The postpandemic world requires a renewed focus from service providers on ensuring that all customer segments receive the essential services (food, healthcare, housing, education, etc.) that they need. Philanthropic service providers are unable to cope with the increased demand caused by the social, economic, and operational challenges induced by the pandemic. For-profit service providers offering no-pay services to customers, allowing them to self-select a service option, is becoming a popular strategy in various settings. Obtaining insights into how to efficiently balance societal and financial goals is critical for a for-profit service provider. We develop and analyze a quantitative model of customer utilities, vertically differentiated product assortment, pricing, and market size to understand how service providers can effectively use customer segmentation and serve the poor in the lowest economic strata. We identify conditions under which designing the service delivery to be accessible to the poor can simultaneously benefit the for-profit service provider, customers, and the entire society. Interestingly, we observe that the increasing customer valuation of the no-pay option because of a superior quality service offered by a service provider need not benefit customers. Our work provides a framework to obtain operational, economic, and strategic insights into socially responsible service delivery strategies.
{"title":"Service Delivery Strategies for Alleviating Pandemic Suffering While Maintaining Profitability","authors":"Omkar Palsule-Desai,Vikrant Vaze,Gang Li,Srinagesh Gavirneni","doi":"10.1287/serv.2021.0278","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1287/serv.2021.0278","url":null,"abstract":"The postpandemic world requires a renewed focus from service providers on ensuring that all customer segments receive the essential services (food, healthcare, housing, education, etc.) that they need. Philanthropic service providers are unable to cope with the increased demand caused by the social, economic, and operational challenges induced by the pandemic. For-profit service providers offering no-pay services to customers, allowing them to self-select a service option, is becoming a popular strategy in various settings. Obtaining insights into how to efficiently balance societal and financial goals is critical for a for-profit service provider. We develop and analyze a quantitative model of customer utilities, vertically differentiated product assortment, pricing, and market size to understand how service providers can effectively use customer segmentation and serve the poor in the lowest economic strata. We identify conditions under which designing the service delivery to be accessible to the poor can simultaneously benefit the for-profit service provider, customers, and the entire society. Interestingly, we observe that the increasing customer valuation of the no-pay option because of a superior quality service offered by a service provider need not benefit customers. Our work provides a framework to obtain operational, economic, and strategic insights into socially responsible service delivery strategies.","PeriodicalId":46249,"journal":{"name":"Service Science","volume":"5 1","pages":"205-226"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138517804","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Special Issue on Reimagining the Science of Service in a Post-Pandemic VUCA World","authors":"M. Fisher, A. Neely, Rohit Verma, S. Benjaafar","doi":"10.1287/serv.2021.0292","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1287/serv.2021.0292","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46249,"journal":{"name":"Service Science","volume":"14 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86662857","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Changhee Kim, H. Kang, Kyunghwan Chung, Kanghwa Choi
This research investigates the impact of COVID-19 on hotel productivity change using the Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI). For 26 U.S. hotel brands, productivity changes over 10 quarters from the first quarter of 2018 to the second quarter of 2020 were analyzed. After the COVID-19 outbreak, the investigated hotels’ productivity deteriorated. Decomposition revealed that, whereas technical efficiency change (EC) improved, technological change (TC) regressed, resulting in deterioration of the MPI. The investigated hotels’ EC-related practices included enhanced cleaning operations, partnering with a hygiene brand, cutting the workforce, and pay cuts. Practices related to TC included the adoption of new hygiene technology and setting a new standard at the organizational level through the formation of a global council and accreditation related to disinfection and hygiene. Our results show that though U.S. hotels are trying to improve their productivity by efficiently utilizing resources, frontier technology’s regress is decreasing productivity. Our results support the importance of investment in technology for productivity management. This research provides empirical evidence for the need for hotels to pursue technological advances to overcome the pandemic.
