Workforce Flexibility in Operations Management
Abstract
Workforce flexibility is the management of organizational labor capacities and capabilities in operational environments using a broad and diffuse set of tools and approaches to mitigate system imbalances caused by uncertainties (e.g., worker absenteeism) and/or changes (e.g., seasonality). In this paper, we review the literature associated with workforce flexibility in order to provide a reference for choosing flexibility methods for specific applications, and to better observe the connections and gaps in the literature with respect to future research needs. In this review, we span application contexts, research questions, and solution generation methodologies, for each flexibility method. Research opportunities for continuing and advancing the use of workforce flexibility are suggested.
Recommended Citation
R. Qin et al., "Workforce Flexibility in Operations Management," Surveys in Operations Research and Management Science, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 19 - 33, Elsevier, Jun 2015.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sorms.2015.04.001
Department(s)
Engineering Management and Systems Engineering
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
1876-7354
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2015 Elsevier, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Jun 2015
