The Laboratory of Behavioral Operations has the goal of a deep understanding of manufacturing processes through the investigation of managers and frontline employees’ behaviors in order to support firms in dynamic environmental contexts, where individuals continually face new challenges.

The laboratory conducts rigorous scientific research and analyses under three main research tracks:

1. Links between organizational context, managerial practices, work performance (e.g. proactivity, systematic problem-solving) and continuous improvement
2. Analysis of the relationships between emotions and decision-making in operations
3. Analysis of the antecedents and consequences of the level of attention of managers and operators at work

The Laboratory draws its origins on the awareness that many business phenomena cannot be explained only by analyzing organizational practices but require greater understanding of managers’ and operators’ behaviors, which determine that phenomenon. For this reason, the Laboratory adopts a multi-disciplinary approach based on the scientific collaboration between researchers of the Department of Economics and Management and the Department of  Psychology with the aim of combining analytical tools, literature and different methodologies to provide greater understanding of how the behavioral aspects of managers and operators are influenced by the organizational context and affect performance results within plants.