Evaluation of trade-offs between workflow escalation strategies. (March 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Si, Yain-Whar; Dumas, Marlon; Chan, Ka-Leong
• Is Part Of: Concurrent engineering, research and applications. Volume 22:Number 1(2014:Mar.)
• Page Start: 77
• Page End: 88
• Publication Date: 2014-03
• Subjects: Escalation strategy -- workflow management -- simulation -- key performance indicators; Production engineering -- Periodicals; Concurrent engineering -- Periodicals; 621.39
• DOI: 10.1177/1063293X13516965
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1063-293X

Abstract

Workflows in the service industry are subject to exceptional circumstances that affect the ability to complete work in a timely manner. For instance, workflows may need to deal with sudden spikes in customer demand due to a variety of events such as promotional deals, product launches, major news, or natural disasters. Escalation strategies can be incorporated into the design of a workflow so that it can cope with sudden spikes in the number of service requests while mitigating the effects of missed deadlines. In this article, we propose a method for evaluating escalation strategies using simulation technology. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated on a workflow from an insurance company.