subject:(Staffing service systems)

University of Texas – Austin

1. -1709-7032. Resource allocation in service and logistics systems.

Degree: PhD, Operations Research & Industrial Engineering, 2016, University of Texas – Austin

► Resource allocation is a problem commonly encountered in strategic planning, where a typical objective is to minimize the associated cost or maximize the resulting profit.… (more)

▼ Resource allocation is a problem commonly encountered in strategic planning, where a typical objective is to minimize the associated cost or maximize the resulting profit. It is studied analytically and numerically for service and logistics systems in this dissertation, with the major resource being people, services or trucks. First, a staffing level problem is analyzed for large-scale single-station queueing systems. The system manager operates an Erlang-C queueing system with a quality-of-service (QoS) constraint on the probability that a customer is queued. However, in this model, the arrival rate is uncertain in the sense that even the arrival-rate distribution is not completely known to the manager. Rather, the manager has an estimate of the support of the arrival-rate distribution and the mean. The goal is to determine the number of servers needed to satisfy the quality of service constraint. Two models are explored. First, the constraint is enforced on an overall delay probability, given the probability that different feasible arrival-rate distributions are selected. In the second case, the constraint has to be satisfied by every possible distribution. For both problems, asymptotically optimal solutions are developed based on Halfin-Whitt type scalings. The work is followed by a discussion on solution uniqueness with a joint QoS constraint and a given arrival-rate distribution in multi-station systems. Second, an extension to Naor’s analysis on the joining or balking problem in observable M=M=1 queues and its variant in unobservable M=M=1 queues is presented to incorporate parameter uncertainty. The arrival-rate distribution is known to all, but the exact arrival rate is unknown in both cases. The optimal joining strategies are obtained and compared from the perspectives of individual customers, the social optimizer and the profit maximizer, where differences are recognized between the results for systems with deterministic and stochastic arrival rates. Finally, an integrated ordering and inbound shipping problem is formulated for an assembly plant with a large number of suppliers. The objective is to minimize the annual total cost with a static strategy. Potential transportation modes include full truckload shipping and less than truckload shipping, the former of which allows customized routing while the latter does not. A location-based model is applied in search of near-optimal solutions instead of an exact model with vehicle routing, and numerical experiments are conducted to investigate the insights of the problem. Advisors/Committee Members: Hasenbein, John J. (advisor), Kutanoglu, Erhan (advisor), Bickel, James E. (committee member), Khajavirad, Aida (committee member), Morrice, Douglas J. (committee member).

Subjects/Keywords: Staffing service systems; Parameter uncertainty; Game-theoretic queueing; Inbound shipping

Record Details Similar Records Cite « Share

❌

APA · Chicago · MLA · Vancouver · CSE | Export to Zotero / EndNote / Reference Manager

APA (6^th Edition):

-1709-7032. (2016). Resource allocation in service and logistics systems. (Doctoral Dissertation). University of Texas – Austin. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2152/47042

Note: this citation may be lacking information needed for this citation format:
Author name may be incomplete

Chicago Manual of Style (16^th Edition):

-1709-7032. “Resource allocation in service and logistics systems.” 2016. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Texas – Austin. Accessed January 21, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/2152/47042.

Note: this citation may be lacking information needed for this citation format:
Author name may be incomplete

MLA Handbook (7^th Edition):

-1709-7032. “Resource allocation in service and logistics systems.” 2016. Web. 21 Jan 2021.

Note: this citation may be lacking information needed for this citation format:
Author name may be incomplete

Vancouver:

-1709-7032. Resource allocation in service and logistics systems. [Internet] [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Texas – Austin; 2016. [cited 2021 Jan 21]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/2152/47042.

Note: this citation may be lacking information needed for this citation format:
Author name may be incomplete

Council of Science Editors:

-1709-7032. Resource allocation in service and logistics systems. [Doctoral Dissertation]. University of Texas – Austin; 2016. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/2152/47042

Note: this citation may be lacking information needed for this citation format:
Author name may be incomplete

University of Ottawa

2. Wesolowski, Peter. We Only Accept Online Applications: The Effect of HRIS E-Recruitment Technology on Job-Seeker Fairness Perceptions in the Canadian Federal Public Sector .

