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The what, the why and the how of behavioural operational research—An invitation to potential sceptics

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  • Brocklesby, John

Abstract

Primarily this paper addresses those members of the OR community who remain unconvinced that widening the Behavioural Operational Research agenda beyond decision behaviour modelling to encompass research on the modelling process itself, is a desirable and/or necessary step for the parent discipline to take. Using a process perspective that emphasises human activity and the temporal evolution of OR projects, the paper shows that the appeal of this particular strand of BOR lies in its ability to strengthen the bridge between academic OR and its professional practice in which the human and social challenges can be just as important as the intellectual and technical ones. In so doing, this wider remit for BOR better positions practitioners to reduce the reliance that they currently have on apprenticeship and the gradual accumulation of craft skills in meeting the various challenges that they face. An immediate priority outlined in this paper is for academic and practitioner authors to turn further in the direction of relevant theory in an attempt to communicate process understandings of OR interventions through the literature that better resonate with experience.

Suggested Citation

  • Brocklesby, John, 2016. "The what, the why and the how of behavioural operational research—An invitation to potential sceptics," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 249(3), pages 796-805.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ejores:v:249:y:2016:i:3:p:796-805
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2015.09.034
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    Cited by:

    1. David C. Lane & Birgit Kopainsky & David C. Lane, 2017. "‘Behavioural System Dynamics’: A Very Tentative and Slightly Sceptical Map of the Territory," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(4), pages 414-423, July.
    2. Bi, Junna & Jin, Hanqing & Meng, Qingbin, 2018. "Behavioral mean-variance portfolio selection," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 271(2), pages 644-663.
    3. Osório, António (António Miguel), 2017. "Self-interest and Equity Concerns: A Behavioural Allocation Rule for Operational Problems," Working Papers 2072/290757, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    4. Richard Ormerod, 2017. "Writing practitioner case studies to help behavioural OR researchers ground their theories: application of the mangle perspective," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 68(5), pages 507-520, May.
    5. Frans Cruijssen & Ilja van Beest & Goos Kant, 2023. "A Human Behaviour Perspective on Horizontal Collaboration to Reduce the Climate Impact of Logistics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-15, November.
    6. Stefanini, Alessandro & Aloini, Davide & Gloor, Peter & Pochiero, Federica, 2021. "Patient satisfaction in emergency department: Unveiling complex interactions by wearable sensors," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 600-611.
    7. Franco, L. Alberto & Hämäläinen, Raimo P. & Rouwette, Etiënne A.J.A. & Leppänen, Ilkka, 2021. "Taking stock of behavioural OR: A review of behavioural studies with an intervention focus," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 293(2), pages 401-418.
    8. Johnson, Michael P. & Midgley, Gerald & Chichirau, George, 2018. "Emerging trends and new frontiers in community operational research," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 268(3), pages 1178-1191.
    9. Kennedy, Deanna M. & Sommer, S. Amy & Nguyen, Phuong Anh, 2017. "Optimizing multi-team system behaviors: Insights from modeling team communication," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 258(1), pages 264-278.
    10. Osório, António, 2017. "Self-interest and equity concerns: A behavioural allocation rule for operational problems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 261(1), pages 205-213.
    11. Perera, H. Niles & Hurley, Jason & Fahimnia, Behnam & Reisi, Mohsen, 2019. "The human factor in supply chain forecasting: A systematic review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 274(2), pages 574-600.
    12. Harper, Alison & Mustafee, Navonil & Yearworth, Mike, 2021. "Facets of trust in simulation studies," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 289(1), pages 197-213.
    13. Marleen McCardle-Keurentjes & Etiënne A. J. A. Rouwette, 2018. "Asking Questions: A Sine Qua Non of Facilitation in Decision Support?," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 27(5), pages 757-788, October.
    14. Gallice, Andrea, 2017. "An approximate solution to rent-seeking contests with private information," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 256(2), pages 673-684.
    15. Ormerod, Richard & Yearworth, Mike & White, Leroy, 2023. "Understanding participant actions in OR interventions using practice theories: A research agenda," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 306(2), pages 810-827.
    16. Cunico, Giovanni & Aivazidou, Eirini & Mollona, Edoardo, 2021. "Building a dynamic theory of citizens’ awareness of European Cohesion Policy interventions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 289(2), pages 758-773.
    17. Konrad, Renata A. & Maass, Kayse Lee & Dimas, Geri L. & Trapp, Andrew C., 2023. "Perspectives on how to conduct responsible anti-human trafficking research in operations and analytics," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 309(1), pages 319-329.
    18. Strohhecker, Jürgen & Leyer, Michael, 2019. "How stock-flow failure and general cognitive ability impact performance in operational dynamic control tasks," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 276(3), pages 1044-1055.
    19. Lane, David C. & Rouwette, Etiënne A.J.A., 2023. "Towards a behavioural system dynamics: Exploring its scope and delineating its promise," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 306(2), pages 777-794.
    20. Guillaume Lamé & Oualid Jouini & Julie Stal-Le Cardinal, 2020. "Combining Soft Systems Methodology, Ethnographic Observation and Discrete-Event Simulation: A Case Study in Cancer Care," Post-Print hal-02095031, HAL.
    21. Jorge Velez-Castiblanco & Diana Londono-Correa & Olandy Naranjo-Rivera, 2018. "The Structure of Problem Structuring Conversations: A Boundary Games Approach," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 27(5), pages 853-884, October.
    22. Franco, L. Alberto & Greiffenhagen, Christian, 2018. "Making OR practice visible: Using ethnomethodology to analyse facilitated modelling workshops," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 265(2), pages 673-684.
    23. Guo, Peijun, 2019. "Focus theory of choice and its application to resolving the St. Petersburg, Allais, and Ellsberg paradoxes and other anomalies," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 276(3), pages 1034-1043.
    24. Leitner, Stephan & Rausch, Alexandra & Behrens, Doris A., 2017. "Distributed investment decisions and forecasting errors: An analysis based on a multi-agent simulation model," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 258(1), pages 279-294.

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