[Research Seminar] The Importance of Recognizing Alternative Approaches in the Study of Operations Management
September 19th, 2025
3pm – 4:30pm in Collines Building (L712) & on Zoom
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Speaker: Elliot BENDOLY – Ohio State University, USA
Editor in Chief, Journal of Operations Management
abstract
Incrementalism, fallacies and false positives thrive in the absence of deliberate efforts to consider alternatives. This is largely due to a combination of institutional pressures and shifts in research training, as well as common, inherent human biases towards such things as availability, confirmation and a general affinity of many contemporary scholars towards numerical evaluation. In this talk, I’ll discuss the associated risks of wayward deductivism, methodological dogmatism and quantification fixation. We’ll consider the implications of these challenges on the research community and the role of structured approaches to appreciating alternatives that can serve to mitigate associated risks and costs.