Biography
Dr. Nick Benschop is associate professor at the Accounting, Auditing & Control Expertise Center where he is engaged in teaching and conducting academic research on decision making in complex situations. His research focuses on decision pitfalls, or biases, in situations where people and IT come together, such as in large IT projects.
Benschop studied Economics & Informatics at Erasmus University Rotterdam. During his studies, he noticed that although rational decision-making is sought, in practice decisions are often not at all so objective and rational. He followed up his master's degree with a PhD at Erasmus University focused on biases in decision-making in IT projects.
According to Benschop, good leadership means being able to make tough decisions. This is a major challenge given the increasing complexity, uncertainty, innovation and ambiguity we face today, driven in part by technological developments. It is precisely in these situations that leaders are vulnerable to decision pitfalls, or biases. Benschop contributes to knowledge development and knowledge sharing about these biases to help leaders better recognize, prevent or counteract them. Both with themselves and with employees in their organizations or in their IT projects.
In addition to his work at Nyenrode, Benschop has been affiliated with the Erasmus School of Accounting & Assurance (ESAA) since 2015. Here he has worked as a researcher, core lecturer, module leader, thesis supervisor and thesis coordinator. He still works there as deputy scientific director of the expertise center eBRIDGES which conducts field research on biases in complex decision-making contexts, often with an IT element. His research has been published in the European Journal of Information Systems, Information & Management, Theory & Decision, Administrative Sciences and the Project Management Journal, among others.
International activities
- Several research visits to Georgia State University in the United States. Here joint research was developed on biases and IT project escalation in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Mark Keil.
- Research visit to the Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden. Collaboration with Prof. Dr. Magnus Mähring.
Relevant publications
- Benschop, N., Hilhorst, C. A. R., Nuijten, A. L. P., & Keil, M. (2020). Detection of early warning signals for overruns in IS projects: linguistic analysis of business case language. European Journal of Information Systems, 29(2), 190-202.
- Benschop, N., Nuijten, A. L. P., Hilhorst, C. A. R., & Keil, M. (2022). Undesirable framing effects in information systems projects: Analysis of adjective usage in IS project business cases. Information & Management, 59(3), 103615.
- Benschop, N., Nuijten, A. L. P., Keil, M., Rohde, K. I. M., Lee, J. S., & Commandeur, H. R. (2021). Construal level theory and escalation of commitment. Theory and Decision, 91(1), 135-151.
- Benschop, N., Nuijten, A. L. P., Keil, M., Wilmink, K., & Commandeur, H. R. (2023). The Effect of Project Names on Escalation of Commitment in Information Systems Projects. Project Management Journal, 54(4), 349-365.
- Nuijten, A. L. P., Benschop, N., Rijsenbilt, A., & Wilmink, K. (2020). Cognitive biases in critical decisions facing SME entrepreneurs: An external accountants’ perspective. Administrative Sciences, 10(4), 89.