Our People
NWC Opinion Research has a team of highly experienced and innovative research practitioners. Each member of our senior consulting team has over 10 years experience in the market research industry. Many have worked across multiple countries in either Australia, Asia or Europe. Many also have gained invaluable experience working in the private and government sectors.
The key members of our senior consulting team includes:
- Greg Wayman – Regional Managing Director – Asia Pacific
- Paul Chong – Global Director – Technology and Telecommunications
- Marzena Zabielska – Director – Major Projects
- Phil Hughes – Managing Director – Government and Social Research
- Shannon Coughlin – Director – Government and Social Research
- Simon Ferris – Director – Customer Strategies Research
- Neil Stubbings – Director – Strategic and Qualitative Research
- Wendy McInnes – Director – Employee Research
- Phil Pringle – Employee Research Account Manager
- Roland Henkul – Regional Technical & Operations Manager
- Noel Gibney – Research Director
- Michelle Thomas – Research Director
GREG WAYMAN – Regional Managing Director – Asia Pacific
Greg Wayman has over 25 years of experience in strategic marketing, line management, corporate consultancy and research. His experience spans all fields of strategic research from Major Feasibility and Positioning studies through to Government Policy, Business to Business and Continuous Improvement and Customer Focus research.
Prior to his current role, Greg was a founding partner and major shareholder of NWC Research, which was acquired by ORC in 2007.
Greg's consulting experience comprises total company restructuring, advising on corporate acquisitions and diversification programs, profit enhancement programs and numerous market and industry studies. He has become recognised as a strategist who can synthesise long-term planning and short-term realities.
Over his career, Greg's experience has spanned the full spectrum of markets, from industrial and consumer through to the service sector. This experience has been gained predominantly in Australia but specific projects have taken him to the USA and various countries in the Asia Pacific region.
Greg is immediate past President of the Australian Market and Social Research Society (AMSRS) and an accredited Qualified Practising Market Researcher (QPMR). Greg is now a Fellow of AMSRS.
PAUL CHONG – Global Director – Technology and Telecommunications
Paul has over 20 years of experience in market research and is one of Australias leading innovators in the field of strategic customer based research.
Prior to his current role, Paul was a major shareholder of NWC Research, which was acquired by ORC in 2007.
He has worked extensively across Asia Pacific and Australia, and is an expert in conducting customer experience research across multiple countries, cultures and languages
He specialises in utilising customer experience research to create strategic business metrics, building competitive intelligence research programs, developing customer loyalty models and tailoring research results to reach different business audiences. He has successfully applied this expertise across technology-related and services industries, and in business to business and consumer markets.
Prior to joining NWC opinion Research, Paul was Research Manager at AGB McNair.He has also worked for Telstra as a Market Research Manager for PABXs. He has four years experience with the Australian Bureau of Statistics as Manager of Statistical Services and Survey Development, providing survey and statistical advice to Government agencies.
Paul is a full member of the Australian Market and Social Research Society (AMSRS), an accredited Qualified Practising Market Researcher (QPMR) and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Monash University, with majors in Statistics and Psychology.
MARZENA ZABIELSKA – Director – Major Projects
Marzena has over 15 years research experience in the Market Research Industry in Australia and Europe.
A highly qualified and experienced statistician, her expertise lies in large-scale multi-country monitoring surveys and in complex multivariate analysis. Working primarily in customer-based research, she specialises in transforming large amounts of data into concise and actionable findings for clients.
She has also been responsible for the development of NWC's online reporting tool 'UniDriver' as well as developing intuitive 'point and click' reporting tools, that have transformed how our clients view and utilise research data.
Marzena has extensive experience in both the consumer and business markets, including the IT, telecoms, automotive and banking industries.
Prior to her current role, Marzena was a Director and shareholder of NWC Research, which was acquired by ORC in 2007. Previously Marzenaworked for DBM Consultants and Frank Small & Associates, where she was responsible for managing large complex monitoring and ad hoc studies as well as performing complex analysis.
Marzena is a full member of the Australian Market and Social Research Society (AMSRS), and holds a Masters Degree in Economics from the University of Gdansk/Poland, with a major in statistics and econometrics, as well as a Graduate Diploma in Social Statistics from Swinburne University of Technology.
