Future Directions

Dealing with complexity – the contribution of problem structuring methods to management science

“…Overall, it appears that there is a lack of theoretical and empirical studies on understanding OR interventions in the literature (White et al , 2016). In recent years, however, a growing interest in the behavioural aspects of OR modelling (Hämäläinen et al , 2013; Franco and Hämäläinen, 2016; White et al , 2020) has developed, with a new body of work – known as behavioural operational research (BOR) – aiming to understand people’s behaviour during OR interventions. The new field examines the development of models that capture human behaviour and seeks to bring the attention of academics and decision makers on managing the behavioural aspects of the system more realistically (Kunc and Katsikopoulos, 2022).…”

Understanding human decision-making in supply chains: using serious gaming for modeling action, thought, and the environment

“…For many years, the study of human behavior in operational contexts-such as supply chains-was the focus of the field of Behavioral Operations Management (BOM) 2 [17]. More recently, however, behavioral issues have received renewed attention in Operational Research (OR) discipline under the term "Behavioral OR" 3 , or in short BOR [18].…”

“…The main difference between these two disciplines is that BOM is concerned with the design, implementation, and improvement of analytical models of decision-making in the context of operations management, whereas BOR centers around OR modeling in connection with problem solving and decision support systems, and covers wider application contexts. While there are some overlaps in terms of methodologies used across both disciplines, BOM has been generally associated with conducting experimental research to test and improve modeling assumptions about decision-making [19,20], through the use of role-playing games in controlled laboratory settings (e.g., the Beer Distribution Game [21]), biometric, psychometric, or qualitative studies [17]. The focus of BOR methods, on the other hand, is on how to include behavior in models (i.e.…”

“…representation of human behavior), how people behave with models (i.e. the impact of models on decision makers' behavior), or how organizational behavior is influenced by the model [17]. From the BOR perspective, I am also interested in including human behavior in underlying models of decision-making in pharmaceutical supply chains.…”

“…Gamettes methodology is part of the growing trend of using games and game-like systems as research environments, an area of increasing interest within the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) field, known as "gamifying research" [43] or "gamification in science" [44]. Furthermore, the Behavioral Operations Management community has been investigating human behavior through laboratory experiments for years [17] and has established best practices for conducting such studies [20]. Lastly, agent-based simulation for modeling supply chain dynamics has been extensively explored within the Behavioral Operational Research field [18].…”