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On service degrade at a discount: Capacity, demand pooling, and optimal discounting

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  • Su, Ping
  • Tian, Zhongjun
  • Wang, Haiyan

Abstract

In this paper we study the capacity investment decisions and operational strategies of a firm providing two-class services facing uncertain demands. The capacity decisions of the resources are made before demands are observed. Each service can be implemented by its corresponding resource. Should a mismatch between the capacity and the actual demand for the services arise, the low-class resource can be used as a substitute for the high-class service. We introduce an operational strategy called degrade-at-a-discount, where a price discount is offered to motivate customers to accept a lower class service when their original choice is out of capacity. By formulating the problem as a one-period, two-stage stochastic problem, we analyze how to set up the optimal capacity and the optimal discount. We also conduct a comprehensive numerical study to show the benefits of the degrade-at-a-discount strategy.

Suggested Citation

  • Su, Ping & Tian, Zhongjun & Wang, Haiyan, 2012. "On service degrade at a discount: Capacity, demand pooling, and optimal discounting," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 358-367.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jomega:v:40:y:2012:i:3:p:358-367
    DOI: 10.1016/j.omega.2011.08.005
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    2. Wang, Yulan & Wallace, Stein W. & Shen, Bin & Choi, Tsan-Ming, 2015. "Service supply chain management: A review of operational models," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 247(3), pages 685-698.
    3. Wang, Haiyan & Olsen, Tava Lennon & Liu, Guiqing, 2018. "Service capacity competition with peak arrivals and delay sensitive customers," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 80-95.

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