Costs associated with purchasing often account for as much as 80% of the
final product cost. This means that even a small decrease in these costs
can have a significant impact on the bottom line. Procurement involves a
constant tension between decreasing costs and establishing cooperative
relationships. Throughout this course we will be grappling with these two
opposing forces. We will be examining competitive and cooperative
situations in a variety of supply chain settings in which performance
depends on the interactions between a variety of decision makers,
including customers, suppliers, competitors, and government regulators.
This course covers a research topics in behavioral operations management
and provides an overview of the area for Ph.D. students. Some of the
topics covered include introduction to using laboratory experiments in
operations, individual decisions, supply chain contracts, and behavioral
marked design. The main goal of the course is to expose Ph.D.
students to behavioral research and gain deeper understanding of the
limitations of the standard operations management paradigm. The
course will use a seminar format. Each session there will be
assigned readings that we will discuss and critique. The main
deliverable in the course will be a proposal for a laboratory study,
including hypotheses, treatments and factors. Those who wish to
pursue this research further will have an opportunity to conduct their
studies with human subjects.
This course uses experiential hands-on learning to develop students'
skills in effectively managing competitive and collaborative business
situations. Students will learn: (1) Behavioral
principles for effective bargaining. (2) The principles for designing,
conducting, and participating in procurement auctions. (3) Methods for
increasing cooperation and trust in competitive and collaborative
settings. (4) Behavioral principles for designing trading.
Each topic in the course will be centered around a set of hands-on
business simulations and case studies, in which students will take on the
role of market participants working through a business problem.
These cases are freely available for use. If you would like to use any of these cases, email me and let me know. I will send you a teaching note and any other materials I have.
SoPHIE
Labs
SoPHIE Documentation
SoPHIE Classroom Log-in URL for
Simulation participants (you will need a code to log in)
SoPHIE Classroom Log-in URL for
Instructors (you will need login credentials to log in)