IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/oropre/v62y2014i1p123-140.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Using Strategic Idleness to Improve Customer Service Experience in Service Networks

Author

Listed:
  • Opher Baron

    (Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E6, Canada)

  • Oded Berman

    (Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E6, Canada)

  • Dmitry Krass

    (Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E6, Canada)

  • Jianfu Wang

    (Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Republic of Singapore)

Abstract

The most common measure of waiting time is the overall expected waiting time for service. However, in service networks the perception of waiting may also depend on how it is distributed among different stations. Therefore, reducing the probability of a long wait at any station may be important in improving customers' perception of service quality. In a single-station queue it is known that the policy that minimizes the waiting time and the probability of long waits is nonidling. However, this is not necessarily the case for queueing networks with several stations. We present a family of threshold-based policies (TBPs) that strategically idle some stations. We demonstrate the advantage of strategically idling by applying TBP in a network with two single-server queues in tandem. We provide closed form results for the special case where the first station has infinite capacity and develop efficient algorithms when this is not the case. We compare TBPs with the nonidling and Kanban policies, and we discuss when a TBP is advantageous. Using simulation, we demonstrate that the analytical insights for the two-station case hold for a three-station serial queue as well.

Suggested Citation

  • Opher Baron & Oded Berman & Dmitry Krass & Jianfu Wang, 2014. "Using Strategic Idleness to Improve Customer Service Experience in Service Networks," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 62(1), pages 123-140, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:oropre:v:62:y:2014:i:1:p:123-140
    DOI: 10.1287/opre.2013.1236
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/opre.2013.1236
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/opre.2013.1236?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paul J. Burke, 1956. "The Output of a Queuing System," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 4(6), pages 699-704, December.
    2. Opher Baron & Joseph Milner, 2009. "Staffing to Maximize Profit for Call Centers with Alternate Service-Level Agreements," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 57(3), pages 685-700, June.
    3. Dimitris Bertsimas & Daisuke Nakazato, 1995. "The Distributional Little's Law and Its Applications," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 43(2), pages 298-310, April.
    4. Opher Baron & Oded Berman & Dmitry Krass, 2008. "Facility Location with Stochastic Demand and Constraints on Waiting Time," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 10(3), pages 484-505, August.
    5. Dilip Soman & Mengze Shi, 2003. "Virtual Progress: The Effect of Path Characteristics on Perceptions of Progress and Choice," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(9), pages 1229-1250, September.
    6. Friedman, Hershey H. & Friedman, Linda W., 1997. "Reducing the "wait" in waiting-line systems: Waiting line segmentation," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 54-58.
    7. Vijay Mehrotra & Kevin Ross & Geoff Ryder & Yong-Pin Zhou, 2012. "Routing to Manage Resolution and Waiting Time in Call Centers with Heterogeneous Servers," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 14(1), pages 66-81, January.
    8. Francis de Véricourt & Otis B. Jennings, 2011. "Nurse Staffing in Medical Units: A Queueing Perspective," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 59(6), pages 1320-1331, December.
    9. René Caldentey & Lawrence M. Wein, 2006. "Revenue Management of a Make-to-Stock Queue," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 54(5), pages 859-875, October.
    10. Richard C. Larson, 1987. "OR Forum—Perspectives on Queues: Social Justice and the Psychology of Queueing," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 35(6), pages 895-905, December.
    11. Noah Gans & Ger Koole & Avishai Mandelbaum, 2003. "Telephone Call Centers: Tutorial, Review, and Research Prospects," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 5(2), pages 79-141, September.
    12. Richard Conway & William Maxwell & John O. McClain & L. Joseph Thomas, 1988. "The Role of Work-in-Process Inventory in Serial Production Lines," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 36(2), pages 229-241, April.
    13. Michael H. Veatch & Lawrence M. Wein, 1994. "Optimal Control of a Two-Station Tandem Production/Inventory System," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 42(2), pages 337-350, April.
