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Hi, I am Burak

Burak Öz

PhD Candidate HEC Montréal

As an industrial engineer who is a tech-addict, I have always worked on increasing operational efficiency of organizations with the use of information technologies. I love thinking and communicating my thoughts in the form of business processes, conceptual maps, and algorithms. Currently, I am pursuing a PhD in information technologies to explore ways of making artificial intelligence more effective in making our life better. In my spare time, I cycle outdoors, or take on fun “homelab” projects using basic server tools.

Publications

The Impact of Generative AI Transparency and Explainability on Decision Performance

This study explores how the transparency and explainability of generative AI impact decision performance, providing insights for developing more effective AI decision-making tools.

A study on how intelligent systems influence collaborative decision-making dynamics, with applications for organizational and workplace contexts.

The Nature and Dimensionality of Cognitive Absorption: A Critical Review and Meta-Analysis

A comprehensive meta-analysis examining the dimensionality of cognitive absorption and its implications for research in human-computer interaction.

The Role of User Control in Enhancing Human-AI Collaboration Effectiveness: Insights from a Pilot Study

This pilot study examines how user control can enhance collaboration between humans and AI in decision-making scenarios.

Responsible Artificial Intelligence in Knowledge Work: User Experience Design Problems and Implications

Explores user experience challenges in adopting responsible AI for knowledge work, highlighting implications for effective UX design.

IT-Based Learning Tools to Introduce Sustainability Problems to Management Students: A Scoping Review
AMCIS 2021 June 2021

In this century, climate change should be what we’re talking and thinking about the most. I want to believe that we are getting there, albeit slowly. So my co-authors and I wanted to see how business education does in catching up with the changing needs of the humanity. In this literature review, we try to identify the IT-based teaching innovations that are used to introduce sustainability issues into business school classrooms. We identified that there is a need for a teaching innovation that integrates both sustainability and profit-oriented objectives in a realistic setting. One year after we published this literature review, we managed to publish the first version of ‘ERPsim Logistics Sustainability’ to address this identified need.

Using Digital Nudges on Analytics Dashboards to Reduce Anchoring Bias
ICIS SIGHCI 2020 December 2020

Does seeing an algorithm’s suggestions constrain experts’ thought process? Kahneman and Tversky’s research studies shows that people stay under the influence of first impressions, which is defined as the ‘anchoring effect.’ The anchoring effect happens in professionals’ interactions with decision aids, for example when they see an algorithm’s sales forecasts. In this research, we designed an interesting online experiment to see if the anchoring bias can be mitigated. We designed two digital nudges -subtle design changes on the user interfaces- to counter the anchoring bias. Our results show that an informative digital nudge is effective in reducing anchoring bias and increasing decision performance, but only if users are technically knowledgeable in their field of work. In other words, digital nudges can be the solution for experienced and knowledgeable employees. However, for novices, training programs and other practices should be preferred instead of digital nudges.

Order picking oriented storage assignment problem in a vertical lift module system
METU Thesis Library December 2019

A super fun and practically relevant work on optimizing order picking times of vertical lift modules. A mathematical model to locate parts that are requested together on the same tray so that operators wait for less machine tray changes.

Experiences

1
Instructor
HEC Montréal

Aug 2021 - Dec 2022, Montréal

HEC Montréal is one of the leading business schools in Canada. Here, I taught the course ‘Information Technologies in Organizations’ to classes of 70 students for two semesters, both in-person.

  • Value of information technologies, business intelligence, and business analytics,
  • Managing an information technology project,
  • Business Process Management Notation (BPMN) diagrams,
  • Business process improvement principles,
  • Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software and its use (SAP with the Fiori interface),
  • Advanced data analytics using PivotTables, PivotCharts and advanced functions on Microsoft Excel,
  • Relational databases and advanced query design using Microsoft Access.

Manufacturing Engineer
FNSS Savunma Sistemleri A.S.

Jun 2016 - Jun 2019, Ankara

FNSS Savunma Sistemleri is a leading company in the defense industry of Turkey. It is specialized in the design and production of armored land vehicles. I took different roles in various projects with IT in manufacturing at the center of their vision. Some examples include;

  • In-house development of a ‘paperless shop floor’ manufacturing execution system with full ERP integration,
  • Design and development of various predictive tools for improved shop floor efficiency,
  • Design of a daily production scheduling algorithm and software,
  • Designing user interfaces and ERP integration functions for the software used on industrial computers on the shop floor,
  • Development of a bill of materials error checking software,
  • Capacity planning, facility layout design, simulation of the production flow on a discrete event simulation software, and reporting the results.
  • In addition to those tasks, I have also been trained as an internal auditor and took part in the integrated management systems internal audits (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001).
2

3
Intern
Siemens Mobility

Jun 2015 - Jul 2015, Istanbul

Siemens Mobility is the transportation division of the German giant. It provides sustainable public transport solutions, mainly for rail. As a public transportation nerd, I have always been interested in beautiful giants, especially the ones in the form of buses, trains, and systems consisting of hundreds of them. Therefore, Siemens Mobility was the best kindergarden with nice toys to look at, and I had one of the most enjoyable internship experiences there. In my two-month intrenship, I developed an algorithm to solve a cable-packing problem to load trucks more efficiently. Then, I implemented that algorithm on Excel VBA and designed an Excel file in the form of a ‘Decision Support System.’ This little piece of software saved an expert’s 10 hours a month, approximately.

Education