Behavioral Operations

Research on behavioral operations studies human behavior and cognition for the design, management, and improvement of operating systems. Typically, it investigates deviations in human behavior occurring in operational contexts, such as forecasting and quality management. In that sense, behavioral operations researchers do not consider people as hyper-rational and profit-maximizing actors. On the contrary, they are interested in, for example, individuals’ cognitive biases or social needs. This research stream extends into dyadic, group, or network-level levels of analysis.

At the Chair of POM, we embrace a broad approach to study the behavioral and cognitive underpinnings of improvement and innovation processes. Besides being inspired by studies in psychology, as typical behavioral operations does, we also apply insights from the strategy-as-practice domain. Our research thus fosters cross-disciplinary exchanges to inform the current understanding of the operations function.

For instance, our research addresses how political influence can affect cross-functional teams’ decision-making. Further, we are investigating the digitalization of shop-floor improvement programs in the German automotive industry. Another example of our research aims to understand the micro-foundations of knowledge transfer and adoption in global production networks. Here, we specifically study the contribution of key actors, such as operations managers and lean teams.