PHIL HUGHES – Managing Director - Government and Social Research
Phil joined NWC Opinion Research in 2009. He manages the company's public sector research practice. Phil has over 37 years' survey research experience. Prior to starting with NWC he was an Associate Professor in the Centre for Statistical and Survey Methodology at the University of Wollongong which he joined after 18 years with ACNielsen and 18 years with the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
In his last six years with ACNielsen he was Executive Director of Customised Measurement Science, Asia-Pacific, responsible for the research and statistical standards of all customised research projects conducted by ACNielsen in 17 countries in Asia-Pacific. Prior to that he was the Executive Director of Customised Research, Australia where he was responsible for the ACNielsen customised business in Australia.
Phil specialises in research design with particular expertise in the practical application of sampling and survey analysis techniques to the design and analysis of large-scale complex surveys. Phil is regularly conducts the basic and advanced sampling courses conducted by the Australian Marketing and Social Research Association (AMSRS). He has a BA (Hons), a BEc and a MA (Statistics) all from the ANU and a PhD in Statistics from the University of Southampton.
SHANNON COUGHLIN – Director – Government and Social Research
Shannon joined NWC in 1997 and has over 15 years of market research and management consulting experience.
Throughout her career, Shannon has had extensive involvement in research for both the public and private sectors. She is particularly interested in research related to understanding community and customer needs, satisfaction measurement, communications development, and tourism and event research.
Shannon brings both qualitative and quantitative skills to client projects.
Shannon is a full member of the Australian Market and Social Research Society (AMSRS), an accredited Qualified Practising Market Researcher (QPMR) and holds a Bachelor of Business (Honours) degree from Monash University, with a major in Marketing.
SIMON FERRIS – Director – Customer Strategies Research
Simon has over 15 years experience in the market research industry in Australia, Asia and Europe.
His expertise lies in both qualitative and quantitative research and spans a wide range of methodologies from diagnostic and exploratory research, to large scale monitoring research and mystery shopping.
Simon is experienced in both consumer and business research in the IT, telecoms, media, finance, FMCG, automotive, utilities (especially the water industry) and service industries.
He primarily works in the areas of customer and branding research, specialising in helping organisations better understand their customers and developing solutions based strategies to fulfil their expectations and needs. He is also experienced in the field of concept and product testing and has a special interest in multicultural and international research.
Prior to joining NWC in 2003, Simon worked for Asia Market Intelligence in Hong Kong and Thailand, where he was responsible for developing and managing large multi-country studies, as well as managing relationships with some of the region's largest blue chip companies. Before this Simon worked at The Research Business International (TRBI) in the UK.
Simon holds an Honours Degree and Post Graduate qualifications in Accounting and Marketing.
NEIL STUBBINGS – Director – Strategic and Qualitative Research
Neil Stubbings is a Senior Research Director with NWC opinion Research. Neil has over 16 years experience in strategic market research and marketing.
He is primarily a Financial Services specialist with particular expertise in the areas of new product innovation, customer needs analysis, brand positioning and advertising communications development. He is experienced in both the consumer and business markets for the IT, FMCG, automotive, telecommunications, finance, and service industries.
Over his career, Neil has travelled extensively across the Asia-Pacific region, conducting focus groups and depth interviews in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, India, Thailand, and Hong Kong.
Prior to joining NWC Neil was a Group Account Director with DBM Consultants, Senior Project Director with Sweeney Research, Research Manager (Asia-Pacific) and Marketing Board Member for Cadbury Confectionery, and Research Manager for Beveridge & Cummings.
Neil is a is a full member of the Australian Market and Social Research Society (AMSRS), is an accredited Qualified Practising Market Researcher (QPMR), and holds a Degree in Science from the University of Melbourne, with a major in Psychology and a minor in Statistics.
WENDY MCINNES – Director – Employee Research
Wendy is adept at both qualitative and quantitative research and has over 10 years experience in the research industry in research consulting, planning and evaluation roles.
Wendy is ORC Australia's employee satisfaction and engagement specialist. Wendy started her career with the Western Australian Police service working in the Policy, Planning and Evaluation area and the Task Support Group. Wendy was one of the first civilian staff members for this group and was integral in developing induction manuals, position descriptions, informing the development of work place agreements and formal civilian recruitment processes for the organisation.
