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  • Oct
    8

    Two-Sided Flexibility in Platforms

    Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences (IEMS)

    11:00 AM A230, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    Abstract: Flexibility is a cornerstone of operations management, crucial to hedge stochasticity in product demands, service requirements, and resource allocation. In two-sided platforms, flexibility is also two-sided and can be viewed as the compatibility of agents on one side with agents on the other side. Platform actions often influence the flexibility on either the demand or the supply side. But how should flexibility be jointly allocated across different sides? Whereas the literature has traditionally focused on only one side at a time, our work initiates the study of two-sided flexibility in matching platforms. We propose a parsimonious matching model in random graphs and identify the flexibility allocation that optimizes the expected size of a maximum matching. Our findings reveal that flexibility allocation is a first-order issue: for a given flexibility budget, the resulting matching size can vary greatly depending on how the budget is allocated. Moreover, even in the simple and symmetric settings we study, the quest for the optimal allocation is complicated. In particular, easy and costly mistakes can be made if the flexibility decisions on the demand and supply side are optimized independently (e.g., by two different teams in the company), rather than jointly. To guide the search for optimal flexibility allocation, we uncover two effects -- flexibility cannibalization and flexibility asymmetry -- that govern when the optimal design places the flexibility budget only on one side or equally on both sides. In doing so we identify the study of two-sided flexibility as a significant aspect of platform efficiency.

    Bio: Sébastien Martin is an assistant professor of operations at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. He received his M.Sc. in applied math from Ecole polytechnique (France) in 2015 and his Ph.D. in operations research from MIT in 2019. His research focuses on designing large-scale optimization algorithms for public sector operations and online platforms. His work has been recognized with two Franz Edelman Laureate Awards and the Dantzig Best Thesis Award. He designed Lyft's dispatch algorithm, optimized the school transportation systems of Boston and San Francisco, and created Kellogg's first AI teaching assistant.

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    TIME Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    LOCATION A230, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Kendall Minta    kendall.minta@gmail.com EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences (IEMS)

  • Sep
    8

    Welcome & Breakfast for New McCormick PhD Students

    McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

    9:00 AM LR2 & Tech East Plaza, Technological Institute

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    TIME Monday, September 8, 2025 at 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

    LOCATION LR2 & Tech East Plaza, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Andi Joppie    andi.joppie@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  • Sep
    12

    New Undergraduate Fall 2025 Registration

    University Academic Calendar

    All Day

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Friday, September 12, 2025

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    CONTACT Office of the Registrar    nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR University Academic Calendar

  • Sep
    15

    Welcome & Luncheon for New Full-time Graduate Students

    McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

    11:00 AM Ryan Auditorium & Tech East Plaza, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Monday, September 15, 2025 at 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM

    LOCATION Ryan Auditorium & Tech East Plaza, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Andi Joppie    andi.joppie@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  • Sep
    16

    Fall Classes Begin. Change of Registration (Drop/Add) Late registration for returning students begins

    University Academic Calendar

    All Day

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Tuesday, September 16, 2025

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    CONTACT Office of the Registrar    nu-registrar@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR University Academic Calendar