{"title":"COVID-19 and Hotel Productivity Changes: An Empirical Analysis Using Malmquist Productivity Index","authors":"Changhee Kim, H. Kang, Kyunghwan Chung, Kanghwa Choi","doi":"10.1287/serv.2021.0283","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1287/serv.2021.0283","url":null,"abstract":"This research investigates the impact of COVID-19 on hotel productivity change using the Malmquist Productivity Index (MPI). For 26 U.S. hotel brands, productivity changes over 10 quarters from the first quarter of 2018 to the second quarter of 2020 were analyzed. After the COVID-19 outbreak, the investigated hotels’ productivity deteriorated. Decomposition revealed that, whereas technical efficiency change (EC) improved, technological change (TC) regressed, resulting in deterioration of the MPI. The investigated hotels’ EC-related practices included enhanced cleaning operations, partnering with a hygiene brand, cutting the workforce, and pay cuts. Practices related to TC included the adoption of new hygiene technology and setting a new standard at the organizational level through the formation of a global council and accreditation related to disinfection and hygiene. Our results show that though U.S. hotels are trying to improve their productivity by efficiently utilizing resources, frontier technology’s regress is decreasing productivity. Our results support the importance of investment in technology for productivity management. This research provides empirical evidence for the need for hotels to pursue technological advances to overcome the pandemic.","PeriodicalId":46249,"journal":{"name":"Service Science","volume":"10 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73538287","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hotel service providers are among the most affected by the evolving Covid-19 pandemic. Although the consequences of the pandemic on hotel operations have been widely examined, the question of how hotel businesses can revive, innovate, and transform in order to survive and recover remains vastly under-researched. This study aims to provide insights on this important topic by analyzing 312 news articles between December 1, 2019, and March 1, 2021, published by global news media, which report hotels’ strategies and tactics to deal with the pandemic. Grounded on chaos theory, behavioral learning theory, and an integrated crisis management model, a global pandemic crisis management framework is developed. Practically, the paper reveals best practices applied by hoteliers to deal with the pandemic (e.g., service transformation, smart marketing, strategic collaboration/alliance, mergers and acquisitions, and digitalization) and suggests ways for hotel services providers to adapt to the “new travel” age.
{"title":"Integrating Chaotic Perspective and Behavioral Learning Theory into a Global Pandemic Crisis Management Framework for Hotel Service Providers","authors":"Dung Le, G. Phi, Truc H. Le","doi":"10.1287/serv.2021.0282","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1287/serv.2021.0282","url":null,"abstract":"Hotel service providers are among the most affected by the evolving Covid-19 pandemic. Although the consequences of the pandemic on hotel operations have been widely examined, the question of how hotel businesses can revive, innovate, and transform in order to survive and recover remains vastly under-researched. This study aims to provide insights on this important topic by analyzing 312 news articles between December 1, 2019, and March 1, 2021, published by global news media, which report hotels’ strategies and tactics to deal with the pandemic. Grounded on chaos theory, behavioral learning theory, and an integrated crisis management model, a global pandemic crisis management framework is developed. Practically, the paper reveals best practices applied by hoteliers to deal with the pandemic (e.g., service transformation, smart marketing, strategic collaboration/alliance, mergers and acquisitions, and digitalization) and suggests ways for hotel services providers to adapt to the “new travel” age.","PeriodicalId":46249,"journal":{"name":"Service Science","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-11-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78825843","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented growth to the e-commerce industry, triggering widespread digital service transformation across various business segments in Vietnam. A pressing concern for both businesses and policymakers is whether the sudden peak in customer interest in e-commerce can be sustained in the future. This research seeks to address this concern by considering whether and how customers’ motivations to participate in e-commerce activities have changed. We collected primary data from a self-administered survey to empirically examine how health and safety concerns influence customers’ online shopping behavior during the pandemic, alongside other known determinants for e-commerce participation, namely technology readiness and connectedness. The results confirm that health and safety concerns have a positive influence on customers’ usage of e-commerce after controlling for technology readiness and connectedness. Furthermore, customers in age groups with higher risks of severe COVID-19 symptoms and mortality are more likely to increase e-commerce usage during the social distancing and isolation period. Our results support the idea that the customer base for e-commerce and digital services have expanded beyond the typical tech-savvy and young customers in their twenties. These are promising signs for postpandemic recovery and even expansion, as firms may leverage the momentum of change in customers’ motivations and start tailoring their public relation campaigns to address a wider age range of potential consumers.