Degree: 2016, University of Ottawa

URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10393/34321

► Industrial-organizational psychologist Stephen S.W. Gilliland developed a model for studying job-seeker fairness perceptions in 1993 based on existing research in organizational justice. The model includes… (more)

▼ Industrial-organizational psychologist Stephen S.W. Gilliland developed a model for studying job-seeker fairness perceptions in 1993 based on existing research in organizational justice. The model includes several rules which will result in job-seeker perceptions of fairness if satisfied and job-seeker perceptions of unfairness if violated. Given the prominence of this model in the literature as well as changes which have occurred in personnel selection (such as human resource information systems, or HRIS, and e-recruitment), scholars have called for a technological re-envisioning of the original model, especially the explanations/descriptions ascribed to each rule. The present study seeks to understand how HRIS e-recruitment technology impacts job-seeker fairness perceptions and in so doing update the Gilliland (1993) model using a qualitative methodology and website success measures from information systems success theory. It contributes to the literature on applicant fairness perceptions by accounting for technological change, and contributes to the field of Public Administration by studying a governmental e-recruitment portal thereby accounting for the particularities of public-sector HRM which is underrepresented in the organizational justice literature. Over the course of one (1) year, twelve (12) job-seekers participated in a series of focus group interviews where they reflected on their experiences applying for jobs in the Canadian federal civil service using the government’s e-recruitment portal. Participants completed profiles, sent applications, communicated with government personnel, and wrote internet tests, among other job-search activities, and reported on their experiences from the perspective of fairness. Results confirm the validity of all original procedural justice rules and offer insight into their application in a recruitment environment where applicants invest considerable time interacting with computerized systems. Two additional rules are also put forth including the ease with which candidates can deceive tests and privacy/trustworthiness using technology. The findings are limited insofar as data gathering took place during a time of reduced hiring activity by the employer and because participation was limited to one (1) specific geographic location.

Subjects/Keywords: Fairness perceptions; Job-search; Applicant reactions; Organizational Justice; Industrial-Organizational Psychology; Employment Search; E-Recruitment; Human Resources Information Systems; Public Service Commission; Public Administration; Information Systems Success Theory; Procedural Justice; Personnel Selection; Staffing; Government of Canada; Unsupervised Internet Testing; Focus Group

Record Details Similar Records Cite « Share

❌

APA · Chicago · MLA · Vancouver · CSE | Export to Zotero / EndNote / Reference Manager

APA (6^th Edition):

Wesolowski, P. (2016). We Only Accept Online Applications: The Effect of HRIS E-Recruitment Technology on Job-Seeker Fairness Perceptions in the Canadian Federal Public Sector . (Thesis). University of Ottawa. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10393/34321

Note: this citation may be lacking information needed for this citation format:
Not specified: Masters Thesis or Doctoral Dissertation

Chicago Manual of Style (16^th Edition):

Wesolowski, Peter. “We Only Accept Online Applications: The Effect of HRIS E-Recruitment Technology on Job-Seeker Fairness Perceptions in the Canadian Federal Public Sector .” 2016. Thesis, University of Ottawa. Accessed January 21, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/34321.

Note: this citation may be lacking information needed for this citation format:
Not specified: Masters Thesis or Doctoral Dissertation

MLA Handbook (7^th Edition):

Wesolowski, Peter. “We Only Accept Online Applications: The Effect of HRIS E-Recruitment Technology on Job-Seeker Fairness Perceptions in the Canadian Federal Public Sector .” 2016. Web. 21 Jan 2021.

Vancouver:

Wesolowski P. We Only Accept Online Applications: The Effect of HRIS E-Recruitment Technology on Job-Seeker Fairness Perceptions in the Canadian Federal Public Sector . [Internet] [Thesis]. University of Ottawa; 2016. [cited 2021 Jan 21]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/10393/34321.

