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Publications

Publications by Beatriz Brito Oliveira

2018

Integrating pricing and capacity decisions in car rental: A matheuristic approach

Authors
Oliveira, BB; Carravilla, MA; Oliveira, JF;

Publication
OPERATIONS RESEARCH PERSPECTIVES

Abstract
Pricing and capacity decisions in car rental companies are characterized by high flexibility and interdependence. When planning a selling season, tackling these two types of decisions in an integrated way has a significant impact. This paper tackles the integration of capacity and pricing problems for car rental companies. These problems include decisions on fleet size and mix, acquisitions and removals, fleet deployment and repositioning, as well as pricing strategies for the different rental requests. A novel mathematical model is proposed, which considers the specific dynamics of rentals on the relationship between inventory and pricing as well as realistic requirements from the flexible car rental business, such as upgrades. Moreover, a solution procedure that is able to solve real-sized instances within a reasonable time frame is developed. The solution procedure is a matheuristic based on the decomposition of the model, guided by a biased random-key genetic algorithm (BRKGA) boosted by heuristically generated initial solutions. The positive impact on profit, of integrating capacity and pricing decisions versus a hierarchical/sequential approach, is validated.

2019

A co-evolutionary matheuristic for the car stochastic problem

Authors
Oliveira, BB; Carravilla, MA; Oliveira, JF; Costa, AM;

Publication
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF OPERATIONAL RESEARCH

Abstract
When planning a selling season, a car rental company must decide on the number and type of vehicles in the fleet to meet demand. The demand for the rental products is uncertain and highly price-sensitive, and thus capacity and pricing decisions are interconnected. Moreover, since the products are rentals, capacity "returns". This creates a link between capacity with fleet deployment and other tools that allow the company to meet demand, such as upgrades, transferring vehicles between locations or temporarily leasing additional vehicles. We propose a methodology that aims to support decision-makers with different risk profiles plan a season, providing good solutions and outlining their ability to deal with uncertainty when little information about it is available. This matheuristic is based on a co-evolutionary genetic algorithm, where parallel populations of solutions and scenarios co-evolve. The fitness of a solution depends on the risk profile of the decision-maker and its performance against the scenarios, which is obtained by solving a mathematical programming model. The fitness of a scenario is based on its contribution in making the scenario population representative and diverse. This is measured by the impact the scenarios have on the solutions. Computational experiments show the potential of this methodology regarding the quality of the solutions obtained and the diversity and representativeness of the set of scenarios generated. Its main advantages are that no information regarding probability distributions is required, it supports different decision-making risk profiles, and it provides a set of good solutions for an innovative complex application.

2021

Carsharing: A review of academic literature and business practices toward an integrated decision-support framework

Authors
Golalikhani, M; Oliveira, BB; Carravilla, MA; Oliveira, JF; Antunes, AP;

Publication
TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH PART E-LOGISTICS AND TRANSPORTATION REVIEW

Abstract
Designing a viable carsharing system in a competitive environment is challenging and often dependent on a myriad of decisions. This paper establishes and presents an integrated conceptual decision-support framework for carsharing systems, encompassing critical decisions that should be made by carsharing organizations and users. To identify the main decisions in a carsharing system, and the inputs and interactions among them, it is crucial to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the current state of the literature as well as the business practices and context. To this aim, a holistic and in-depth literature review is conducted to structure distinct streams of literature and their main findings. Then, we describe some of the key decisions and business practices that are often oversimplified in the literature. Finally, we propose a conceptual decision-support framework that systematizes the interactions between the usually isolated problems in the academic literature and business practices, integrating the perspectives of carsharing organizations and of their users. From the proposed framework, we identify relevant research gaps and ways to bridge them in the future, toward more realistic and applicable research.

