Jamie Carson

Jamie Carson has never regretted taking a friend’s advice to do a one-year Master of Management Studies, specialising in Strategic Management.

“Strategy and business is something I’ve always been hugely passionate about,” says Jamie, who now works as the business transformation lead at Thorn Group Financial Services in Auckland.

“The financial services industry is on the cusp of a huge technological shift, and it’s my job is to ensure that Thorn Group remains a major player as these trends and shifts happen," he says.

"My role involves everything to do with leading the organisation's digital evolution in terms of product and channel capability, as well as our strategy and new business, so it’s a great fit for me."

Eventually Jamie hopes to start his own successful business one day.

“Studying Strategic Management at Waikato has given me an excellent set of tools to help navigate the uncertainties of new business, and has proven to be a vital part in the success of all the businesses I’ve been involved in. If your organisation doesn’t have a clear strategic direction and goals in place, there’s nothing to work towards or benchmark performance against.”

For his master’s research dissertation, Jamie decided to look at the competitive dynamics of the New Zealand music festival industry. "It gave me the freedom to immerse myself in an area that I’m truly passionate about, so the year just flew by!"

Doing a master’s research dissertation was hugely satisfying, says Jamie.

“I decided to look at the competitive dynamics of the New Zealand music festival industry, because one of my goals in life is to create my own music festival. It gave me the freedom to immerse myself in an area that I’m truly passionate about, so the year just flew by."

“It’s also a good opportunity to network with industries and businesses that you’d love to work for. I was able to meet with music festival founders and CEOs all over New Zealand, pick their brains and get on their radar, while gathering as much knowledge as I could about the industry."

Jamie graduated from the Master of Management Studies with First Class Honours in October 2015.