Note: this citation may be lacking information needed for this citation format:
Not specified: Masters Thesis or Doctoral Dissertation

Council of Science Editors:

Wesolowski P. We Only Accept Online Applications: The Effect of HRIS E-Recruitment Technology on Job-Seeker Fairness Perceptions in the Canadian Federal Public Sector . [Thesis]. University of Ottawa; 2016. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/10393/34321

Note: this citation may be lacking information needed for this citation format:
Not specified: Masters Thesis or Doctoral Dissertation

Indian Institute of Science

3. Prasad, H L. Algorithms For Stochastic Games And Service Systems.

Degree: PhD, Faculty of Engineering, 2014, Indian Institute of Science

URL: http://etd.iisc.ac.in/handle/2005/2301

► This thesis is organized into two parts, one for my main area of research in the field of stochastic games, and the other for my… (more)

▼ This thesis is organized into two parts, one for my main area of research in the field of stochastic games, and the other for my contributions in the area of service systems. We first provide an abstract for my work in stochastic games. The field of stochastic games has been actively pursued over the last seven decades because of several of its important applications in oligopolistic economics. In the past, zero-sum stochastic games have been modelled and solved for Nash equilibria using the standard techniques of Markov decision processes. General-sum stochastic games on the contrary have posed difficulty as they cannot be reduced to Markov decision processes. Over the past few decades the quest for algorithms to compute Nash equilibria in general-sum stochastic games has intensified and several important algorithms such as stochastic tracing procedure [Herings and Peeters, 2004], NashQ [Hu and Wellman, 2003], FFQ [Littman, 2001], etc., and their generalised representations such as the optimization problem formulations for various reward structures [Filar and Vrieze, 1997] have been proposed. However, they suffer from either lack of generality or are intractable for even medium sized problems or both. In our venture towards algorithms for stochastic games, we start with a non-linear optimization problem and then design a simple gradient descent procedure for the same. Though this procedure gives the Nash equilibrium for a sample problem of terrain exploration, we observe that, in general, it need not be true. We characterize the necessary conditions and define KKT-N point. KKT-N points are those Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) points which corresponding to Nash equilibria. Thus, for a simple gradient based algorithm to guarantee convergence to Nash equilibrium, all KKT points of the optimization problem need to be KKT-N points, which restricts the applicability of such algorithms. We then take a step back and start looking at better characterization of those points of the optimization problem which correspond to Nash equilibria of the underlying game. As a result of this exploration, we derive two sets of necessary and sufficient conditions. The first set, KKT-SP conditions, is inspired from KKT conditions itself and is obtained by breaking down the main optimization problem into several sub-problems and then applying KKT conditions to each one of those sub-problems. The second set, SG-SP conditions, is a simplified set of conditions which characterize those Nash points more compactly. Using both KKT-SP and SG-SP conditions, we propose three algorithms, OFF-SGSP, ON-SGSP and DON-SGSP, respectively, which we show provide Nash equilibrium strategies for general-sum discounted stochastic games. Here OFF-SGSP is an off-line algorithm while ONSGSP and DON-SGSP are on-line algorithms. In particular, we believe that DON-SGSP is the first decentralized on-line algorithm for general-sum discounted stochastic games. We show that both our on-line algorithms are computationally efficient. In fact, we show that DON-SGSP is not only… Advisors/Committee Members: Bhatnagar, Shalabh (advisor).

Subjects/Keywords: Algorithms; Stochastic Games; Stochastic Games - Algorithms; Nash Equilibrium Computation; Gradient Descent Schemes; Markov Decision Processes; Service Systems - Labour Costs - Modelling; Labour Staffing Optimization - Algorithms; Markov Cost Process; Labour Costs - Modelling; Labor Cost Optimization; Nash Equilibria; Game Theory

Record Details Similar Records Cite « Share

❌

APA · Chicago · MLA · Vancouver · CSE | Export to Zotero / EndNote / Reference Manager

APA (6^th Edition):

Prasad, H. L. (2014). Algorithms For Stochastic Games And Service Systems. (Doctoral Dissertation). Indian Institute of Science. Retrieved from http://etd.iisc.ac.in/handle/2005/2301

Chicago Manual of Style (16^th Edition):

Prasad, H L. “Algorithms For Stochastic Games And Service Systems.” 2014. Doctoral Dissertation, Indian Institute of Science. Accessed January 21, 2021. http://etd.iisc.ac.in/handle/2005/2301.

