Review of Business Qualifications
Revised by Governance Group 19 September 2012
Review plan
September 2012
Objectives and Scope
This review of the Business qualifications will develop “cohesive New Zealand
business qualifications which are strategically relevant to New Zealand’s people and
communities and their aspirations” as determined by representatives of current
owners of Business qualifications (see below).
The review is large and complex, including 243 current qualifications owned by 70
organisations, with a steadily growing number of interested stakeholders on the e-mail
consultation list. The review will be undertaken in cooperation with current owners of
Business qualifications and with other stakeholders, including national peak bodies.
Qualification owners and stakeholders will be kept fully informed of progress and decisions,
and will be regularly invited to contribute opinions, ideas, and feedback.
Background and context
Qualifications in Business (at levels 1-6, excluding university qualifications)
are scheduled for review in 2012 as part of the nation-wide mandatory review of
qualifications. Currently there is a wide range of qualifications in Business with
many apparently similar qualifications at the same level.
The mandatory review is to reduce the duplication and proliferation of qualifications
on a national scale, and to ensure that qualifications are useful, relevant and
valuable to current and future learners, employers, and other stakeholders.
Planning began in 2011 with extensive consultation with current owners of Business
qualifications, including meetings in Dunedin, Wellington, and Auckland. As a result,
the Qualifications Development and Tertiary Moderation (QD&TM) business unit of
NZQA was invited to act as lead facilitator on behalf of current owners, to establish
governance arrangements for the review.
Two consultations on proposed arrangements followed, in September/October and
November/December 2011. As a result, a meeting was held on 6-7 March 2012 that
was representative of current owners and national peak bodies: the meeting
decided to establish a Governance Group to oversee the review, agreed Terms of
Reference, and determined selection criteria and a selection process.
The Governance Group was established in April and is not intended to be
representative: all members have committed themselves to working for the good of
the entire sector and to communicate with and consult all stakeholders freely.
Members of the Governance Group:
Luka Crosbie (Chair)
Clive Jones
Graham Dockrill
John West
Kevin Gaunt
Liz Bowen-Clewley
Merepaea Dunn
Robyn de Bruin-Judge
Rod Bentham
Steve Harris
Terry Swanson.
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Review of Business Qualifications
Revised by Governance Group 19 September 2012
Review plan
September 2012
Dave Hodges has joined the Group, as the review’s ‘Professional Advisor’, part of
the due process for all NZQF reviews.
The stakeholders for the review include:
 owners of current Business qualifications
 current providers of programmes leading to the award of Business qualifications
 other key stakeholders, including:
o Business New Zealand
o NZ Council of Trade Unions
o Māori - iwi, hapū, hāpori
o Pasifika
o professional bodies (eg NZICA, HRINZ)
o Industry Training Federation and Industry Training Organisations
o other qualification reviews
o Small Business Advisory Group, Ministry of Economic Development
o Education New Zealand
o other government agencies, including Ministry of Education, Tertiary Education
Commission, Immigration NZ, NZQA
o schools and universities
o students, learners, graduates
 other organisations and people who declare an interest.
Statement of Intent
The Governance Group will oversee development of a suite(s) of coherent
qualifications that provide effective pathways for employment and education for both
a generalist audience and for specialist audiences. In achieving this, the
Governance Group will:
 set “rules of engagement” for the review
 establish and implement the strategic direction with an underlying project plan
 scope and develop an initial map for qualifications
 communicate and consult effectively with current owners and other stakeholders
 establish and liaise with working groups and critically analyse developments
 determine and establish a decision-making process to enable outcomes to be
achieved
 endorse the submissions (including qualifications) to Quality Assurance Division,
NZQA.
The review will be conducted in accordance with the Guidelines for the review of
qualifications at levels 1-6 on the NZQF.
The Governance Group has identified effective communication and consultation
with owners of current Business qualifications and other key stakeholders as
critical for the success of the review. In communicating with stakeholders the
Governance Group will:
 communicate as often and as broadly as required
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Review of Business Qualifications
Revised by Governance Group 19 September 2012
Review plan
September 2012

use a variety of communication modes, including the review webpage at
http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/qualifications-standards/qualifications/businessqualifications/review-of-business-qualifications/
 identify as precisely as possible what feedback is invited
 allow reasonable timeframes for the response
 expect responses supported by evidence and/or rationale
 expect timely responses from stakeholders.
In response to communications from stakeholders the Governance Group will:
 acknowledge all responses
 fully consider/evaluate all responses
 respond in detail to responses where warranted
 respect the integrity of the response and maintain confidentiality when appropriate
 attempt to “get to the right place rather than to the least contentious”.
Needs Analysis
The review will be based on hard evidence generated through a needs analysis, and
in full cooperation with current owners and other stakeholders. The needs analysis
will identify:
 similarities among current qualifications
 supply and demand factors and how they relate to each other
 current and future needs for Business qualifications through a literature review and
engagement with employers, peak bodies, etc.
This needs analysis will rely on contributions from individual Governance Group members,
from owners of current qualifications, and from other stakeholders. It will be forwardlooking and comprehensive and will take into consideration:
 the needs of generalist and specialist business audiences
 current and future pathways into and through the business sector
 current and future qualification pathways, to support the sector pathways
 international trends and relativities.
The needs analysis will inform the development of a “landscape” proposal that will
identify, for every proposed qualification, at least its title, level, credits, and
relationship(s) with other qualifications. This landscape proposal will be used by
working groups to develop details for each qualification to pre-approval stage.
Assumptions of this plan
It is assumed that:
 qualifications will be developed for generalist and specialist audiences
 qualifications for the generalist audience(s) will impact on specialist
qualifications, and so need to be developed first in order to inform specialist
development
 individual Governance Group members, owners of current qualifications, and
other stakeholders will contribute to the review
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Review of Business Qualifications
Revised by Governance Group 19 September 2012


