Industrial Engineering Seminar Series - Zeynep Akşin

Title: How Observed Queue Length and Service Times Drive Queue Behavior in the Lab

Abstract: Using laboratory experiments, we study join and renege decisions by subjects from a single server, observable, first come first served queue. We explore the role observed queue length and encountered service time experience plays on these decisions, and show that both the probability of reneging a queue and the survival time in a queue are affected by the queue length as well as experienced service times, for the same total waiting times. While the setting where only average service time information is provided to subjects before joining suffers from a queue length effect on reneging, this effect is partly mitigated when additionally information on total waiting time is provided. Observed service time sequences providing an early sense of progress are shown to have a distinct effect on increased patience. We further find that subjects are less inclined to join queues with random service times relative to a benchmark queue with deterministic service times.

Bio: Zeynep Akşin is Professor of Operations Management at Koç University. She holds PhD and MS degrees from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and a BS in Industrial Engineering from Middle East Technical University. Her work focuses on service operations management with applications in call centers and healthcare. She has received several awards and recognitions including a TÜBA encouragement award in social sciences, an IBM faculty award, and recognition as a finalist in the MSOM Service SIG prize.  She serves as an associate editor for IISE Transactions, Management Science, and Manufacturing and Service Operations Management.