Since that time Wendy has worked on a variety of stakeholder, customer and employee engagement projects involving both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Wendy has also worked extensively in the consumer services arena, conducting numerous brand positioning, strategic and tactical communications research, along with the development of market entry strategies and business plans.
Prior to joining NWC Opinion Research, Wendy previously held senior research positions with Roy Morgan Research and IPSOS.
Wendy has a Bachelor of Arts, Graduate Diploma of Applied Science (Professional Psychology) and a Masters in Psychology (Organisational). She is QPMR accredited and is a member of the Australian Market and Social Research Society, the Australian Psychological Society and the College of Organisational Psychologists. Wendy has also recently become a member of the Australian Institute of Human Resources.
PHIL PRINGLE – Employee Research Account Manager
Phil joined NWC Opinion Research in September 2009 after working within the UK Employee Research division for over four years. Phil is responsible for managing relationships with NWC’s Employee Research clients and designing high-impact research solutions that meet specific organisational requirements.
In his time with the company, Phil has managed clients in a wide range of sectors. Phil’s knowledge of Employee Engagement combined with Employee Research best practice has allowed him to design unique research solutions for a range of leading employers including News Corporation, BSkyB, Fujitsu Services, the Willis Group, BT Openreach, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.
In his role Phil is involved in all aspects of the project life cycle, from development through to analysis and reporting. He is regularly involved in post survey presentations to key stakeholder groups and has presented at a number of ORC conferences and seminars.
ROLAND HENKUL – Regional Technical & Operations Manager
Roland brings over 14 years experience in market research which has involved writing script for CATI/CAPI and online surveys, analysis, field, project management and operations. He worked with OzInfo for over 10 years where he was the Research Manager and was responsible for field and the DP team and was also involved in developing OzQuest which is the research tool used for all quantitative projects by NWC Opinion Research.
Prior to joining NWC Opinion Research Roland worked at Forethought Research where he was the Director of Project Management and General Manager of Operations. His primary role was to co-ordinate all projects to ensure they were completed on time and within budget. Roland also had a specific role in managing continuous process improvements within the company.
Roland has a Bachelor of Applied Science (Scientific Information Services), with a double major in Information Management and Numerical Science, from Deakin University as well as a Graduate Diploma in Social Statistics from Swinburne University.
NOEL GIBNEY – Research Director
Noel Gibney joined NWC Opinion Research in 2006 as a Research Director. He has 14 years practical experience in the Market Research Industry in Australia and Europe. Prior to this, he completed two years academic research into consumers' decision making styles, for his Masters degree by research at the Dublin Business School, Dublin City University.
Noel has been involved in all aspects of the research cycle, from development through to analysis and reporting. He is experienced in coordination and liaison at all levels, covering both commercial and government research projects. His areas of expertise include questionnaire development and testing, analysis, interpretation and reporting.
Prior to joining NWC Opinion Research Noel spent 7 years at Roy Morgan Research, focussing in particular in the last few years on the management of some of Australia's largest complex social research studies including the National Drug Strategy Household (NDSH) Survey on behalf of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Before moving to Australia, Noel worked as a Senior Research Executive from 1994 to 1999 for Lansdowne Market Research – Ireland's largest ad hoc research agency. There his responsibilities included the design, conduct and analysis of business and consumer research for high profile clients in both the public and private sectors.
In 2004 Noel was awarded QPMR (Qualified Practising Market Researcher) accreditation by the Australian Market & Social Research Society.
MICHELLE THOMAS – Research Director
Michelle Thomas is a Research Director with NWC Research. Michelle has over 16 years experience in the market research industry, working with NWC since its inception in 1993.
In her role as Research Director she has undertaken major research projects for key international and Australian clients within both the private and public sectors. She has extensive experience working with clients from a broad range of industries including IT, telecommunications, manufacturing, utilities, education and universities, local government, the pharmaceutical industry and has worked on many Federal and State government projects.
Michelle also has experience working with a diverse range of international clients from Asia, the United States and Europe. For these clients she has managed large scale international phone, self-completion web and panel based surveys encompassing tens of thousands of interviews, with as many 30 different countries and up to 20 languages.
Other specialisations include customer satisfaction, consumer and business-to-business studies, as well as competitor benchmarking research.
Michelle has a Bachelor of Arts degree and is a member of AMSRS.