{"title":"Impacts of Health and Safety Concerns on E-Commerce and Service Reconfiguration During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Insights from an Emerging Economy","authors":"Jason Nguyen, Q. Le, J. Ha","doi":"10.1287/serv.2021.0279","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1287/serv.2021.0279","url":null,"abstract":"The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented growth to the e-commerce industry, triggering widespread digital service transformation across various business segments in Vietnam. A pressing concern for both businesses and policymakers is whether the sudden peak in customer interest in e-commerce can be sustained in the future. This research seeks to address this concern by considering whether and how customers’ motivations to participate in e-commerce activities have changed. We collected primary data from a self-administered survey to empirically examine how health and safety concerns influence customers’ online shopping behavior during the pandemic, alongside other known determinants for e-commerce participation, namely technology readiness and connectedness. The results confirm that health and safety concerns have a positive influence on customers’ usage of e-commerce after controlling for technology readiness and connectedness. Furthermore, customers in age groups with higher risks of severe COVID-19 symptoms and mortality are more likely to increase e-commerce usage during the social distancing and isolation period. Our results support the idea that the customer base for e-commerce and digital services have expanded beyond the typical tech-savvy and young customers in their twenties. These are promising signs for postpandemic recovery and even expansion, as firms may leverage the momentum of change in customers’ motivations and start tailoring their public relation campaigns to address a wider age range of potential consumers.","PeriodicalId":46249,"journal":{"name":"Service Science","volume":"34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88788520","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Events in the year 2020 threw human service systems into chaotic states, threatening peoples’ lives and livelihoods. Before 2020, there were many profound challenges to human life that had been well documented by efforts such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The COVID-19 pandemic seems to be a “last straw” crisis that has destabilized modern human civilization. This article diagnoses various crises of human service systems (e.g., COVID-19, inequality, and climate change) and proposes the metaphor of service ecosystem health for reimagining service science in a postpandemic world. Service ecosystem health is defined as the interdependent state of private, public, and planetary well-being necessary for sustaining life. This article reimagines service science, broadens transformative service research, builds the service ecosystem health metaphor, outlines the Goldilocks Civilization thought experiment, and explores designing for a Goldilocks civilization. Because service is for humans, the ultimate objective is to elevate service science to uplift human well-being.
{"title":"Service Ecosystem Health: A Transformative Approach to Elevating Service Science","authors":"R. Fisk, Linda Alkire","doi":"10.1287/serv.2021.0281","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1287/serv.2021.0281","url":null,"abstract":"Events in the year 2020 threw human service systems into chaotic states, threatening peoples’ lives and livelihoods. Before 2020, there were many profound challenges to human life that had been well documented by efforts such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The COVID-19 pandemic seems to be a “last straw” crisis that has destabilized modern human civilization. This article diagnoses various crises of human service systems (e.g., COVID-19, inequality, and climate change) and proposes the metaphor of service ecosystem health for reimagining service science in a postpandemic world. Service ecosystem health is defined as the interdependent state of private, public, and planetary well-being necessary for sustaining life. This article reimagines service science, broadens transformative service research, builds the service ecosystem health metaphor, outlines the Goldilocks Civilization thought experiment, and explores designing for a Goldilocks civilization. Because service is for humans, the ultimate objective is to elevate service science to uplift human well-being.","PeriodicalId":46249,"journal":{"name":"Service Science","volume":"49 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79154916","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
When consumers’ preferred products are not carried by the retail chain store they visit, they may switch to purchasing these products from nearby sister stores of the same chain or from nearby competing stores. Such within- and across-chain substitution effects are enhanced as store-level product assortment information becomes increasingly available to consumers. It is important for scholars and practitioners to understand the effect of sister-store presence and market competition on retail product assortment strategies. In this paper, we obtain store-level product assortment data from a nationwide bookstore chain and study how sister-store presence and market competition can have an impact on the retail chain’s product assortment. In addition, we explore how this impact differs for niche and popular products. Our results show that having at least one sister store nearby reduces product assortment and such effects are stronger for niche products although having a competing store nearby increases product assortment and such effects are stronger for popular products.
