Behavioral Supply Chain Management

Humans play a critical part in supply chain management. A lapse by one human or nonconformance to information system recommendations may create ripple effects across the supply chain. There are also instances where human intuition and ingenuity has led to more profitable outcomes that information systems have failed to deliver. The value of humans in the supply chain should thus never be discounted as it is difficult to imagine a supply chain without human intervention in the foreseeable future. These realities call for more thorough research on behavioral supply chain management (BSCM) with a view to understand human behavior that consequently aids with more effective decision-making that benefits all stakeholders. BSCM research studies how humans can be empowered to better contribute to supply chain practice, both individually and collectively, without compromising their own welfare. This chapter provides a brief introduction into BSCM research and identifies the key research subdomains and popular research methods.