Built off the success of New Zealand’s education reforms, Cognition Consulting is a fast growing export business, winning an international reputation for performance and delivery from Asia to the Middle East.
Cognition Consulting is the export arm of Multi Serve Education Trust, a charitable trust and New Zealand’s largest independent supplier of consulting services to the education community.
The trust was launched in 1989 at the time of the Tomorrow’s Schools reform programme to take over some of the business divested by the Department of Education. Being a charitable trust, the net surplus arising from its activities directly benefits New Zealand schools.
Des Hammond, Chief Executive of Multi Serve Education Trust and Chairman of Cognition Consulting, says the trust started exporting in 1996 after it was approached by several offshore education contacts and it became apparent that New Zealand’s education reform programme was held in very high regard internationally.
Exports have grown hugely in the past three years, says Mr Hammond, driven by the opening up of the Middle East market, “a new and exciting market for New Zealand educators”. Other export markets where Cognition Consulting has experience include Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei, China and Hong Kong.
“We target markets where governments are committed to significant education reforms. The reform changes in these markets often mirror New Zealand’s own education journey since 1989 and which Multi Serve Education Trust was an integral part of, including self management of schools, governance reforms, modernisation of the curriculum, new learning techniques and changes in the art of teaching itself. Sometimes the reforms in international markets are even more dramatic, and go beyond self management to privatisation of the school sector.”
The majority of Cognition Consulting’s work is within individual schools, coaching and mentoring them through the reform process. It also works at a strategic level with government agencies, as in the case of Qatar, where it’s currently assisting with development of a new early childhood education strategy.
“We are very proud of what we’ve contributed to reforms in Qatar. In just over two years we have moved from being a minor player in the education reform movement to being acknowledged openly and in publicity material as the leading service provider.”
Success in Qatar has also led to approaches from other Middle East markets, such as Saudi Arabia and interest from new regions, notably North and South America and parts of South East Asia.
Multi Serve Education Trust’s annual turnover is about $20 million with about 50 per cent generated offshore through Cognition Consulting. Mr Hammond anticipates revenue to reach $40 million by 2010, with 80 per cent generated from its international consultancy work.
“Cognition Consulting is competing with multi nationals who operate as global education consultancy companies. Given their scale of economy it’s crucial we retain key points of difference in our delivery and operations.
“We continue to win business from these competitors through the strength of our local and international brand, based on our reputation, our people and the quality of our work as well as our experience in the New Zealand educational reforms.
“A key success factor in education consultancy is building really strong relationships in the market with key people in agencies that are responsible for the contracting. And you must build the depth of capability within your own organisation in order to deliver on the promise; that’s absolutely critical; otherwise service quality falls down quickly.”
Cognition Consulting’s employees have increased from 15 in 2004 to more then 70. Its consultants are a combination of highly qualified and experienced educators, current and/or former principals, senior teachers and managers from the Ministry of Education and other government agencies. It also contracts suitably qualified expat New Zealanders.
“It’s a fascinating and exciting role for New Zealand educators. It uses all of their professional learning over their education careers in terms of student and business management techniques, curriculum development and pedagogy.”
Contracts typically range from three months to two years, though Cognition Consulting currently has a bid on the table for a five year project in the Middle East. It has a formal quality assurance and evaluation process in place to measure performance. Mr Hammond says the high number of approaches it receives from new clients and the high level of repeat business it wins from existing clients are also measures of how well the consultancy is performing.
Cognition Consulting’s vision is to grow its capacity as a global consultancy firm, while retaining its unique New Zealand character which it sees as a valuable marketing tool internationally.
“We have tapped into a new exciting export market and the rewards of that are the growth of the business and the professional satisfaction that our educators get from contributing to education reform in other markets. There’s a lot of potential for this to become a really important export industry. Out of our growth, our beneficiaries, the New Zealand school sector, will be rewarded.”
Image: Chris Sullivan, Cognition Consulting Consultant, in Doha, Qatar.
Contact: Des HammondChief ExecutiveMulti Serve Education Trust and ChairmanCognition Consulting LimitedPhone: +64 9 638 4780Email: dhammond@cognitionconsulting.co.nzWebsite: www.cognitionconsulting.co.nz
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