All house cleaning data have been obtained from Denver Concierge, a large house cleaning company in Denver. The dataset consists of 179 observations, collected during a three month period, from July to September 2006. The unit of observations is "per cleaning assignment". The details of each variable are discussed below.
At the time of the study, Denver Concierge employed 60 professional house cleaners on a full-time basis. The company conducts a central dispatch, applies a hybrid compensation scheme which takes into account employee time extending from departure time to return time, and uses its own vehicles for transportation. The cleaning times are gathered based on three separate parallel methods, the results of which are reconciled daily: 1) Team Leaders record arrival and departure time for each assignment on daily summary sheets; 2) Team Leaders phone the office to report arrival and departure time during each assignment; and 3) GPS vehicle tracking devices provide a time record of all vehicle stops.
In terms of scope of assignment, Denver Concierge targets the highest end customers in its market by offering exceptionally thorough cleaning. A range of home sizes were applied in the study.
Denver Concierge does not use a fixed team size. The Company deploys any mix of 2, 3, and 4 member teams daily, as a means of optimizing the schedule, as well as taking into account client-imposed constraints and continuity for important assignments.