Task Complexity and Uncertainty

Dr. Bendoly is regarded as one of the pioneers of the domain of Behavioral Operations Management. He co-edited the first special issue on Behavioral Operation in 2006, and has published / forthcoming a total of 18 articles in this domain at the Journal of Operations Management, Production and Operations Management, Journal of Applied Psychology and Decision Sciences (a selection listed below). His interest with regards to the role of human behavior can by divided into group-level/collaborative phenomena and individual-level responses to work policy, complexity and uncertainty (described below).
In the case of the latter, his work has investigated a range of worker and managerial task settings primarily in the contexts of technology implementation / project management and revenue management. Survey and controlled laboratory experiments have been his primary methods applied.
A conceptual meta-analytic summary of his findings is presented in the image to the right. His findings have generally found that the interplay between operating and technical/informational conditions, as well as personal characteristics, influence the stress, arousal and general comfort of individuals. This ultimately drives effective moitvation, the extent of work done, quality and overall performance. The discounting of the nuanced interplay of these factors explains otherwise unanticipated losses in performance reported in the field.

Representative works: