The Handbook of Behavioral Operations

Preface

Behavioral operations is a field of study within operations management (OM) that examines how individuals behave and make decisions within operational settings. The individuals of interest can vary from managers making cognitively challenging inventory decisions, to workers performing repetitive tasks in a fulfillment center, to customers reacting to stocking decisions within a store. By better understanding what these individuals do and why, behavioral operations can also provide insight into how to improve operational settings and policies in light of behavioral tendencies. The field has grown tremendously in recent years, broadening the types of operational settings explored and the research methodologies employed. The idea for this handbook grew from our own desire to document major developments within the behavioral operations field so far, and to provide inspiration and tools for continued advancement.

In essence, this handbook aims to be a comprehensive resource on behavioral operations research for those already active in the field, as well as those new to it. We believe this latter audience is particularly important, as many OM scholars from a variety of backgrounds are beginning to conduct behavioral research. The handbook is designed to help new behavioral researchers learn more about the field and how such research is conducted. For veterans, the handbook offers extensive literature reviews of the many OM application areas studied within behavioral operations ...