PhD Position in Behavioural Decision-Making in Supply Chains

Overview

Welcome at Maastricht University! How do individuals determine what others know? Often from unreliable non-verbal cues. This project will investigate and formalize this tacit skill in the context of global supply chains where buyers are critically dependent on the knowledge and skills their suppliers possess.

• Our goal: To understand how decision-makers infer others’ knowledge in complex operational environments, and how these inferences shape outcomes in global supply chains.
• Your colleagues: You will join an interdisciplinary research team within the Marketing and Supply Chain Management (MSCM) department, working closely with researchers in behavioural science, psychology, and supply chain management.

We are inviting applications for a fully funded PhD position focused on how people infer others’ knowledge in complex decision-making environments. The project is jointly supervised by Dr. Tarikere Niranjan and Dr. Emir Efendić and examines how decision-makers in operations and supply chain contexts assess what others know, how accurate these assessments are, as well as which cognitive, behavioural, and physiological mechanisms underpin them.

The empirical focus is on global supply chains—settings in which buyers are critically dependent on suppliers’ expertise, even when that expertise cannot be directly observed. The project addresses questions that are both theoretically rich and highly relevant for contemporary organizations.

You will work on a multi-method research programme combining behavioural experiments, simulation-based decision tasks, and physiological measurements. A key element of the project is the development of an interactive supply chain simulation game that serves as an experimental research platform.

In addition, you will design and conduct controlled behavioural experiments—both online and in the laboratory—to investigate how individuals infer others’ knowledge under uncertainty, which cues they rely on, and when these inferences succeed or fail. The project is designed to generate research suitable for submission to leading journals in behavioural science domains, such as judgment and decision-making, as well as in supply chain-relevant fields.

What is expected from you

• Translate high-level research ideas into testable questions and hypotheses grounded in behavioural science domains and supply chain contexts.
• Conduct literature reviews across a number of fields in behavioural and social sciences.
• Develop and run controlled behavioural experiments (online and/or lab-based).
• Apply advanced statistical methods appropriate for experimental and observational data.
• Ensure reproducibility and transparency of analyses (maintaining code, data pipelines, and documentation).
• Write-up research findings and prepare research papers.
• Present work at international academic conferences and internal research seminars.
• Participate actively in departmental research and educational activities.

What you can expect

You will work closely with the supervisors as part of a small, collaborative research team, while also developing increasing independence over the course of the PhD. The position involves a mix of conceptual work, experimental design, data collection, and rigorous analysis, with expectations comparable to leading research-oriented business schools. Room will also be provided for growth, learning, and personal development.

Are you ready to help shape how we understand decision-making in complex systems? Then we look forward to meeting you.

Essential qualifications

• A completed (or near-completion) Master’s degree in psychology, behavioural economics, operations and supply chain management, or a related field.
• Demonstrated interest in behavioural decision-making research (e.g. through a Master’s thesis, research assistantship, or internship).
• Strong quantitative and methodological skills, including experimental design and statistical analysis.
• Excellent written and spoken English (C2 level), suitable for academic writing and collaboration.

Desirable

• Familiarity with supply chain management, operations, or organizational contexts.
• Experience…