Flexible Service Capacity: Optimal Investment and the Impact of Demand Correlation

摘要: We consider a firm that provides multiple services using both specialized and flexible capacity. The problem is formulated as two-stage, single-period stochastic program. invests in capacity before the actual demand known optimally assigns to customers when realized. Sample applications include car rental company's use of mid-sized cars satisfy unexpectedly high for compact an airline's business-class seats economy-class demand. obtain analytical solution particular case, may be upgraded by one class. simple form allows us compare optimal capacities explicitly with does not anticipate flexibility. Given follows multivariate normal distribution, we analytically characterize effects increasing correlation on solution. For case two customer classes, are intuitive: Increasing induces shift from dedicated When there three or more also adjustments resources directly affected change. As rises, these changes follow alternating pattern (for example, if resource then adjacent falls). These results make precise conjectures based numerical experiments have existed literature some time.