Review plan
September 2012
consultation times will enable effective feedback, engagement, and acceptance
from stakeholders
working group(s) will be used to develop qualification details, which will include at
least: strategic purpose statement, graduate profile, education and employment
pathways.
Risks that may impact on the review (to pre-approval stage)
The size and complexity of this review give rise to several acknowledged risks:
 if the review timeframe is too challenging for the review to be effective, there may
not be sufficient time for the consultation necessary to promote acceptance by
current owners and other key stakeholders (MEDIUM risk – mitigation: signal to
stakeholders at the outset that timeframes are very tight and ask for timely
responses, and/or review generalist qualifications first, to be followed in early
2013 by the specialist qualifications)
 if stakeholders do not agree on the direction and outcomes of the review, more
time may be required for consultation and communication (MEDIUM risk –
mitigation: focus throughout on early engagement and quality communication
and consultation)
 if stakeholders do not become engaged in the review sufficiently, the review may
not meet timeframe milestones and/or quality of outputs (MEDIUM risk –
mitigation: focus throughout on early engagement and quality communication
and consultation)
 external factors (eg policy changes, legal challenges) may impact on the review
(LOW risk – mitigation: being alert to such influences and responding
appropriately as soon as practicable, and/or focus throughout on quality
communication and consultation.
Resources and how the costs of the review will be met
As lead facilitator, QD&TM has undertaken to resource the Governance Group and
the QD&TM staff involved (refer to the Governance Group’s Terms of Reference).
As qualification developer, QD&TM will contribute support for work groups and
structured consultations for generalist and Māori business qualifications, with an
expectation of stakeholders contribution, including their time.
For specialist qualifications, QD&TM expects at least a significant contribution from
those stakeholders.
Unexpected contingencies may require contributions from stakeholders.
Roles and responsibilities
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Review of Business Qualifications
Revised by Governance Group 19 September 2012
Review plan
September 2012
The review will be undertaken in full cooperation with current owners of Business
qualifications and with other stakeholders. All stakeholders will be kept up to date
through a variety of media at all stages of the review.
Owners and stakeholders will be kept fully informed of the progress and decisions
and will be regularly invited to contribute opinions, ideas and feedback.
The Governance Group is tasked on behalf of current owners and other
stakeholders to “provide leadership and direction for the development of cohesive
New Zealand business qualifications which are strategically relevant to New
Zealand’s people and communities and their aspirations”.
The Governance Group has formally confirmed the Qualifications Development and
Tertiary Moderation (QD&TM) business unit of NZQA as:
 the qualification developer, with the responsibilities as specified in Guidelines for
the review of qualifications at levels 1-6 on the NZQF (page 4), and
 the lead facilitator for the review, with responsibilities as set out in the
Governance Group’s Terms of Reference.
Owners and other stakeholders will be asked to become actively involved in the
review as appropriate, including but not limited to:
 responding to e-mail discussions and request for information
 contributing ideas
 providing feedback in structured consultations
 participating in specific work groups
 communications / consultation.
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Review of Business Qualifications
Review plan
Revised by Governance Group 19 September 2012
September 2012
Timeline and deliverables for pre-approval to develop
19-20 June GG Meeting

interim report from needs analysis

endorses review plan

drafts initial landscape proposal for discussion with specialist peak
bodies
26 June
Initial landscape proposal published for discussion with specialist peak
bodies
30 June
Submit review plan
Interim literature review due
13 July
Initial landscape proposal discussion feedback due
Report (final draft) from the literature review due
18-19 July
25 July
GG meeting

frames briefing paper for working group

analyses needs analysis (including the literature review)

endorses landscape proposal for consultation
Landscape proposal goes out for consultation
Expressions of interest invited for working groups (generalist and
specialist audiences)
10 Aug
Final report due from the needs analysis (including the literature
review)
13 Aug
Feedback landscape due (Stakeholders)
17 Aug
Working group nominations due
20 Aug
Summary of feedback (NZQA)
24 Aug
GG meeting

discusses final report of needs analysis (including the literature
review)

finalises landscape

selects working groups and finalises briefing paper
Notification goes out to working groups late afternoon
29-30 Aug
Core, management, and business administration working groups
(meeting 1) to develop qualification(s) details
30-31 Aug
Other working groups (meeting 1) to develop qualification(s) details
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Review of Business Qualifications
Revised by Governance Group 19 September 2012
Review plan
September 2012
Develop qualification details in co-ordination with other working groups
(working groups in this stream or others)
13-14 Sept
Working groups meetings if required (meeting 2)
14 Sept
Qualification(s) details reported from workgroups to GG
18-19 Sept
GG meeting

endorses qualification(s) details for consultation
26 Sept
GG meeting
1 October
Qualification details published for consultation
NZQF2 (Stakeholder Attestation) and NZQF6 (Changing the status of
current qualifications) forms requested
22 Oct
Qualification details consultation feedback & NZQF2 and 6 forms due
29 Oct
Summary report of consultation feedback to GG (NZQA)
1-2 Nov
GG meeting

endorses qualification details meeting

endorses pre-approval documentation (NZQF1)
7 Nov
Submit pre-approval for the entire review
***
Subject to stakeholder feedback, an additional GG meeting (8
November) may be required before submission on 14 November
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