Lecturer
Room OBS 7017
Email azka.ghafoor@otago.ac.nz
Azka joined the Department of Management at Otago in 2021 after teaching and co-ordinating courses at Auckland University of Technology (AUT).
Azka has previously worked as a researcher on the National Science Challenge (Science for Technological Innovation) and as a diploma co-ordinator at AUT. She has published in the ABDC ranked journals, and is the recipient of the Vice-Chancellor's Scholarship for her PhD. She has also held training co-ordinator and business development roles in international firms, which allows her to embed real-world perspective into her teaching practices. She uses system thinking tools and creates engagement with a variety of media to support student learning.
Azka is also supervising master's and doctoral students on their research projects.
Azka collaborates across universities on various research projects, and has previously published and disseminated her research outputs both nationally and internationally. Her applied research has the potential to inform and impact businesses seeking to plan and create strategies, and gain momentum towards becoming highly creative, innovative and effectively resourced organisations that can thrive in dynamic environments. Her findings provide practical recommendations for organisations seeking to stay ahead of the curve in today's rapidly changing business landscape.
Azka is interested in offering her services to businesses and industries seeking to advance their success and potential through evidence-based research that provides actionable insights and recommendations.
Teaching responsibilities
Azka currently teaches entrepreneurship and strategy, organisational behaviours and human resource development courses – leveraging her diverse experience in consulting and training.
- MANT 251 Managing People
- MANT 251 Managing Organisations
- MANT 303 Entrepreneurship
- MANT 339 Human Resource Development
Research interests
Current/published
- Creativity and innovation, Creative firms
- Organizational stressors, work demands and strain
- Psychological resources
- Stress, anxiety and wellbeing
- Conservation of resource theory
In progress/evolving
- Disruptions (stressors, post Covid-19, AI, climate) and impact on careers, productivity and wellbeing
- Mechanisms of wellbeing in modern workplaces
- Future of work: Indicators of dynamic stressors
Publications
Ghafoor, A., & Haar, J. (2022). Does job stress enhance employee creativity? Exploring the role of psychological capital. Personnel Review, 51(2), 644-661. doi: 10.1108/pr-08-2019-0443
Ghafoor, A., & Haar, J. (2022). Under what conditions can stressors and strain positively influence creativity? A repeat-measure study of psychological resources. International Journal of Stress Management, 29(3), 241-252. doi: 10.1037/str0000258
Haar, J., Martin, W. J., Ruckstuhl, K., Ruwhiu, D., Daellenbach, U., & Ghafoor, A. (2021). A study of Aotearoa New Zealand enterprises: How different are Indigenous enterprises? Journal of Management & Organization, 27, 736-750. doi: 10.1017/jmo.2021.6
Haar, J., Ghafoor, A., O'Kane, C., Daellenbach, U., Ruckstuhl, K., & Davenport, S. (2021). High-performance work systems and manager creativity behaviours: What role do contextual factors play? Evidence-based HRM, 9(4), 391-409. doi: 10.1108/EBHRM-09-2020-0124