    14. Soroush Saghafian & Wallace J. Hopp & Mark P. Van Oyen & Jeffrey S. Desmond & Steven L. Kronick, 2012. "Patient Streaming as a Mechanism for Improving Responsiveness in Emergency Departments," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 60(5), pages 1080-1097, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Opher Baron & Oded Berman & Dmitry Krass & Jianfu Wang, 2017. "Strategic Idleness and Dynamic Scheduling in an Open-Shop Service Network: Case Study and Analysis," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 19(1), pages 52-71, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Opher Baron & Oded Berman & Dmitry Krass & Jianfu Wang, 2017. "Strategic Idleness and Dynamic Scheduling in an Open-Shop Service Network: Case Study and Analysis," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 19(1), pages 52-71, February.
    2. Alex Roubos & Ger Koole & Raik Stolletz, 2012. "Service-Level Variability of Inbound Call Centers," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 14(3), pages 402-413, July.
    3. Bolandifar, Ehsan & DeHoratius, Nicole & Olsen, Tava, 2023. "Modeling abandonment behavior among patients," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 306(1), pages 243-254.
    4. Niyirora, Jerome & Zhuang, Jun, 2017. "Fluid approximations and control of queues in emergency departments," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 261(3), pages 1110-1124.
    5. Ryan W. Buell, 2017. "Last Place Aversion in Queues," Harvard Business School Working Papers 18-053, Harvard Business School, revised Oct 2019.
    6. René Bekker & Dennis Moeke & Bas Schmidt, 2019. "Keeping pace with the ebbs and flows in daily nursing home operations," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 350-363, June.
    7. Tom Fangyun Tan & Serguei Netessine, 2014. "When Does the Devil Make Work? An Empirical Study of the Impact of Workload on Worker Productivity," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(6), pages 1574-1593, June.
    8. Lauren Xiaoyuan Lu & Jan A. Van Mieghem & R. Canan Savaskan, 2009. "Incentives for Quality Through Endogenous Routing," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 11(2), pages 254-273, July.
    9. Shuangchi He, 2020. "Diffusion Approximation for Efficiency-Driven Queues When Customers Are Patient," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 68(4), pages 1265-1284, July.
    10. Yina Lu & Andrés Musalem & Marcelo Olivares & Ariel Schilkrut, 2013. "Measuring the Effect of Queues on Customer Purchases," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(8), pages 1743-1763, August.
    11. Hossein Abouee-Mehrizi & Opher Baron & Oded Berman, 2014. "Exact Analysis of Capacitated Two-Echelon Inventory Systems with Priorities," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 16(4), pages 561-577, October.
    12. Fernanda Campello & Armann Ingolfsson & Robert A. Shumsky, 2018. "Queueing Models of Case Managers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(1), pages 7-26, January.
    13. Yue Zhang & Martin L. Puterman & Matthew Nelson & Derek Atkins, 2012. "A Simulation Optimization Approach to Long-Term Care Capacity Planning," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 60(2), pages 249-261, April.
    14. Mor Armony & Guillaume Roels & Hummy Song, 2021. "Pooling Queues with Strategic Servers: The Effects of Customer Ownership," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 69(1), pages 13-29, January.
    15. Ibrahim, Rouba & L’Ecuyer, Pierre & Shen, Haipeng & Thiongane, Mamadou, 2016. "Inter-dependent, heterogeneous, and time-varying service-time distributions in call centers," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 250(2), pages 480-492.
    16. Mor Armony & Avishai Mandelbaum, 2011. "Routing and Staffing in Large-Scale Service Systems: The Case of Homogeneous Impatient Customers and Heterogeneous Servers," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 59(1), pages 50-65, February.
    17. Noa Zychlinski, 2023. "Applications of fluid models in service operations management," Queueing Systems: Theory and Applications, Springer, vol. 103(1), pages 161-185, February.
    18. Avishai Mandelbaum & Petar Momčilović & Yulia Tseytlin, 2012. "On Fair Routing from Emergency Departments to Hospital Wards: QED Queues with Heterogeneous Servers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(7), pages 1273-1291, July.
    19. Dongyuan Zhan & Amy R. Ward, 2014. "Threshold Routing to Trade Off Waiting and Call Resolution in Call Centers," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 16(2), pages 220-237, May.
    20. Tom Fangyun Tan & Serguei Netessine, 2019. "When You Work with a Superman, Will You Also Fly? An Empirical Study of the Impact of Coworkers on Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(8), pages 3495-3517, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:oropre:v:62:y:2014:i:1:p:123-140. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.