Intervention, process theories, and modelling in operations research and management - Research Workshop

Scholars in operations research and operations management are increasingly undertaking interventions to support organisational change efforts. Such interventions provide opportunities to test and improve intervention methodologies, as well as opportunities to build process theories. In this workshop, Rogelio Oliva, Etienne Rouwette, Kim van Oorschot, Gilberto Montibeller and Alberto Franco will present their experiences of using interventions in this way, and articulate potentially useful directions for research that connects operations research and operations management.

Introduced by:

Brian Squire - Dean of University of Bristol Business School

Facilitated by:

Phil Walker-Davies - University of Bristol Business School

Speakers:

• Rogelio Oliva - Editor-in Chief, Journal of Operations Management
• Etienne Rouwette - Radboud University
• Kim van Oorschot - BI Norwegian Business School
• Gilberto Montibeller - University of Bristol Business School
• Alberto Franco - University of Bristol Business School

Agenda:

This event will run over two days, you can select tickets for one or both days.

Thursday 10th April 2025

• 09.00 Registration and coffee
• 09.30 Welcome and introduction Brian Squire
• 10.00 Research as intervention: Experiences with Facilitated Modelling (1) Etienne Rouwette
• 10.45 Research as intervention: Experiences with Facilitated Modelling (2) Alberto Franco
• 11.30 Coffee break
• 11.45 Research as intervention: Experiences with Facilitated Modelling (3) Gilberto Montibeller
• 12.30 Buffet lunch
• 13.30 Intervention-Based Research (IBR): Origins, epistemology, methods and examples Rogelio Oliva
• 15.00 Coffee break
• 15.15 Developing an IBR contribution: key elements of a submission Rogelio Oliva
• 16.30 Closure of Day 1

Friday 11th April 2025

• 09.30 Plenary discussions of open issues from the day Phil Walker-Davies
• 10.00 Introduction to process research Alberto Franco
• 10.45 Developing process theories through simulation modelling Kim van Oorschot
• 11.30 Coffee break
• 11.45 Testing process theories through simulation modelling Rogelio Oliva
• 12.30 Buffet lunch
• 13.30 Focused discussion: Process theories that can be developed/tested through simulation modelling Phil Walker-Davies
• 14.30 Conclusion and final remarks
• 15.00 Coffee and departure

Target audience

Academics and researchers interested in conducting or supervising research based on the use of interventions with organisations, process theory or system dynamics.

Registration information: Registration is free. There are limited spaces for the two-day workshop. Please register here. For any questions, please contact phil.davies@bristol.ac.uk

About the speakers

Rogelio Oliva is the Robyn and Alan Roberts Chair in Business at Texas A&M University's Mays Business School and Research Affiliate at MIT Sloan System Dynamics Group. His research explores how behavioural and social aspects of an organization interact with its technical components to determine the firm's operational performance. His current research interests include behavioural operations management, retail and service operations, and the transition that product manufacturers are making to become service providers. Methodologically, he is exploring how to develop theoretical insights from interventions and the use of system dynamics models to articulate, develop, and test managerial process theories. He is the recipient of the 2019 Jay W. Forrester Award for the best written contribution to the System Dynamics field in the preceding five years. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Operations Management.

Etiënne Rouwette lectures on empirical research methods and group decision support methods such as facilitated modeling, multiple scenario development, serious gaming and related action research methods. His research interests include group decision making processes and their effect on participants’ attitudes and behavior. The faculty’s decision rooms play a central role in this research. Etiënne currently supervises Ph.D. researchers interested in negotiation, the use of decision aids in health care, and modeling complex issues in health care, cybersecurity, service delivery and circular economy. As part of this research, Etiënne participated in and conducted a large number of research projects in profit and non-profit organizations. Etiënne is Past President of the System Dynamics Society.

Kim van Oorschot is Professor in the Department of Accounting and Operations Management at the BI Norwegian Business School. Her current research focuses on decision-making, trade-offs, and tipping points in dynamically complex settings, like supply chains, and new product development (NPD) projects. Her research projects are aimed at discovering so-called ‘decision traps': decisions that seem to be good on the short term, but have counterproductive effects on the long term. For this purpose she develops system dynamics models based on data from organizations. She also teaches system dynamics, operations and supply chain management, and project management to executive and master students. Kim has published in leading journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Operations Management and Production and Operations Management.

Gilberto Montibeller is Professor of Operations Management at the University of Bristol Business School (UK) and Research Affiliate at the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics (USA). Professor Montibeller is an expert in decision and risk analysis. His main research interests are behavioural decision analysis, strategic resource allocation for security and health systems, and facilitated decision modelling for strategic and operations decisions. He is an Associate Editor of the INFORMS Decision Analysis journal and Area Editor of the Journal of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis. He has published widely in decision science journals and has published three books. The quality of his research has been recognised by the best publication awards granted by the Society for Risk Analysis, INFORMS, and the International Society on Multi-Criteria Decision Making. Two of his applied research areas are global health security and health logistics. Partner organisations include the WHO, FAO, USAID, PAHO, DEFRA, UK Department of Health, Roche, and Novartis.

L. Alberto Franco is Professor of Decision Sciences and Head of the Operations, Management Science, Health and Innovation group at the University of Bristol Business School. As a decision scientist, Alberto works with leaders and teams to improve their decision making capabilities through designed interventions. He has more than 20+ years of experience leading projects to support the work of cross-functional and multi-organisational teams in the construction, hospitality, defence, transportation and health sectors. Organizations he has worked with include: Whitbread, Bombardier, Network Rail, UK Ministry of Defence, UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and UK National Health Service. His research examines how human behaviour affects, or is affected by, the use of facilitated modelling and structured decision processes. He is recipient of the 2023 INFORMS GDN Section Award for outstanding contributions to research in the field of Group Decision and Negotiation.