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Managers and Students as Newsvendors - How Out-of-Task Experience Matters

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Listed:
  • Gary E Bolton
  • Axel Ockenfels
  • Ulrich Thonemann

Abstract

We compare how freshmen business students, graduate business students and experienced procurement managers perform on a simple inventory ordering task. We find that, qualitatively, managers exhibit ordering behavior similar to students, including biased ordering towards average demand. Experience, however, affects subjects’ utilization of information. The managers’ work experience seems most valuable when there is only historical demand data to guide decision making, while students better utilize analytical information and task training. As a result, when information necessary to solve the problem to optimality is added to historical information, students catch up to the managers, and students with classroom experience in operations management outperform managers.

Suggested Citation

  • Gary E Bolton & Axel Ockenfels & Ulrich Thonemann, 2008. "Managers and Students as Newsvendors - How Out-of-Task Experience Matters," Working Paper Series in Economics 39, University of Cologne, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:kls:series:0039
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Axel Ockenfels, 2009. "Marktdesign und Experimentelle Wirtschaftsforschung," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 10(s1), pages 31-53, May.
    2. Feng, Tianjun & Keller, L. Robin & Zheng, Xiaona, 2011. "Decision making in the newsvendor problem: A cross-national laboratory study," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 41-50, January.
    3. Stewart Robinson & Stavrianna Dimitriou & Kathy Kotiadis, 2017. "Addressing the sample size problem in behavioural operational research: simulating the newsvendor problem," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 68(3), pages 253-268, March.
    4. Elena Katok & Diana Yan Wu, 2009. "Contracting in Supply Chains: A Laboratory Investigation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(12), pages 1953-1968, December.
    5. Goudarzi, Fatemeh (Sahar) & Olaru, Doina & Bergey, Paul, 2023. "Beyond risk attitude: Unpacking behavioral drivers of supply chain contracts," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    6. Nils Rudi & David Drake, 2009. "Observation bias: The impact of demand censoring on newsvendor level and adjustment behavior," Harvard Business School Working Papers 12-042, Harvard Business School, revised Dec 2011.

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