover intentions, PECMP and 13 proposed antecedents of PECMP. Regression analysis showed that PECMP was positively related to affective commitment and job satisfaction but not to continuance commitment. Job satisfaction and affective and continuance commitment were negatively related to turnover intentions, with affective commitment the strongest contributor. PECMP was higher when career management was perceived as fair, sufficient feedback was given, personnel felt satisfied with their past career development, expectations were met, personnel felt they had input into their career development and personnel perceived the NZDF valued their career development. The study also found that one-to-two times per year was perceived as sufficient contact with a career manager and that the frequency of contact influenced attitudes towards the career manager. Personnel who defined their career as the military, opposed to their trade, were more affectively committed to the NZDF but not less likely to intend to leave. Personnel viewed career success differently (laterally and hierarchically), but this did not influence PECMP or career development satisfaction. This study provides empirical support for the benefits of effective career management in the reduction of voluntary turnover in the military via its influence on affective commitment and in turn, intentions to leave. The study also identifies features of best practice career management that should be used when designing and, most importantly, implementing career management.
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    Using Web 2.0 technology to support humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations : applying the lessons learnt from the United States Military response to the 2010 Haiti Earthquake to improve the utilisation of the New Zealand Defence Force's communications and information systems during humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Arts in Defence and Strategic Studies at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2012) Jones, Liam Stewart
    Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HA/DR) Operations are complex multidimensional environments requiring the deployment of a military force. These operations will have multiple agencies responding including military forces, emergency responders, United Nations agencies, None Government Organisations (NGOs) and Private Volunteer Organisations all of which specialising in the provision of the necessities of life to survive a disaster including food, shelter, water, sanitation, medical and logistics support. The coordination of the relief effort and ensuring resources are applied where they can achieve maximum impact is a significant challenge. Information and communications technology, and in particular the Internet, has matured to a level now where this technology can be used to aid with the coordination challenges facing the multiple responders in a HA/DR operation. This paper examines the command and control arrangements that the New Zealand Defence Force has in place to support deployment on HA/DR operations and looks at modern commercial information technology trends, labelled broadly as Web 2.0, and proposes ways that these trends in information and communications technology might be utilised to increase the effectiveness of a New Zealand Defence Force Deployment. It examines the use of Web 2.0 type technology that was used by the United States Military during their deployment to Haiti and compares this with the use of information and communications technology by the New Zealand Defence Force during a response to a major earthquake in Christchurch and on an HA/DR exercise in the South Pacific. It seeks to highlight ways that the New Zealand Defence Force might use information and communications technology to enhance responses to HA/DR incidents in the future.
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    Wagons of war : a history of 10 Transport Company 1951-2011 : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Defence and Strategic Studies at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2012) Morris, Grant John
    This thesis examines the origins, formation, operations, activities and future of 10 Transport Company. It recounts that over six decades of service, the company has continued to meet the demands placed on it to provide distribution and transport support to the New Zealand Defence Force despite a number of challenges. These range from personnel shortages, to equipment serviceability and obsolescence, ever-changing command structures and threats to its unique identity. Changes in the regional and global security environment have also historically played their part, with lessons learned and doctrine from other nations influencing and shaping activities, and experiences gained on exercises and operations by the company’s own members providing much needed training realism and validity. Now in its sixtieth year, 10 Transport Company is one of only two remaining specialist military transport providers available to the New Zealand Army, and the only one located in the North Island. Its current structure and required outputs have been driven by the changes undergone within the NZ Army over a number of years; most noticeably effects are being felt through the advent of Army Transformation, with its focus on modernisation and motorisation. The company has continued to evolve from being part of a Divisional Supply Column in a conventional war setting, to supporting infantry Brigade-sized operations in a South East Asian environmental construct, to providing task-organised elements to sustain disbursed motorised combat teams fighting in complex terrain. Acknowledging 10 Transport Company as an evolutionary entity, and within a contemporary context, this thesis then examines the relevance of the company to the New Zealand Defence Force’s anticipated future international and domestic commitments, speculating as to whether 10 Transport Company will still exist in another sixty years.
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    Development of foreign language capability as a valued human resource asset within the military : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for Master of Business Studies in Human Resource Management at Massey University, Palmerston North
    (Massey University, 2012) Smith, Fiona
    English has held the status as a global language for many years, and has been the language in which the corporate and military sectors conduct their international operations. However, due to globalisation, technological advances and challenging economic times, the environments in which businesses and defence forces operate have evolved considerably. Defence forces are increasingly involved in nontraditional operations, in non-traditional geographical locations, working alongside non-traditional international security partners. In light of the changing role and expectations of the military, Conway (2005) suggests that the military sector has been guilty for too long of assuming that English, the traditional language of international diplomacy, politics, economics and military operations, will remain the prevalent language. While the corporate sector has recognised foreign language capability as a human resource asset, its importance and operational relevance is largely unacknowledged within the military sector. The aim of this study was to examine how modern English speaking defence forces, such as the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF), are addressing the issue of „linguistic complacency‟ (Crystal, 2003), and what plans are in place to develop human resources as foreign language capable assets. For the NZDF, the concept is new. Consequently, a preliminary investigation into one of the single Services, the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN), was undertaken. It identified Mandarin Chinese, French, Hindi and Japanese as the foreign languages of greatest applicability to the Service. Census survey results of RNZN uniformed personnel indicated that over half of respondents had some second-language ability (of varying proficiency level) across more than forty languages. Despite the reported foreign language capacity, the results, when compared with the Service‟s desired skills sets, suggested that there are a number of gaps between the ideal and current capability requirements. A United States Department of Defense model for developing foreign-language capability was discussed as a blueprint for how the RNZN and NZDF could look to bridge these gaps through the strengthening of educational ties with defence partners.