Noah Gans

Noah Gans's research focuses on service operations, and he has a particular interest in the management of telephone call centers. He is the Department Editor of Stochastic Models and Simulation for Management Science.  In 20102011, he was the President of Manufacturing and Service Operations Management Society (MSOM).  At Wharton, Noah teaches an MBA core course on Business Analytics, an MBA elective course on Service Operations, and Ph.D. courses in operations management. 

Ozge Yapar, Noah Gans, Stephen E Chick (2017), Proposal for fully sequential multiarm trials with correlated arms, Winter Simulation Conference (WSC), 2016.

Alessandro Arlotto, Stephen E Chick, Noah Gans (2014), Optimal Hiring and Retention Policies for Heterogeneous Workers Who Learn, Management Science, 60 (1), pp. 110129.

Abstract: We study the hiring and retention of heterogeneous workers who learn over time. We show that the problem can be analyzed as an infinitearmed bandit with switching costs, and we apply results from Bergemann and Välimäki (2001) to characterize the optimal hiring and retention policy. For problems with Gaussian data, we develop approximations that allow the efficient implementation of the optimal policy and the evaluation of its performance. Our numerical examples demonstrate that the value of active monitoring and screening of employees can be substantial.

Nitin Bakshi, Stephen E Flynn, Noah Gans Thwarting Nuclear Terrorism Through Container Inspections.

Abstract: Bakshi, Nitin, Steven Flynn, and Noah Gans (2010). Thwarting Nuclear Terrorism Through Container Inspections. Administrative & Regulatory Law News 37, 1011.

Nitin Bakshi, Stephen E Flynn, Noah Gans (2011), Estimating the Operational Impact of Container Inspections at International Ports , Management Science, 57, 120.

Abstract: A US law mandating nonintrusive imaging and radiation detection for 100% of U.S.bound containers at international ports has provoked widespread concern that the resulting congestion would hinder trade significantly. Using detailed data on container movements, gathered from two large international terminals, we simulate the impact of the two most important inspection policies that are being considered. We find that the current inspection regime being advanced by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security can only handle a small percentage of the total load. An alternate inspection protocol that emphasizes screening—a rapid primary scan of all containers, followed by a more careful secondary scan of only a few containers that fail the primary test—holds promise as a feasible solution for meeting the 100% scanning requirement.

Noah Gans Service Times in Call Centers: Agent Heterogeneity and Learning with Some Operational Consequences.

Abstract: Gans, Noah, Nan Liu, Avishai Mandelbaum, Haipeng Shen, and Han Ye (2010). Service Times in Call Centers: Agent Heterogeneity and Learning with Some Operational Consequences, James O. Berger, T. Tony Cai, and Ian Johnstone eds., IMS Collections 6, 99123.

Nitin Bakshi and Noah Gans (2010), Securing the Containerized Supply Chain: Analysis of Government Incentives for Private Investment , Management Science, 56 (2), pp. 219233.

Stephen E Chick and Noah Gans (2008), Economic Analysis of Simulation Selection Problems , Management Science, 55, 421 437.

Abstract: Ranking and selection procedures are standard methods for selecting the best of a finite number of simulated design alternatives, based on a desired level of statistical evidence for correct selection. But the link between statistical significance and financial significance is indirect and poorly understood. This paper presents a new approach to the simulation selection problem, one that maximizes the expected net present value (NPV) of decisions made when using stochastic simulation. We provide a framework for answering these managerial questions: When does a proposed system design, whose performance is unknown, merit the time and money needed to develop a simulation to infer its performance? For how long should the simulation analysis continue before a design is approved or rejected? We frame the simulation selection problem as a “stoppable” version of a Bayesian bandit problem that treats the ability to simulate as a real option prior to project implementation. For a single proposed system, we solve a free boundary problem for a heat equation that approximates the solution to a dynamic program that finds optimal simulation project stopping times and that answers the managerial questions. For multiple proposed systems, we extend previous Bayesian selection procedures to account for discounting and simulationtool development costs.

Noah Gans, George Knox, Rachel TA Croson (2007), Simple Models of Discrete Choice and Their Performance in Bandit Experiments , M&SOM, Vol 9, 383408.

Abstract: Recent operations management papers model customers as solving multiarmed bandit problems, positing that consumers use a particular heuristic when choosing among suppliers. These papers then analyze the resulting competition among suppliers and mathematically characterize the equilibrium actions. There remains a question, however, as to whether the original customer models on which the analyses are built are reasonable representations of actual consumer choice. In this paper, we empirically investigate how well these choice rules match actual performance as people solve twoarmed Bernoulli bandit problems. We find that some of the most analytically tractable models perform best in tests of model fit. We also find that the expected number of consecutive trials of a given supplier is increasing in its expected quality level, with increasing differences, a result consistent with the models’ predictions as well as with loyalty effects described in the popular management literature.

