Cognitive biases in sustainable operations and supply chain management. Empirical evidence and implications in sustainable sourcing

In the past decade, sustainability has reshaped operations and supply chain management, prompting companies to align practices with environmental and social goals. Yet, sustainable initiatives can also produce unintended negative outcomes, often rooted in complex decision environments characterized by uncertainty and limited information. Many sourcing decisions are made without structured processes, leading managers to rely on intuition and experience. This informal approach increases susceptibility to cognitive biases – systematic deviations from rationality – which can affect outcomes. The addition of sustainability considerations introduces a further layer of complexity, increasing cognitive load and the potential influence of biases on decision-making. However, human decision-making mechanisms are often overlooked in sustainable operations and supply chain management research, which tends to assume rationality in managerial behavior. To this end, this dissertation addresses two key research questions: (1) Do cognitive biases affect sustainable sourcing decisions? and (2) Does an individual’s professional experience influence the impact of cognitive biases on these decisions? The research is structured in two phases: a theoretical review identifying key biases relevant to sustainable sourcing, followed by a randomized vignette-based field experiment involving graduate students and industry professionals. The key findings are twofold: cognitive biases significantly impact sourcing decisions in sustainability-focused scenarios, and their influence is moderated by individual experience, varying across different types of biases. This dissertation makes both theoretical and practical contributions. From a theoretical perspective, it applies psychology and behavioral economics to sustainable sourcing, deepening our understanding of how cognitive biases influence sustainability-focused decisions. It contributes to the sustainable procurement literature by highlighting the often-overlooked human factors in the supplier selection process. From a practical standpoint, the findings suggest that raising managers’ awareness of cognitive biases and adopting structured decision protocols and training can reduce unconscious bias, improving the consistency and effectiveness of sustainable sourcing decisions.