University of Otago Business School

07/10/2026

📢 Calling all Otago MBA alumni!

🥳 We’re busy gearing up for our Otago MBA 50th Anniversary celebration in Dunedin next month (12–14 November). So, if you fancy connecting with staff, students and friends of the programme from across five decades, make merry haste to our registration page 🔗 https://events.otago.ac.nz/otagomba50/

04/10/2026

😁 When Dr Wiebke Finkler from the Department of Marketing introduced the duo behind Kind of a Big Deal at their guest lecture on campus last week, she joked that the friendship between Ryan Forlong and Bryn Fredheim may also have turned out to be a pretty smart business partnership.

🧮 “I first met Ryan when he took my MART333 Creative Marketing paper in 2020. He was a natural – and of course finished with an A. However, I also happen to know that he got a C+ in Accounting. So, teaming up with his best friend Bryn – who studied Economics and Accounting – was probably one of Ryan’s best business decisions.”

⭐ Wiebke, pictured between Bryn (left) and Ryan (right), isn’t surprised that these two Commerce alumni now have 597K followers on Instagram.

❤️ “I’ve had the privilege of watching Ryan and Bryn’s journey from very early on. Despite everything they’ve achieved, they’ve remained grounded, generous and genuinely good people. There’s a warmth and authenticity about them, on and off camera – you really can’t help but love these guys.”

🙌🏽 “What has always stood out to me is their determination to keep going and not let much deter them from their vision. From the beginning, they’ve worked incredibly closely as a team, built around their friendship, a shared vision and a genuine gift for humour. Making people laugh consistently is incredibly difficult – Ryan and Bryn make it look effortless.”

01/10/2026

🥳 With the Otago MBA 50th Anniversary Celebration drawing near (12 – 14 November 2026) we thought we’d check in with Associate Professor Peter Cathro. He holds the dual distinction of being both an alumnus of the Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme (graduating in 2025) and its new strategic lead.

🦷 👑 Find out why Peter switched out dental crowns for a diamond-encrusted business crown in our Q&A below 👇🏽

With the Otago MBA 50th Anniversary Celebration drawing near (12 – 14 November 2026) we thought we’d check in with Associate Professor Peter Cathro.

01/10/2026

👏🏽 Ngā mihi nui to the Commerce tauira recognised in the Otago Blues and Golds Awards. Co-ordinated by the Otago University Students’ Association in collaboration with the University, the annual awards celebrate students’ sporting, arts and cultural success from the past year.

⭐ Outstanding Member of the University of Otago Community: Hanna Hogg (as Critic Editor she leads New Zealand’s oldest student publication while studying full-time for degrees in Management and Law).

⭐ Society of the Year: Otago Consulting Club.

(Special mention: University of Otago Women in Business.)

⭐ Silver Service awards: Bianca Lim (Women in Business), George Fisher (Otago Consulting Club) and Katrina Hogg (Otago Consulting Club).

👀 Read about all the Blues and Golds recipients here 🔗
https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroom/from-athletes-to-the-arts-celebrating-otagos-students

30/09/2026

🤩 Meet the impressive Josie Cook, a 20Twenties Young Alumni Award winner (2025).

🌠 After graduating from Otago in 2022, Josie joined Nestlé’s NextGen Graduate Programme, was a finalist for Marketer of the Future at the YouTube NZ Marketing Awards in 2025, and is now a high-flying marketing executive in London.

❤️ She has fond memories of studying for her Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing at Otago.

🙌🏽 “My 300-level Marketing papers were particularly transformational and really cemented my love for marketing.”

🎇 She says the exposure to real-world business embedded throughout her courses was instrumental in sparking her interest in the wider world of marketing. She has high praise for the academic staff too.

⭐ “Our lecturers were not only passionate about the courses they taught, but also about helping students navigate life after university.”

Read more about Josie below 👇🏽

In a short space of time, Josie Cook has gone from Otago graduate to high-flying marketing executive in London.

28/09/2026

🫱🏽‍🫲🏽 We like a bit of business-arts intermingling. So does Tess Hazelhurst, a PhD candidate from the Department of Management who has been named 2027 Caroline Plummer Community Dance Fellow in Te Kete Aronui - Division of Humanities, University of Otago.

🤩 Tess has a Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor of Commerce, a Master of Sustainable Business, and has worked as a research assistant and teaching fellow for the Department of Management. She’s currently in the final stages of her PhD.

