Innovative research is often a collaborative effort between multiple disciplines. In the past years, several PhD candidates started interdisciplinary projects that are a collaboration between the Faculty of Economics and Business and other faculties of the University of Groningen. Georgios Fraros is one of them. His project on the additive bias in the context of sustainable change involves FEB’s Department of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behaviour and the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences.

Prior experience

“I grew up in Crete, where I also completed my undergraduate studies in Psychology. During that time, I developed a fondness for research and I started considering the option of pursuing a PhD. Although my plans were postponed due to my mandatory military service, I grabbed the opportunity to simultaneously conduct a research project there, as a way to make the most out of it. After that, I obtained a master’s degree in Social and Organizational Psychology at Leiden University. This not only extended my understanding of theories on intergroup relations, individual and group decision-making, negotiation, economic reasoning and organizational identity, but also helped me conclude that a PhD would be the most fulfilling career option for me. Therefore, since I had mostly pleasant experiences with the Netherlands so far, I applied for the position here at the University of Groningen and was happy to start my PhD project last year.”

Research

“My project explores the additive bias, the tendency to solve problems by adding elements to an existing situation, rather than subtracting elements from it, in the context of sustainable change. The discourse on sustainable innovation is dominated by a “more is more” mindset that focuses on additive transformations. Research shows that people have a bias towards additive solutions and often ignore subtractive ones, solutions that for instance eliminate certain technologies, products or processes. This pattern holds true even in situations where subtractive solutions would be more efficient. This can unfortunately often lead to undesirable side-effects. For example, the benefits of improved energy technologies can be canceled out by the further expansion of energy demands (the “Jevons Paradox”). The additive bias is also pervasive in organizations, which tend to offer more and more personalized services and expand their already complex business models. This research project could provide a novel scientific and practical contribution to the discourse on sustainable change, by exploring the factors that may promote a better balance between additive and subtractive solutions.”

Interdisciplinary approach

“First, we aim to dive deeper into the factors behind the additive bias at the individual level and the conditions that could mitigate this effect, making individuals more likely to generate subtractive ideas. Next, we plan to investigate the evaluation of additive versus subtractive ideas, and when and why these are accepted or rejected by observers. Here, the project goes beyond the strictly intrapersonal level and addresses interpersonal aspects of innovation. For the final part of the project, we aim to focus on organizational and inter-organizational level factors relevant to the development and implementation of additive versus subtractive solutions. The project relies on a number of theoretical perspectives rooted in different disciplines such as social cognition, behavioral economics, management and strategy, to understand factors that may promote or hinder the generation, selection and implementation of subtractive solutions across the individual, interpersonal, and organizational level.’’

Advantages of a multidisciplinary approach

“My research interests have always been in more than one research domain. I believe that this is true for most people, but the present-day culture often promotes singular (at best dual) expertise and overspecialization, limiting their options. Therefore, when the opportunity to conduct a project that combines multiple research fields was presented to me, I eagerly pursued it. I neither want to claim that everyone should bring interdisciplinarity in their projects, nor that specialization doesn’t have its own benefits. However, I believe that an interfaculty cooperation can encourage exposure to diverse perspectives, foster a holistic understanding of complex issues, stimulate creativity and innovation, while at the same time teaches you to effectively integrate ideas and methodologies from various sources. And in my experience, besides anything else, it is often more fun!”