MLA Handbook (7^th Edition):

Prasad, H L. “Algorithms For Stochastic Games And Service Systems.” 2014. Web. 21 Jan 2021.

Vancouver:

Prasad HL. Algorithms For Stochastic Games And Service Systems. [Internet] [Doctoral dissertation]. Indian Institute of Science; 2014. [cited 2021 Jan 21]. Available from: http://etd.iisc.ac.in/handle/2005/2301.

Council of Science Editors:

Prasad HL. Algorithms For Stochastic Games And Service Systems. [Doctoral Dissertation]. Indian Institute of Science; 2014. Available from: http://etd.iisc.ac.in/handle/2005/2301

Indian Institute of Science

4. Prashanth, L A. Resource Allocation for Sequential Decision Making Under Uncertainaty : Studies in Vehicular Traffic Control, Service Systems, Sensor Networks and Mechanism Design.

Degree: PhD, Faculty of Engineering, 2017, Indian Institute of Science

URL: http://etd.iisc.ac.in/handle/2005/2810

► A fundamental question in a sequential decision making setting under uncertainty is “how to allocate resources amongst competing entities so as to maximize the rewards… (more)

▼ A fundamental question in a sequential decision making setting under uncertainty is “how to allocate resources amongst competing entities so as to maximize the rewards accumulated in the long run?”. The resources allocated may be either abstract quantities such as time or concrete quantities such as manpower. The sequential decision making setting involves one or more agents interacting with an environment to procure rewards at every time instant and the goal is to find an optimal policy for choosing actions. Most of these problems involve multiple (infinite) stages and the objective function is usually a long-run performance objective. The problem is further complicated by the uncertainties in the sys-tem, for instance, the stochastic noise and partial observability in a single-agent setting or private information of the agents in a multi-agent setting. The dimensionality of the problem also plays an important role in the solution methodology adopted. Most of the real-world problems involve high-dimensional state and action spaces and an important design aspect of the solution is the choice of knowledge representation. The aim of this thesis is to answer important resource allocation related questions in different real-world application contexts and in the process contribute novel algorithms to the theory as well. The resource allocation algorithms considered include those from stochastic optimization, stochastic control and reinforcement learning. A number of new algorithms are developed as well. The application contexts selected encompass both single and multi-agent systems, abstract and concrete resources and contain high-dimensional state and control spaces. The empirical results from the various studies performed indicate that the algorithms presented here perform significantly better than those previously proposed in the literature. Further, the algorithms presented here are also shown to theoretically converge, hence guaranteeing optimal performance. We now briefly describe the various studies conducted here to investigate problems of resource allocation under uncertainties of different kinds: Vehicular Traffic Control The aim here is to optimize the ‘green time’ resource of the individual lanes in road networks that maximizes a certain long-term performance objective. We develop several reinforcement learning based algorithms for solving this problem. In the infinite horizon discounted Markov decision process setting, a Q-learning based traffic light control (TLC) algorithm that incorporates feature based representations and function approximation to handle large road networks is proposed, see Prashanth and Bhatnagar [2011b]. This TLC algorithm works with coarse information, obtained via graded thresholds, about the congestion level on the lanes of the road network. However, the graded threshold values used in the above Q-learning based TLC algorithm as well as several other graded threshold-based TLC algorithms that we propose, may not be optimal for all traffic conditions. We therefore also develop a… Advisors/Committee Members: Bhatnagar, Shalabh (advisor).

