{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,12]],"date-time":"2026-01-12T12:28:05Z","timestamp":1768220885955,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)","issue":"1","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Operations Research"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Ambiguities in Average Speed of Answer Targets<\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>Staffing problems are often formulated as satisfization problems, in which the cost of servers is minimized subject to quality of service constraints. These constraints are intended to capture customers\u2019 disutility from waiting or, at least, its structure. In \u201cWhat\u2019s in a constraint? On the ambiguity of standard delay targets,\u201d Soh and Gurvich show that such targets\u2014especially the popular average speed of answer\u2014are ambiguous: they give rise to multiple optimal solutions (prioritization policies), each consistent with different assumptions about how customers value their time. By choosing, among all optimal solutions, the one that minimizes a weighted index of diversion (a generalization of variance for the multiclass queue), a service provider can ensure that its ASA-based staffing and prioritization decisions align with a convex model of customer delay disutility. Nonambiguity can also be enforced by restricting attention to fixed queue ratio priority policies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1287\/opre.2022.0572","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,15]],"date-time":"2025-05-15T12:52:01Z","timestamp":1747313521000},"page":"517-529","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Technical Note\u2014What\u2019s in a Constraint? On the Ambiguity of Standard Delay Targets"],"prefix":"10.1287","volume":"74","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/linproxy.fan.workers.dev:443\/https\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1509-7071","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Seung Bum","family":"Soh","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Business, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Republic of Korea"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/linproxy.fan.workers.dev:443\/https\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9746-7755","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Itai","family":"Gurvich","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208"}]}],"member":"109","reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/mnsc.2013.1730"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/msom.1110.0343"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/opre.1080.0608"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1214\/105051605000000601"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1214\/105051604000000233"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/opre.1060.0285"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/opre.1030.0081"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/msom.2014.0493"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/moor.1080.0366"},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/mnsc.1070.0825"},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/moor.2013.0606"},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/opre.29.3.567"},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ejor.2010.02.036"},{"key":"B14","volume-title":"Call Center Optimization","author":"Koole G","year":"2013"},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/msom.1110.0349"},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/mnsc.1070.0777"},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/mnsc.2014.2019"},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/mnsc.1090.1025"},{"key":"B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/msom.1070.0173"},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/opre.2016.1532"},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/opre.1080.0668"},{"key":"B22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/opre.25.5.879"},{"key":"B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/msom.1050.0086"},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/ijoc.1050.0159"}],"container-title":["Operations Research"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/linproxy.fan.workers.dev:443\/https\/pubsonline.informs.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1287\/opre.2022.0572","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,12]],"date-time":"2026-01-12T09:21:24Z","timestamp":1768209684000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/linproxy.fan.workers.dev:443\/https\/pubsonline.informs.org\/doi\/10.1287\/opre.2022.0572"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,1]]},"references-count":24,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,1]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1287\/opre.2022.0572"],"URL":"https:\/\/linproxy.fan.workers.dev:443\/https\/doi.org\/10.1287\/opre.2022.0572","relation":{},"ISSN":["0030-364X","1526-5463"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0030-364X","type":"print"},{"value":"1526-5463","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,1]]}}}