Production Management Practice in New Zealand: A Survey

This paper presents a preliminary report on a postal survey of production managers in New Zealand. The respondents were asked questions about the tasks and responsibilities of production managers, and their perception of the practical relevance of production management topics commonly taught in tertiary institutions. The results presented here mainly address this issue of relevance. The motivation of the study comes from the many studies done overseas which have questioned the practical relevance of the production management curriculum. A preliminary conclusion is that although some variations exist, the situation in New Zealand is not very different from other countries.