Subjects/Keywords: Vehicular Traffic Control; Service Systems; Sensor Networks; Mechanism Design; Traffic Signal Control - Q-Learning; Traffic Signal Control; Signal Control - Threshold Tuning; Traffic Light Control Algorithm; Adaptive Labor Staffing; Sleep-Wake Scheduling Algorithms; Reinforcement Learning; Vehicular Control; Graded Signal Control; Adaptive Sleep–wake Control; Computer Science

Record Details Similar Records Cite « Share

❌

APA · Chicago · MLA · Vancouver · CSE | Export to Zotero / EndNote / Reference Manager

APA (6^th Edition):

Prashanth, L. A. (2017). Resource Allocation for Sequential Decision Making Under Uncertainaty : Studies in Vehicular Traffic Control, Service Systems, Sensor Networks and Mechanism Design. (Doctoral Dissertation). Indian Institute of Science. Retrieved from http://etd.iisc.ac.in/handle/2005/2810

Chicago Manual of Style (16^th Edition):

Prashanth, L A. “Resource Allocation for Sequential Decision Making Under Uncertainaty : Studies in Vehicular Traffic Control, Service Systems, Sensor Networks and Mechanism Design.” 2017. Doctoral Dissertation, Indian Institute of Science. Accessed January 21, 2021. http://etd.iisc.ac.in/handle/2005/2810.

MLA Handbook (7^th Edition):

Prashanth, L A. “Resource Allocation for Sequential Decision Making Under Uncertainaty : Studies in Vehicular Traffic Control, Service Systems, Sensor Networks and Mechanism Design.” 2017. Web. 21 Jan 2021.

Vancouver:

Prashanth LA. Resource Allocation for Sequential Decision Making Under Uncertainaty : Studies in Vehicular Traffic Control, Service Systems, Sensor Networks and Mechanism Design. [Internet] [Doctoral dissertation]. Indian Institute of Science; 2017. [cited 2021 Jan 21]. Available from: http://etd.iisc.ac.in/handle/2005/2810.

Council of Science Editors:

Prashanth LA. Resource Allocation for Sequential Decision Making Under Uncertainaty : Studies in Vehicular Traffic Control, Service Systems, Sensor Networks and Mechanism Design. [Doctoral Dissertation]. Indian Institute of Science; 2017. Available from: http://etd.iisc.ac.in/handle/2005/2810

University of Florida

5. Halberg, Daniel Lee, 1969-. Optimizing service capacity in the drug information service.

Degree: 1998, University of Florida

URL: https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00024954

Subjects/Keywords: Drug evaluation; Information services; Modeling; Pharmacies; Quality analysis; Questionnaires; Service time; Simulations; Staffing; Telephones; Computer Simulation ( mesh ); Consumer Satisfaction ( mesh ); Department of Pharmacy Health Care Administration thesis Ph.D ( mesh ); Drug Information Services ( mesh ); Quality Assurance, Health Care ( mesh ); Questionnaires ( mesh ); Research ( mesh ); Systems Analysis ( mesh )

Record Details Similar Records Cite « Share

❌

APA · Chicago · MLA · Vancouver · CSE | Export to Zotero / EndNote / Reference Manager

APA (6^th Edition):

Halberg, Daniel Lee, 1. (1998). Optimizing service capacity in the drug information service. (Thesis). University of Florida. Retrieved from https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00024954

Note: this citation may be lacking information needed for this citation format:
Not specified: Masters Thesis or Doctoral Dissertation

Chicago Manual of Style (16^th Edition):

Halberg, Daniel Lee, 1969-. “Optimizing service capacity in the drug information service.” 1998. Thesis, University of Florida. Accessed January 21, 2021. https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00024954.

Note: this citation may be lacking information needed for this citation format:
Not specified: Masters Thesis or Doctoral Dissertation

MLA Handbook (7^th Edition):

Halberg, Daniel Lee, 1969-. “Optimizing service capacity in the drug information service.” 1998. Web. 21 Jan 2021.

Vancouver:

Halberg, Daniel Lee 1. Optimizing service capacity in the drug information service. [Internet] [Thesis]. University of Florida; 1998. [cited 2021 Jan 21]. Available from: https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00024954.

Note: this citation may be lacking information needed for this citation format:
Not specified: Masters Thesis or Doctoral Dissertation

Council of Science Editors:

Halberg, Daniel Lee 1. Optimizing service capacity in the drug information service. [Thesis]. University of Florida; 1998. Available from: https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00024954

Note: this citation may be lacking information needed for this citation format:
Not specified: Masters Thesis or Doctoral Dissertation

Open Access Theses and Dissertations