Cornell University
Library
Cornell UniversityLibrary

eCommons

Help
Log In(current)
  1. Home
  2. Cornell University Graduate School
  3. Cornell Theses and Dissertations
  4. STAFFING FOR HOUSEKEEPING OPERATIONS

STAFFING FOR HOUSEKEEPING OPERATIONS

File(s)
Li_cornell_0058O_10953.pdf (222.6 KB)
Permanent Link(s)
https://doi.org/10.7298/2b6p-d662
https://hdl.handle.net/1813/103162
Collections
Cornell Theses and Dissertations
Author
Li, Buyun
Abstract

Motivated by hotel housekeeping staffing challenges, we study a model in which reusable resources require service between intervals of use by successive customers. For each day, the firm decides how many servers to work a shift, and when each should begin working. Customers arrive and depart randomly over the course of the day. The firm's objective is to minimize the combined staffing cost and cost of guests waiting. We use a sample average approximation approach to solve this problem as an integer linear program and provide structural properties for a simple version of the problem. We test the resulting policy on a discrete-event simulation using both stylized and empirical hotel guest arrival and departure data. We show that the optimization methods based scheduling heuristics can save up to 17% of the total cost compared to a common industry staffing heuristic. With less or equal labor force than the common staffing, the schedule heuristics we propose can lower the guest wait time by up to 80% at a higher guest flow level and 50% at a lower level of guest flow. The optimization methods covered by this paper can be applied by hotel, airport, car rental managers to save the labor costs and improve service readiness.

Description
49 pages
Date Issued
2020-08
Keywords
Housekeeping
•
linear programming
•
Sever breakdown and repair
•
Staffing
Committee Chair
Slaugh, Vince
Committee Member
Anderson, Christopher K.
Degree Discipline
Hotel Administration
Degree Name
M.S., Hotel Administration
Degree Level
Master of Science
Type
dissertation or thesis
Link(s) to Catalog Record
https://catalog.library.cornell.edu/catalog/13277702

Site Statistics | Help

About eCommons | Policies | Terms of use | Contact Us

copyright © 2002-2026 Cornell University Library | Privacy | Web Accessibility Assistance