2021

Understanding carsharing: A review of managerial practices towards relevant research insights

Authors
Golalikhani, M; Oliveira, BB; Carravilla, MA; Oliveira, JF; Pisinger, D;

Publication
RESEARCH IN TRANSPORTATION BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT

Abstract
The carsharing market has never been as competitive as it is now, and during the last years, we have been witnessing a boom in the number of carsharing organizations that appear, often accompanied by an also booming number of companies that disappear. Designing a viable carsharing system is challenging and often depends on local conditions as well as on a myriad of operational decisions that need to be supported by suitable decision support systems. Therefore, carsharing is being increasingly studied in the Operations Management (OM) literature. Nevertheless, often due to the limited transparency of this highly competitive sector and the recency of this business, there is still a "gap of understanding" of the scientific community concerning the business practices and contexts, often resulting in over-simplifications and relevant problems being overlooked. In this paper, we aim to close this "gap of understanding" by describing, conceptualizing, and analyzing the reality of 34 business to-consumer carsharing organizations. With the data collected, we propose a detailed description of the current business practices, such as the ones concerning pricing. From this, we highlight relevant "research insights" and structure all collected data organized by different OM topics, enabling knowledge to be further developed in this field.

2022

A diversity-based genetic algorithm for scenario generation

Authors
Oliveira, BB; Carravilla, MA; Oliveira, JF;

Publication
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF OPERATIONAL RESEARCH

Abstract
Tackling uncertainty is becoming increasingly relevant for decision-support across fields due to its critical impact on real-world problems. Uncertainty is often modelled using scenarios, which are combinations of possible outcomes of the uncertain parameters in a problem. Alongside expected value methods, decisions under uncertainty may also be tackled using methods that do not rely on probability distributions and model different decision-maker risk profiles. Scenarios are at the core of these approaches. Therefore, we propose a scenario generation methodology that seizes the structure and concepts of genetic algorithms. This methodology aims to obtain a diverse set of scenarios, evolving a scenario population with a diversity goal. Diversity is here expressed as the difference in the impact that scenarios have on the value of potential solutions to the problem. Moreover, this method does not require a priori knowledge of probability distributions or statistical moments of uncertain parameters, as it is based on their range. We adapt the available code for Biased-Random Key Genetic Algorithms to apply the methodology to a packing problem under demand uncertainty as a proof of concept, also extending its use to a multiobjective setting. We make available these code adaptations to allow the straightforward application of this scenario generation method to other problems. With this, the decision-maker obtains scenarios with a distinct impact on potential solutions, enabling the use of different criteria based on their profile and preferences.

2021

Impact of environmental concerns on the capacity-pricing problem in the car rental business

Authors
Queiros, F; Oliveira, BB;

Publication
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION

Abstract
One of the main decisions that a car rental company has to make regards the definition of the fleet size and mix, i.e., the capacity to meet demand. This demand is highly unpredictable and price-sensitive; thus, the definition of the prices charged influences capacity decisions. Moreover, capacity decisions are also linked to other company strategies to meet demand, such as offering upgrades or transferring empty cars between stations. Typically, these problems are tackled focusing on the maximization of profits, disregarding the environmental impacts associated with these decisions. There is a growing need for models and analytical tools that can support decisions considering the trade-off between profit and environmental impact in mobility. Therefore, this work incorporates environmental concerns into the capacity-pricing problem for car rental, proposing a bi-objective model to tackle the trade-off between profit and environmental impact. The Life Cycle Assessment method is applied not only to vehicles but also to fuel to define environmental parameters accurately. Four types of vehicles are considered: internal combustion engine vehicles, hybrids, hybrids plug-in, and electric vehicles. Solving multi-objective models is a computationally challenging problem, which requires efficient and applicable methods. These methods can support policy and business decisions in a real-world context, running different scenarios and evaluating solutions under varying conditions. Due to its efficiency in solving bi-objective models, an Epsilon-constraint method is developed and applied in diverse situations to retrieve managerial insights. The results obtained enable quantifying the feasible trade-offs, overall showing that, on average, with a decrease of 14.44% in financial results, it is possible to obtain a decrease of 63.41% in environmental impact. Additional insights are also retrieved related to the fleet, fuel, prices and demand.

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