I study how data-driven analytics can be systematically translated into better decisions. My goal is to understand, model, and improve decision-making processes of individuals, organizations, and public institutions.
The central question of my work is how data can be transformed into actionable decisions—especially under uncertainty, conflicting objectives, and limited cognitive capacity. A particular focus lies on supply chain management and operational systems, where data-driven decisions under uncertainty play a critical role.
My research program combines data-driven business analytics with prescriptive decision analysis and empirical behavioral research. I pursue a consistent predict-to-decide perspective: predictions are not treated in isolation but are systematically translated into transparent, robust, and actionable decision rules. The aim is to turn data into better decisions.
Methodologically, I work at the intersection of Behavioral Operational Research and decision analysis. Concepts such as Value-Focused Thinking, multiattribute utility theory, and Bayesian decision analysis form key building blocks of my work.
My research contributes to understanding how decision quality can be measured and systematically improved. I collaborate closely with leading scholars in the field, including Ralph Keeney, one of the pioneers of modern decision analysis.
In teaching and training, I support individuals in making well-founded and reflective decisions—from school students to university students, managers, and policymakers. My MOOC “Proactively Making Smart Decisions” (co-developed with Ralph Keeney) is among the top-rated courses on the iMooX platform.
In consulting, I support organizations in structuring complex decisions, analyzing them using data, and translating them into consistent and implementable decision rules. I combine data analytics, decision models, and behavioral insights to improve decision processes effectively—especially in data-intensive domains such as supply chain management.
I actively transfer research into practice and society through media contributions (e.g., DER STANDARD, ZEIT Studienführer, Focus Online), keynote talks (including TEDxInnsbruck), and evidence-based training formats.
Academic short bio
Johannes Siebert habilitated in Business Administration and Economics with a particular focus on Behavioral Operations Research and Decision Making at the University of Bayreuth, Germany, and teaches Decision Sciences and Behavioral Economics at MCI | THE ENTREPRENEURIAL SCHOOL®, Innsbruck, Austria. He has published papers in leading international journals, including Operations Research (A+) and the European Journal of Operational Research (A).
He is a Member of the Executive Committee of the International Society on MCDM, a Member of the Coordinating Board of the European Working Group of Behavioral Operations Research, and a Member of the Editorial Board of the INFORMS journal Decision Analysis. In addition, he serves in the Advisory Council of the Alliance for Decision Education with leading researchers such as Daniel Kahneman or Richard Thaler to promote decision education for adolescents worldwide.
Johannes’s research objective is to contribute to better-informed decision making and thereby make better decisions for individuals and organizations. He conceptualized and validated a six-dimensional scale for measuring good, proactive decision-making (PDM). He showed that PDM explains a substantial share of life satisfaction, i.e., those who are more proactive in their decision making are more satisfied with their life, and that PDM can be trained in decision-making courses. These empirical findings suggest that decision-making courses positively affect participants’ lives. He extends the concept of classical nudging with Ralph Keeney by empowering individuals to become their own decision architects. In a well-received TEDxTalk, he summarized the core ideas.
Overall, he raised more than one million euros in third-party funding. Recently, he received a significant grant to develop and measure the impact of decision-making courses for high school students in Upper Franconia, Germany, who have to decide what to do after school. The first results in the project KLUGentscheiden (smart deciding) indicate that decision-making workshops enhance the proactive decision-making skills of high school students and empower them for their future decisions.
He also consulted for both public and private organizations in the US and Europe in research-oriented projects. For example, he identified and structured the strategic objectives for a huge European energy provider after Germany decided to fade out nuclear energy, he identified and structured the objectives for the California Ministry of Transportation when allocating a 12 billion budget for the maintenance of highways and bridges in California, he developed a method for a leading pharmaceutical company to prioritize and monitor compounds in multi-criteria portfolio design in the early stage of the development pipeline, which is characterized by high uncertainty, or he identified and structured the objectives of the terrorist group Islamic State to provide a basis to create effective procedures to protect civilians in the Middle East, the United States, and Europe. He was acknowledged as a finalist in the practice award of the Decision Analysis Society (INFORMS) three times.