The University of California (UCLA) selected evoSuite, a pioneering software tool for the tourism industry, to be the subject of a thesis through the UCLA Master of Business Administration (MBA) program.

Designed and built by tourism strategy and technology firm ReserveGroup’s founders, evoSuite was born out of frustration in not finding the right product to fit their own tourism client’s needs. Responsible for developing the South Pacific’s first fully integrated online booking engine, Leemans and Arlund invested a further NZ$1million in research and development to transform evoSuite into a management super system providing tools for tourism operators to streamline business processes unique to their industry.

UCLA impressed by system:

The global potential and innovation behind evoSuite had significant appeal to UCLA program selectors. Conducted through the UCLA Anderson School of Management, inclusion in the 2013 MBA program is a rare opportunity enabled by the Global Access Program (GAP) through New Zealand Trade & Enterprise.

ReseveGroup co-founder Roland Leemans:

"The insight gained through the UCLA MBA Program will provide a huger leap forward for our business. We are proud to have deployed over 1000 evoSuite solutions in Australasia; UCLA's analysis will enable us to now confidently tackle the US markets with our products."

On commencement of the UCLA program, five MBA students, all accomplished business professionals with at least nine years commercial experience undertook the evoSuite research assignment. ReserveGroup CEOs Roland Leemans and Henrik Arlund then visited UCLA to meet the faculty and participants, and returned to campus five months later when the MBA class presented their thesis and recommendations.

As part of their research, the team of MBA students assigned to evoSuite also spent time at ReserveGroup’s headquarters in Tauranga to study the business model on site.

UCLA Anderson School School of Management