{"title":"The Effects of Sister-Store Presence and Market Competition on Product Assortment: Evidence from Book Retailing","authors":"Tao Chen,Yu Jeffrey Hu,Mohammad Rahman,Jiong Sun","doi":"10.1287/serv.2021.0275","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1287/serv.2021.0275","url":null,"abstract":"When consumers’ preferred products are not carried by the retail chain store they visit, they may switch to purchasing these products from nearby sister stores of the same chain or from nearby competing stores. Such within- and across-chain substitution effects are enhanced as store-level product assortment information becomes increasingly available to consumers. It is important for scholars and practitioners to understand the effect of sister-store presence and market competition on retail product assortment strategies. In this paper, we obtain store-level product assortment data from a nationwide bookstore chain and study how sister-store presence and market competition can have an impact on the retail chain’s product assortment. In addition, we explore how this impact differs for niche and popular products. Our results show that having at least one sister store nearby reduces product assortment and such effects are stronger for niche products although having a competing store nearby increases product assortment and such effects are stronger for popular products.","PeriodicalId":46249,"journal":{"name":"Service Science","volume":"36 1","pages":"155-171"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138517788","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this paper, we consider an integrated vehicle routing and service scheduling problem for serving customers in distributed locations who need pick-up, drop-off, or delivery services. We take into account the random trip time, nonnegligible service time, and possible customer cancellations, under which an ill-designed schedule may lead to undesirable vehicle idleness and customer waiting. We build a stochastic mixed-integer program to minimize the operational cost plus expected penalty cost of customers’ waiting time, vehicles’ idleness, and overtime. Furthermore, to handle real-time arrived service requests, we develop K-means clustering-based algorithms to dynamically update planned routes and schedules. The algorithms assign customers to vehicles based on similarities and then plan schedules on each vehicle separately. We conduct numerical experiments based on diverse instances generated from census data and data from the Ford Motor Company’s GoRide service, to evaluate result sensitivity and to compare the in-sample and out-of-sample performance of different approaches. Managerial insights are provided using numerical results based on different parameter choices and uncertainty settings.
{"title":"Integrated Vehicle Routing and Service Scheduling Under Time and Cancellation Uncertainties with Application in Nonemergency Medical Transportation","authors":"Xian Yu, Siqian Shen, Huizhu Wang","doi":"10.1287/serv.2021.0277","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1287/serv.2021.0277","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper, we consider an integrated vehicle routing and service scheduling problem for serving customers in distributed locations who need pick-up, drop-off, or delivery services. We take into account the random trip time, nonnegligible service time, and possible customer cancellations, under which an ill-designed schedule may lead to undesirable vehicle idleness and customer waiting. We build a stochastic mixed-integer program to minimize the operational cost plus expected penalty cost of customers’ waiting time, vehicles’ idleness, and overtime. Furthermore, to handle real-time arrived service requests, we develop K-means clustering-based algorithms to dynamically update planned routes and schedules. The algorithms assign customers to vehicles based on similarities and then plan schedules on each vehicle separately. We conduct numerical experiments based on diverse instances generated from census data and data from the Ford Motor Company’s GoRide service, to evaluate result sensitivity and to compare the in-sample and out-of-sample performance of different approaches. Managerial insights are provided using numerical results based on different parameter choices and uncertainty settings.","PeriodicalId":46249,"journal":{"name":"Service Science","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84979527","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Calls for Papers—Platforms and Innovative Marketplaces for Services","authors":"Gad Allon, Baojun Jiang, Lizhen Xu, S. Benjaafar","doi":"10.1287/serv.2021.0284","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1287/serv.2021.0284","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46249,"journal":{"name":"Service Science","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83721744","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