🙌🏽 Asked what she likes about having one foot in business and one in the arts, she says, “The humanities and social sciences share an anthropological sensibility: dance and performance have long been used to navigate and negotiate pivotal moments in social and cultural change. In the Department of Management, there's a similar emphasis on the social construction of business.

💃🏽 “My community dance fellowship will explore drag, a niche performing art that is subversive, bold, and often deeply political. So, if I were to draw a line between my management research and the fellowship, it would be this: both are about people who challenge norms.”

❤️ Tess says she’s deeply grateful to the Department of Management for supporting her. “It was the opportunities I was given there that made it possible for me to go for a fellowship of this scale. Here's to bringing a little more glitter to the world of business.”

👀 Read more about Tess and the other 2027 Arts Fellows here 👉https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroom/otago-congratulates-2027-arts-fellows

27/09/2026

📢 This is kind of a big deal…

😁 Alumni Ryan Forlong and Bryn Fredheim – the comedy duo behind Kind of a Big Deal – are returning to Otago this Wednesday to give a guest talk at St David’s Lecture Theatre.

🙌🏽 Since finishing their Bachelor of Commerce degrees at Otago (Ryan majored in Marketing and Management and Bryn in Economics and Accounting) the pair have nailed their goal of “making people laugh and being ourselves for a job”.

🤩 Their distinctive short-form comedy and social media content has earned them 591k Instagram followers and more than 12.8 million likes on their official TikTok account.

🎤 Otago staff and students can hear about Ryan and Bryn’s journey from Otago tauira to content creators and entrepreneurs this Wednesday, 30 September, 2-2.50pm, St David’s Lecture Theatre.

24/09/2026

⭐ A crew of four nimble-minded students from Te Kura Pakihi Otago Business School are on a case-cracking high.

🏅 Team ‘Sangria Solutions’ – Caleb Kiss, Anika Kelly, Nicole Ladrera, and Bracken Norris – recently won the online round of the Oceania Online Case Competition against 29 other teams from nine universities across Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines.

🙌🏽 These four tauira then pitted their combined smarts against 13 other teams from Australia and New Zealand in the competition final, held at QRC Queenstown, placing third behind teams from Monash University in Melbourne (first place) and the University of Technology Sydney (runner-up).

🗣️ Anika says, “There was a constant buzz of energy throughout the weekend. We talked to so many cool people, both at the competition and the social events, and there was such a great atmosphere with everyone excited to be in beautiful Queenstown.”

🫱🏽‍🫲🏽 Dr Natasha Podgorodnichenko (Otago Case Club Coordinator) was thrilled with the event – and with all who helped organise/judge/host/support the competition, especially Associate Professor Sergio Biggemann, John Guthrie and Charlie Phillips.

👀 Read more about Team Sangria Solutions’ success below 👇🏽

A crew of four nimble-minded students from Te Kura Pakihi Otago Business School are on a case-cracking high.

23/09/2026

👏🏽 Ngā mihi nui to Dr Maiono Jekope Ramala, Department of Management, who recently received the Tofā Sāili Pacific Early Career Award for Distinction in Research.

🏅 Jekope was one of nine researchers from University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka to be honoured in this year’s Otago Research Awards.

🙌🏽 Jekope’s research centres on Indigenous Fijian knowledge, sustainable development, and climate resilience across Pacific communities.

Read about all the honoured researchers here 🔗
https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroom/otago-researchers-celebrated-for-advancing-knowledge-and-improving-lives

17/09/2026

🐧 If you’re still wondering which manu to give your vote to in Forest & Bird’s 2026 Bird of the Year competition, Doctor of Business Administration student Anna Campbell is here to bend your ear hoiho-wards.

❤️🏅 Anna is using her business degree to help get traction around the plight of the yellow-eyed penguin. She says, “A vote for hoiho is really a vote for all seabirds. It’s a vote for a southern issue that still needs its day at the Beehive. This competition is like the Olympics for birds – a gold medal brings headlines, endorsements, fans, and much needed attention from political leaders. If you’ve ever wondered what you can do to help, vote!”

🪶 Read more about Anna’s research below. Voting for the Bird of the Year closes this Sunday, so there’s still plenty of time for you to pick your feathered favourites.

With voting soon to close in the annual Bird of the Year (BOTY) competition, we thought we’d check in with Commerce doctoral student Anna Campbell and find out why she’ll be waving the flag for the hoiho/yellow-eyed penguin.