Intertemporal service pricing with strategic customers

We study a two-period intertemporal pricing game in a single-server service system with forward-looking strategic customers who make their purchase decision based on current information and anticipated future gains. Subgame perfect Nash equilibrium (SPNE) prices are derived. A comparison between revenue-maximizing equilibrium prices and welfare-maximizing equilibrium prices is conducted and the impact on the system’s performance of misunderstanding customers’ type is evaluated.     

Evaluating the performance of Swedish savings banks according to service efficiency

This article develops principles for an evaluation of the efficiency of a savings bank. It starts out from the observation that such a bank is less profit oriented than a commercial bank. The customer is a vital stakeholder to the savings bank implying a greater emphasis on customer service provision. We are using data envelopment analysis (DEA) as a method to consider the service orientation of savings banks. We thereby demonstrate how an evaluation of the performance of savings banks according to “service efficiency” differs from an evaluation based on the traditional “profit” or shareholder concept. We determine the number of Swedish savings banks being “service efficient” as well as the average degree of service efficiency in this industry.     

Skilled workforce scheduling in Service Centres

The Skilled Workforce Project Scheduling Problem (SWPSP) is a complex problem of task scheduling and resource assignment that comes up in the daily management of many company Service Centres (SC). The SWPSP considers many real characteristics faced daily by the SC: client-company service quality agreements that establish maximum dates for the beginning and the end of tasks with penalties for delays, criticality levels indicating the client-priority in processing each task, generalized precedence relationships that can produce cycle structures, time period and percentage time lags and variable task durations depending on the worker executing the task. Furthermore, the SC workforce is made up of specialist workers characterised by efficiency levels showing their efficiency and speed executing the several types of tasks. Each worker has his or her own timetable.     

一种支持分级服务和最小带宽保证的改进TCP算法

本文提出了一种支持分级服务和最小带宽保证的改进TCP算法－DSAS－TCP，通过对TCP算中慢启动阈值和最小拥塞窗口的分级设置来使不同等级连接的平均吞吐量产生分级，并保证用户的最小带宽需求。通过理论分析和仿真实验验证了该算法的有效性。     

全球移动蜂窝通信的革命

近年来，移动蜂窝通信的发展速度可谓骇世惊人。１９９０年，移动用户有１１００万，到１９９８年底达到了３亿多个。据预测，在今后１０年中移动蜂窝用户数将超过固定电话。本文研究了全球移动蜂窝通信的发展状况，就技术革命、服务提供、管制、接入、价格以及发展前途等方面进行了详细的论述。     

信息服务业发展现状与举措分析

为缓解金融危机对经济带来的不利影响,全球主要国家纷纷出台与信息服务业相关的政策或举措,这些举措有何借鉴意义？本文在分析信息服务业现状和特点的基础上,重点梳理了美国、欧洲、日本、韩国、印度和中国的发展举措和措施,最后总结出各国或地区发展举措中值得借鉴的地方,     

A framework for delivering fine granularity and fair service discrimination in DiffServ networks

In order to achieve a quality of service (QoS) capable of satisfying an ever increasing range of user requirements, differentiated services (DiffServ) have been introduced as a scalable solution that emerges ‘naturally’ from today's best effort service approach. Mapping the packet treatment into a small number of per hop behaviours (PHBs) is the key idea behind the scalability of DiffServ but this comes at the cost of loosing some behavioural differentiation and some fairness between flows multiplexed into the same aggregated traffic. The paper proposes a novel simple and effective DiffServ approach, the ‘Simple Weighted Integration of diFferentiated Traffic’ (SWIFT), and uses it in a series of simulations covering a relatively wide range of local network conditions. Measured voice and video traffic traces and computer generated self‐similar background traffic were used in simulations performed at various congestion levels and for in‐profile and out‐of‐profile source behaviour. The resulted throughput, mean delay, maximum delay and jitter are used to asses SWIFT's capabilities—isolation of the in‐profile traffic from congestion effects, treatment differentiation, increased resource utilization, fairness in treatment under congestion, and incentivity for nice behaviour. Comparisons with other approaches employing traffic control are also provided. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of a queueing system with a general service scheduling function,with applications to telecommunication network traffic control

In this paper we analyze a queueing system with a general service scheduling function. There are two types of customer with different service requirements. The service order for customers of each type is determined by the service scheduling function α_k(i, j) where α_k(i, j) is the probability for type-k customer to be selected when there are i type-1 and j type-2 customers. This model is motivated by traffic control to support traffic streams with different traffic characteristics in telecommunication networks (in particular, ATM networks). By using the embedded Markov chain and supplementary variable methods, we obtain the queue-length distribution as well as the loss probability and the mean waiting time for each type of customer. We also apply our model to traffic control to support diverse traffics in telecommunication networks. Finally, the performance measures of the existing diverse scheduling policies are compared. We expect to help the system designers select appropriate scheduling policy for their systems.     

Optimum advertising policy over time for subscriber service innovations in the presence of service cost learning and customers’ disadoption

On the theoretical side, this paper characterizes qualitatively optimal advertising policy for new subscriber services. A monopolistic market is analyzed first for which customers’ disadoption, discounting of future profits streams and a service cost learning curve are allowed. After characterizing the optimal policy for a general diffusion model, the results pertaining to a specific diffusion model for which advertising affects the coefficient of innovation that incorporates the disadoption rate are reported. The results of the theoretical research show that the advertising policy of the service firm in the presence of customers’ disadoption could be very different from the same when disadoption is ignored.On the empirical side, four alternative diffusion models are estimated and their predictive powers using a one-step-ahead forecasting procedure compared. The diffusion data analyzed are related to the Canadian cable TV industry. Empirical research findings suggest that the specific diffusion model considered above is not only of theoretical appeal but also of major empirical relevance.The analytical findings of the study are documented in six theoretical propositions for which proofs are provided in a separate Appendix. The results of a related numerical experiment together with the analytical findings pertaining to the competitive role of advertising are included. Managerial implications of the study together with directions for future research are also discussed.     

Tail asymptotics for service systems with transfers of customers in an alternating environment

This study examines service systems with transfers of customers in an alternating environment. We model the service system as a two-server two-parallel queue (primary and auxiliary queues), that has various applications especially in manufacturing and healthcare systems. We establish a sufficient stability condition, and based on the censoring technique, we provide sufficient conditions under which the stationary distribution possesses an exactly geometric tail along the direction of the queue length in the primary queue.