IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ejores/v256y2017i1p230-241.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Resource pooling in the presence of failures: Efficiency versus risk

Author

Listed:
  • Andradóttir, Sigrún
  • Ayhan, Hayriye
  • Down, Douglas G.

Abstract

This paper studies the effects of resource pooling on system performance in the presence of failures. The goal is to understand whether pooling increases efficiency and/or reduces risk. We consider four queueing systems with different degrees of pooling (one has no pooling, one has only queues pooled, one has queues and failures pooled, and one has servers pooled), estimate efficiency via the mean number of customers in each system, and assess risk via the probability that there are many customers in each system. Our results show that when servers are subject to failures, pooling queues is always beneficial, whereas pooling both queues and servers improves efficiency but also increases risk. Thus, there is a tradeoff between efficiency and risk in the presence of failures. These conclusions are different from reliable systems where pooling simultaneously improves efficiency and reduces risk and more pooling is better than less pooling (e.g., pooling queues and servers is better than pooling queues only). Thus, insights about resource pooling obtained from studying reliable systems should be used with caution in the presence of failures.

Suggested Citation

  • Andradóttir, Sigrún & Ayhan, Hayriye & Down, Douglas G., 2017. "Resource pooling in the presence of failures: Efficiency versus risk," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 256(1), pages 230-241.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ejores:v:256:y:2017:i:1:p:230-241
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2016.05.009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0377221716303290
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ejor.2016.05.009?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael H. Rothkopf & Paul Rech, 1987. "Perspectives on Queues: Combining Queues is Not Always Beneficial," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 35(6), pages 906-909, December.
    2. Avishai Mandelbaum & Martin I. Reiman, 1998. "On Pooling in Queueing Networks," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(7), pages 971-981, July.
    3. van Dijk, Nico & van der Sluis, Erik, 2009. "Pooling is not the answer," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 197(1), pages 415-421, August.
    4. Alan Scheller-Wolf, 2003. "Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Delay Moments in FIFO Multiserver Queues with an Application Comparing s Slow Servers with One Fast One," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 51(5), pages 748-758, October.
    5. Benjaafar, Saifallah, 1995. "Performance bounds for the effectiveness of pooling in multi-processing systems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 375-388, December.
    6. I. L. Mitrany & B. Avi-Itzhak, 1968. "A Many-Server Queue with Service Interruptions," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 16(3), pages 628-638, June.
    7. Rodney B. Wallace & Ward Whitt, 2005. "A Staffing Algorithm for Call Centers with Skill-Based Routing," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 7(4), pages 276-294, August.
    8. Chao, Xiuli & Zhao, Yiqiang Q., 1998. "Analysis of multi-server queues with station and server vacations," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 110(2), pages 392-406, October.
    9. Joel M. Calabrese, 1992. "Optimal Workload Allocation in Open Networks of Multiserver Queues," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 38(12), pages 1792-1802, December.
    10. Sem Borst & Avi Mandelbaum & Martin I. Reiman, 2004. "Dimensioning Large Call Centers," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 52(1), pages 17-34, February.
    11. John A. Buzacott, 1996. "Commonalities in Reengineered Business Processes: Models and Issues," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(5), pages 768-782, May.
    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. Nur Sunar & Yichen Tu & Serhan Ziya, 2021. "Pooled vs. Dedicated Queues when Customers Are Delay-Sensitive," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(6), pages 3785-3802, June.

    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. Nur Sunar & Yichen Tu & Serhan Ziya, 2021. "Pooled vs. Dedicated Queues when Customers Are Delay-Sensitive," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(6), pages 3785-3802, June.
    2. Tanja Mlinar & Philippe Chevalier, 2016. "Pooling heterogeneous products for manufacturing environments," 4OR, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 173-200, June.
    3. Saied Samiedaluie & Vedat Verter, 2019. "The impact of specialization of hospitals on patient access to care; a queuing analysis with an application to a neurological hospital," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 709-726, December.
    4. Suri Gurumurthi & Saif Benjaafar, 2004. "Modeling and analysis of flexible queueing systems," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 51(5), pages 755-782, August.
    5. Nilay Tanık Argon & Sigrún Andradóttir, 2017. "Pooling in tandem queueing networks with non-collaborative servers," Queueing Systems: Theory and Applications, Springer, vol. 87(3), pages 345-377, December.
    6. Oualid Jouini & Yves Dallery & Rabie Nait-Abdallah, 2008. "Analysis of the Impact of Team-Based Organizations in Call Center Management," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 54(2), pages 400-414, February.
    7. René Bekker & Ger Koole & Dennis Roubos, 2017. "Flexible bed allocations for hospital wards," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 453-466, December.
    8. Hummy Song & Anita L. Tucker & Karen L. Murrell, 2015. "The Diseconomies of Queue Pooling: An Empirical Investigation of Emergency Department Length of Stay," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(12), pages 3032-3053, December.
    9. Legros, Benjamin & Jouini, Oualid & Dallery, Yves, 2015. "A flexible architecture for call centers with skill-based routing," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 192-207.
    10. Frank Karsten & Marco Slikker & Geert-Jan van Houtum, 2015. "Resource Pooling and Cost Allocation Among Independent Service Providers," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 63(2), pages 476-488, April.
    11. Avishai Mandelbaum & Martin I. Reiman, 1998. "On Pooling in Queueing Networks," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(7), pages 971-981, July.
    12. Ward Whitt, 1999. "Partitioning Customers into Service Groups," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 45(11), pages 1579-1592, November.
    13. Sigrún Andradóttir & Hayriye Ayhan & Douglas G. Down, 2001. "Server Assignment Policies for Maximizing the Steady-State Throughput of Finite Queueing Systems," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(10), pages 1421-1439, October.
    14. Achal Bassamboo & Assaf Zeevi, 2009. "On a Data-Driven Method for Staffing Large Call Centers," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 57(3), pages 714-726, June.
    15. Merve Bodur & James R. Luedtke, 2017. "Mixed-Integer Rounding Enhanced Benders Decomposition for Multiclass Service-System Staffing and Scheduling with Arrival Rate Uncertainty," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(7), pages 2073-2091, July.
    16. van Dijk, Nico & van der Sluis, Erik, 2009. "Pooling is not the answer," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 197(1), pages 415-421, August.
    17. Noah Gans & Yong-Pin Zhou, 2007. "Call-Routing Schemes for Call-Center Outsourcing," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 9(1), pages 33-50, May.
    18. Evrim D. Günec{s} & O. Zeynep Akc{s}in, 2004. "Value Creation in Service Delivery: Relating Market Segmentation, Incentives, and Operational Performance," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 6(4), pages 338-357, May.
    19. Guodong Pang & Ward Whitt, 2009. "Service Interruptions in Large-Scale Service Systems," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(9), pages 1499-1512, September.
    20. Muhammad El-Taha & Bacel Maddah, 2006. "Allocation of Service Time in a Multiserver System," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(4), pages 623-637, April.

    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:eee:ejores:v:256:y:2017:i:1:p:230-241. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eor .

    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.