Research
Close industry connections with SMEs, not-for-profits, multinational corporations, government agencies and other major organisations, give our academics world-leading expertise, real-world insights, and deep connections with business and society.
Study
Explore our qualifications — including a variety of specialist subjects. Whether you're pursuing an undergraduate or postgraduate degree, or opting for a certificate or diploma, our programmes will supercharge your career in the dynamic world of business.
Executive Education
Learn to lead with confidence and make connections that matter through our broad range of executive education and corporate development programmes — designed to meet the specific needs of business, and industry, and the needs of working managers.
Student experience
Management students can access a range of services to make their learning experience more enjoyable and successful. The Management Student Centre has a team of advisors who can help you choose your programme of study, including a dedicated Māori mentor.
Key events
The events calendar at Waikato Management School is packed with exciting opportunities — from guest speakers and research seminars, to our legendary WMS Case Competition and the NZ Economics Forum. Find out more about upcoming events.
News and media
Stay up-to-date with the latest announcements from Waikato Management School, check recent media articles that feature our staff or students and look back through our archive of WMS in the news.
Business Alumni
As WMS alumni, you continue to be part of our Te Raupapa whānau — and we encourage you to remain connected with us. We love hearing your stories, having you back on campus for special events, and sharing your insights with current students.
Pro Vice-Chancellor's Welcome
At the Waikato Management School (WMS), our purpose is to empower people to grow thriving businesses, a thriving society, and a thriving world.
These are more than words on a web page; they inform all that we do from research to teaching to stakeholder engagement.
We genuinely work to empower people to grow — be they students, staff or stakeholders — and it is critical that we measure success in commercial, social and environmental terms. While this kind of holistic value creation has now become popular for many organisations, at WMS it is the way we have always thought.
Key to delivering this purpose, and what sets us apart from other business schools, is our belief in the importance of character — a person’s curiosity, creativity, capability and ability to collaborate — as the strategic advantage for people seeking to make a positive impact. We seek to grow the character of our students through an emphasis on real world experiences that connect world-class scholarship with the world of practice.
This sense of purpose is rooted in a strong sense of identity. The founders of Waikato Management School in 1972 were committed to challenging the model of business and management education in New Zealand, with an approach that went beyond the traditional subjects, and beyond the classroom and into the workplace.
As a community, we are proud to have a highly international staff and student population, truly being a place of global talent and ideas. We’re also proud to be deeply connected to our home in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty, to Aotearoa New Zealand, and to te ao Māori — our indigenous culture, which places strong emphasis on balancing financial, social and environmental outcomes.
Our lecturers are sought-after researchers and consultants, with links to leading companies and government agencies around the world. They are constantly responding to complex global issues, meaning our students are learning from experts in the field who are at the forefront of new thinking in business and management.
The drive for excellence is embedded in WMS’s DNA and has led to many great achievements over the past 50 years.
- WMS was the first business school in New Zealand to achieve the prestigious Triple Crown Accreditation, which we still hold today. It places us in the top 1% of business schools globally.
- We were also one of the first business schools to adopt sustainability at the centre of our strategy, and many of our scholars research sustainability related topics ranging from strategy to finance to economics.
We are proud of the WMS and the positive impact it makes in the world — and we invite and welcome you to join us.
Matt Bolger
Pro Vice-Chancellor, Waikato Management School
Accreditation and Ranking
We have proudly held Triple Crown Accreditation since 2005 — an international benchmark of excellence that puts us in the top 1% of business schools globally. WMS is also ranked No. 1 in New Zealand and in the top 3% globally for economics research.
Strategy
Explore the strategic direction of the Waikato Management School, and our current plan for 2022-2026. Discover our purpose that guides our initiatives and the pathways that define our strategic vision.
Contact us
If you have any general enquiries, please get in touch — we're here to help you.
