An outlook on behavioural OR - Three tasks, three pitfalls, one definition

In their recent paper, Hämäläinen, Luoma, and Saarinen (2013) have made a strong case for the importance of Behavioural OR. With the motivation to contribute to a broad academic outlook in this emerging discipline, this rather programmatic paper intends to further the discussion by describing three types of research tasks that should play an important role in Behavioural OR, namely a descriptive, a methodological and a technological task. Moreover, by relating Behavioural OR to similar academic endeavours, three potential pitfalls are presented that Behavioural OR should avoid: (1) a too narrow understanding of what “behavioural” means, (2) ignorance of interdisciplinary links, and (3) a development without close connection with the core disciplines of OR. The paper concludes by suggesting a definition of Behavioural OR that sums up all points addressed.