Two Heads Are Better than One: Task Division and Decision Control in Inventory Planning

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Park, Young Soo; Lee, Yun Shin; Siemsen, Enno
• 署名单位: Kookmin University; Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST); University of Wisconsin System; University of Wisconsin Madison; University of Bath
• 刊物名称: PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1059-1478
• DOI: 10.1177/10591478241309465
• 发表日期: 2025
• 页码: 1977-1994
• 关键词: Behavioral Operations; Newsvendor Decision-making; Task Division; Group Coordination; stabilization

摘要

We examine when and how task division improves performance for inventory planning. Specifically, we consider a decentralized inventory management context with two interdependent subtasks: preparing a forecast and setting a service level. Using a behavioral experiment, we reveal that the task challenge moderates the relationship between task division and performance. Our findings indicate that task division improves performance when the task becomes more challenging, such as under high demand uncertainty. It facilitates counteracting behavior, where individuals adjust their decisions to counterbalance their partner's errors, leading to more stabilized final decisions. We identify this counteracting behavior as a critical mechanism driving the benefits of task division, mainly when subtasks are interdependent. We demonstrate the robustness of our findings by examining an egalitarian system, where decision-making authority is shared among team members, and a hierarchical system, where decision control resides entirely with one team member.