Recently, Professor Zhang Jianghua’s research team from the School of Management at Shandong University published a new research article titled “Joint Re-dispatching and Pricing on a Business-to-Consumer Ride-Hailing Platform” in Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review (SSCI, Q1, 2023 IF: 8.3, ABS 3-star). Professor Zhang Jianghua is the first author, doctoral student Rui Zhu is the second author, and Associate Professor Wang Jingpeng is the corresponding author. Shandong University is listed as the first and sole corresponding institution. In addition, the team’s related research titled“Bilateral pricing strategies for ride-hailing platforms considering customized services” was recently published in the Journal of Systems Engineering - Theory and Practice, a core journal indexed by Peking University (CSSCI). Doctoral student Zhu Rui is the first author, Professor Zhang Jianghua is the second author, and Associate Professor Wang Jingpeng is the corresponding author.
The study took the premium and ordinary services with varying levels of comfort provided by online ride-hailing platforms as its context. Based on the Hotelling model, it characterized the preference behavior of passengers with heterogeneous service experience perceptions towards these two types of services. By integrating long-term and short-term operational costs, a two-period model framework was constructed. In the first period, the platform optimizes its fleet size and vehicle allocation proportions to maximize long-term social welfare. In the second period, pricing and vehicle re-dispatching strategies are optimized to maximize the platform's short-term revenue. The research results indicated that when the allocation proportion of ordinary vehicles is low and the market size is small, the platform should adopt a combined pricing and vehicle re-dispatching strategy; otherwise, adopting a pricing strategy alone suffices. An expanding market size or an increase in service comfort differences prompts the platform to expand its fleet and reduce the allocation proportion of ordinary vehicles, while an expansion in service operational cost differences has the opposite effect. This study provided new insights into the operations management of differentiated ride-hailing services.
This study took the customized services provided by online ride-sharing platforms as the research object, considering the heterogeneous service preferences of regular and special-needs passengers, as well as the cost differences for drivers in providing customized and regular services. With the platform's bilateral pricing as a variable, the study compared the dual-service (customized and regular) model with the single-service (regular only) model. The research results indicated that, in order to maximize profits, the platform should not provide services in small-sized markets, offer both customized and regular services in medium-sized markets, and only provide customized services in large-sized markets. When the cost of providing customized services is relatively low, adding customized services can significantly increase platform profits and overall social welfare. This research provided practical guidance for platforms to promote customized services under different market conditions.
Zhang Jianghua is professor, doctoral supervisor and Distinguished Young Scholar at Shandong University. He is also a nationally recognized high-level talent. He currently serves as an Executive Council Member of the Society of Management Science and Engineering of China and as Vice Chair of the Management and Decision Sciences Committee of the Chinese Academy of Management. He has presided over ten national and provincial-level research projects, including major projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the National Social Science Fund of China (NSSFC), and the Ministry of Science and Technology. As first or corresponding author, he has published more than 70 papers in high-level journals. In the past five years, he has published over 30 of articles in top-tier journals such as Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS Journal on Computing, Production and Operations Management, Journal of Management Sciences in China, Naval Research Logistics, and China Journal of Management Science. His research has earned numerous honors, including the Excellent Achievement Award in Humanities and Social Sciences from the Ministry of Education, five Shandong Provincial Social Science Outstanding Achievement Awards, and two First Prizes for Outstanding Research in Higher Education Institutions in Shandong.
Zhu Rui is a doctoral student in Management Science and Engineering at the School of Management, Shandong University. Her research interests include the operations management of shared economy platforms.
Wang Jingpeng is associate professor and doctoral and master's supervisor at the School of Management, Shandong University. He holds a PhD from Beihang University, completed joint doctoral training at the University of Washington, and has been a visiting scholar at Singapore Management University. He was a recipient of the Shandong University Future Scholar Program and was awarded the Excellent Doctoral Dissertation Award by the Society of Management Science and Engineering (one of ten recipients nationwide in 2020), as well as Shandong University’s Major Humanities and Social Sciences Research Achievement Award (2022). He has presided over projects funded by the NSFC and participated in several key research programs including the "973" Program and major NSFC projects. He has published nearly 20 papers in leading academic journals such as Transportation Research Part B, Transportation Research Part E, and the Journal of Systems Engineering - Theory and Practice. His research focuses on data-driven intelligent decision-making and the operations management of smart platforms.
