Logistics, the human factor

Abstract

As every manager knows, people are important to achieve operational excellence. The decisions and behavior of leaders impact the behaviors of employees which are instrumental in obtaining high performance. Still, in operations management research, we largely rely on models that help to optimize managerial decision making and in which people do not really play a role. Behavioral operations management is still at its infancy. It tries to include manager or employee behavior as an explanatory variable in performance. In my presentation I will give examples of some recent research projects, focusing on performance in warehouses. Depending on time, I will look into (1) behavioral factors that can bring down the number of work-related accidents in warehouses, (2) the direct and interaction effects of incentives and worker characteristics on performance in a warehouse, and (3) the impact, and managerial use, of worker skills on order pick performance.