Encourages students to think creatively.
Professor Alberto Franco is Professor of Decision Sciences at the University of Bristol Business School, where he also serves as Head of the Technology and Operations academic group. He earned his PhD in Operational Research from the London School of Economics, MSc from Lancaster University, Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP), and BSc. Prior to joining the University of Bristol, he spent ten years at Loughborough University, holding senior leadership roles including Head of the Management Science group within the School of Business and Economics. His career also includes visiting researcher positions at Radboud University (2021–2022) and IE Business School (2007–2008). Franco works with leaders and teams to enhance decision-making capabilities through structured interventions, focusing on behavioural operations research.
Franco's research examines how cognition and behaviour influence decision-supported processes and tools, both descriptively and prescriptively, drawing on cognitive and social psychology as well as sociology. He studies the effectiveness of interventions for improving decision-making in cross-functional and multi-organisational teams in operational and strategic contexts, and explores the role of AI in supporting multidisciplinary team decisions, particularly in healthcare. Key publications include the authored book Engaged Decision Making: From Team Knowledge to Team Decisions (Routledge, 2024, with E. Rouwette); 'Making OR practice visible: Using ethnomethodology to analyse facilitated modelling workshops' (European Journal of Operational Research, 2018, with C. Greiffenhagen); and 'Complexity theory and leadership practice: A review, a critique, and some recommendations' (The Leadership Quarterly, 2019, with J. Rosenhead, K. Grint, and B. Friedland). He has received the Banxia Prize for Best Paper in the OR Society Conference’s Problem Structuring Methods Stream (2013), was a finalist for the INFORMS Decision Analysis Society Practice Award (2016, shared), and the INFORMS Group Decision and Negotiation Section Award (2023). His scholarship, evidenced by an h-index of 33 and over 3,600 citations, has advanced understanding of group decision making and behavioural operations research.