We analyze a congested healthcare delivery setting resulting from emergency treatment of a chronic disease on a regular basis. A prominent example of the problem of interest is congestion in the emergency room (ER) at a publicly funded safety net hospital resulting from recurrent arrivals of uninsured end-stage renal disease patients needing dialysis (a.k.a. compassionate dialysis). Unfortunately, this is the only treatment option for un/under-funded patients (e.g., undocumented immigrants) with ESRD, and it is available only when the patient’s clinical condition is deemed as life-threatening after a mandatory protocol, including an initial screening assessment in the ER as dictated and communicated by hospital administration and county policy. After the screening assessment, the so-called treatment restrictions are in place, and a certain percentage of patients are sent back home; the ER, thus, serves as a screening stage. The intention here is to control system load and, hence, overcrowding via restricting service (i.e., dialysis) for recurrent arrivals as a result of the chronic nature of the underlying disease. In order to develop a deeper understanding of potential unintended consequences, we model the problem setting as a stylized queueing network with recurrent arrivals and restricted service subject to the mandatory screening assessment in the ER. We obtain analytical expressions of fundamental quantitative metrics related to network characteristics along with more sophisticated performance measures. The performance measures of interest include both traditional and new problem-specific metrics, such as those that are indicative of deterioration in patient welfare because of rejections and treatment delays. We identify cases for which treatment restrictions alone may alleviate or lead to severe congestion and treatment delays, thereby impacting both the system operation and patient welfare. The fundamental insight we offer is centered around the finding that the impact of mandatory protocol on network characteristics as well as traditional and problem-specific performance measures is nontrivial and counterintuitive. However, impact is analytically and/or numerically quantifiable via our approach. Overall, our quantitative results demonstrate that the thinking behind the mandatory protocol is potentially naive. This is because the approach does not necessarily serve its intended purpose of controlling system-load and overcrowding.
{"title":"On the Impact of Treatment Restrictions for the Indigent Suffering from a Chronic Disease: The Case of Compassionate Dialysis","authors":"Olga Bountali,Sila Çetinkaya,Vishal Ahuja","doi":"10.1287/serv.2021.0276","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1287/serv.2021.0276","url":null,"abstract":"We analyze a congested healthcare delivery setting resulting from emergency treatment of a chronic disease on a regular basis. A prominent example of the problem of interest is congestion in the emergency room (ER) at a publicly funded safety net hospital resulting from recurrent arrivals of uninsured end-stage renal disease patients needing dialysis (a.k.a. compassionate dialysis). Unfortunately, this is the only treatment option for un/under-funded patients (e.g., undocumented immigrants) with ESRD, and it is available only when the patient’s clinical condition is deemed as life-threatening after a mandatory protocol, including an initial screening assessment in the ER as dictated and communicated by hospital administration and county policy. After the screening assessment, the so-called treatment restrictions are in place, and a certain percentage of patients are sent back home; the ER, thus, serves as a screening stage. The intention here is to control system load and, hence, overcrowding via restricting service (i.e., dialysis) for recurrent arrivals as a result of the chronic nature of the underlying disease. In order to develop a deeper understanding of potential unintended consequences, we model the problem setting as a stylized queueing network with recurrent arrivals and restricted service subject to the mandatory screening assessment in the ER. We obtain analytical expressions of fundamental quantitative metrics related to network characteristics along with more sophisticated performance measures. The performance measures of interest include both traditional and new problem-specific metrics, such as those that are indicative of deterioration in patient welfare because of rejections and treatment delays. We identify cases for which treatment restrictions alone may alleviate or lead to severe congestion and treatment delays, thereby impacting both the system operation and patient welfare. The fundamental insight we offer is centered around the finding that the impact of mandatory protocol on network characteristics as well as traditional and problem-specific performance measures is nontrivial and counterintuitive. However, impact is analytically and/or numerically quantifiable via our approach. Overall, our quantitative results demonstrate that the thinking behind the mandatory protocol is potentially naive. This is because the approach does not necessarily serve its intended purpose of controlling system-load and overcrowding.","PeriodicalId":46249,"journal":{"name":"Service Science","volume":"6 1","pages":"133-154"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138542686","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}