Behavioural research in logistics and supply chain management

Abstract

Purpose -This paper aims to advocate and facilitate undertaking research focused on the effects of human behaviour, judgment and decision making in logistics and supply chain management (SCM). Design/methodology/approach -In addition to providing an overview of the potential benefits of behavioural research, this paper presents two modified frameworks for identifying and addressing behavioural issues in logistics and SCM. Findings -Behavioural research can significantly advance both theory and practice in logistics and SCM. Little behavioural research appears in top logistics journals. As researchers begin to conduct more such projects, knowledge pertaining to issues of importance to logistics and SCM will be created. Originality/value -This paper highlights an important research area and a methodology, (controlled behavioural experiments), that are currently underutilized in logistics and SCM. It further presents potential research questions and suggestions for ways in which interested researchers could begin to address such issues.

A behavioral experiment on inventory management with supply chain disruption

“…Analytical research often ignores human behavioral aspects in modeling systems, which may make the theories deviate from practice (Bendoly et al, 2006). Therefore, it is important to compliment the theoretical analysis with experimental observations (Tokar, 2010;Knemeyer and Naylor, 2011). This research investigates the benefit of information sharing in the wake of disruption using a controlled laboratory experiment.…”

Sustainable Supply Chain Management: A Literature Review and Research Agenda

“…A methodological suggestion is that, although experimental methodology has been used extensively in other disciplines, it is one of the most underdeveloped areas in the supply chain management field (Tokar 2010;Waller and Fawcett 2011). There are many calls of other researchers for more behavioral experiments (e.g., Eckerd and Bendoly 2011;Thomas 2011;Deck and Smith 2013).…”

The clock is ticking: The role of uncertainty, regulatory focus, and level of risk on supply chain disruption decision making behavior

“…Indeed, there is a growing interest in examining individual level behavior in the supply chain risk literature (Bendoly et al, 2010;Tokar, 2010;Gino and Pisano 2008). We contribute to this literature by leveraging regulatory focus theory to examine the individual level determinants of supply chain disruption decision making behavior.…”

“…Because of recent calls to focus more supply chain research at the individual level, our research question, research design and methodology, and data collection were explicitly implemented at the individual level (Bendoly et al, 2010;Tokar, 2010). To examine how an individual's regulatory focus (promotion or prevention focus) contributes to risk decision making behavior in the supply chain, we developed a vignette-based field experiment that was distributed using an on-line survey instrument in the Spring semester 2013.…”