Noah Gans and Sergei Savin (2007), Pricing and Capacity Rationing in Rentals with Uncertain Durations, Management Science, 390407.

Abstract: We consider a rental firm with two types of customers. Contract customers pay fixed, prenegotiated rental fees and expect a high quality of service. Walkin customers have no contractual relations with the firm and are “shopping for price.” Given multiple contract and walkin classes, the rental firm has to decide when to offer service to contract customers and what fees to charge walkin customers for service. We formulate this rental management problem as a problem in stochastic control and characterize optimal policies for managing contract and walkin customers. We also consider static, myopic controls that are simpler to implement, and we analytically establish conditions under which these policies perform optimally. Complementary numerical tests provide a sense of the range of systems for which myopic policies are effective.

Noah Gans and YongPin Zhou (2007), CallRouting Schemes for CallCenter Outsourcing, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 9, pp. 3350.

Abstract: Companies may choose to outsource parts, but not all, of their callcenter operations. In some cases, they classify customers as high or low value, serving the former with their inhouse operations and routing the latter to an outsourcer. Typically, they impose servicelevel constraints on the time each type of customer waits on hold. This paper considers four schemes for routing lowvalue calls between the client company and the outsourcer. These schemes vary in the complexity of their routing algorithms, as well as the sophistication of the telephone and information technology infrastructure they require of the two operations. For three of these schemes, this paper provides a direct characterization of system performance. For the fourth, most complex, scheme the paper provides performance bounds for the important special case in which the service requirements of high and lowvalue callers are the same. These results allow the systematic comparison of the performance of the various routing schemes. The results suggest that, for clients with large outsourcing requirements, the simpler schemes that require little clientoutsourcer coordination can perform very well.

Past Courses

OIDD612 BUSINESS ANALYTICS

"Managing the Productive Core: Business Analytics" is a course on business analytics tools and their application to management problems. Its main topics are optimization, decision making under uncertainty, and simulation. The emphasis is on business analytics tools that are widely used in diverse industries and functional areas, including operations, finance, accounting, and marketing.

OIDD642 ANALYTICS FOR SERVICES

This course covers a range of analytical methods that are useful tools for capacity management in services, and it will provide you with insights into the economics of a range of services businesses including (i) Highlevel planning models that account for multiple dimensions of service capacity, (ii) Lowlevel models of system congestion that capture the relationship between capacity choices, quality of service and, in some cases, system revenue, (iii) Statistical estimation and forecasting models to characterize key measures of future supply and demand.

OIDD643 ANALY FOR REVENUE MGMT

This course introduces you to the essential concepts and techniques required tounderstand and implement revenue management (RM). The need for repeated, rapid and cycles of estimation and optimization has driven the development of a set of analytical tools that are particularly well suited for RM. This course focuses on those tools.

• Wharton MBA Core Curriculum Excellence in Teaching Award, 2010
• NSF Service Enterprise Engineering Award, CoPrincipal Investigator, 2008
• MillerScherrerd Award for Outstanding Teaching in the Wharton MBA Core, 2004
• Senior Personnel, NSF Engineering the Service Sector Award, 2003
• CoPrincipal Investigator, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grant, 2003
• Mitchner Award in Quality Sciences and Quality Management, 2003
• Meritorious Service Award, as Associate Editor of Operations Research, 2001
• NSF CAREER Award, 1998
• Wharton MBA Core Curriculum Cluster Teaching Award, 1997
• First Prize, INFORMS George E. Nicholson Student Paper Competition, 1995

Concerns over US Efforts to Stop Nuclear Terror, CNN 04/14/2012 BusinessSchool Research: No Longer All at Sea, The Economist Online 03/23/2011

Knowledge @ Wharton

• Is the Death of the PC Imminent?, Knowledge @ Wharton 04/23/2013
• Which Customers Are Worth Keeping and Which Ones Aren’t? Managerial Uses of CLV, Knowledge @ Wharton 07/30/2003
• Telephone Call Centers: The Factory Floors of the 21st Century, Knowledge @ Wharton 04/10/2002
• Making Customer Relationship Management Work, Knowledge @ Wharton 07/04/2001
• Measuring the Impact of Poor Quality on Customer Loyalty, Knowledge @ Wharton 05/24/1999