71,175 research outputs found
KEMNAD: A Knowledge Engineering Methodology for Negotiating Agent Development
Automated negotiation is widely applied in various domains. However, the development of such systems is a complex knowledge and software engineering task. So, a methodology there will be helpful. Unfortunately, none of existing methodologies can offer sufficient, detailed support for such system development. To remove this limitation, this paper develops a new methodology made up of: (1) a generic framework (architectural pattern) for the main task, and (2) a library of modular and reusable design pattern (templates) of subtasks. Thus, it is much easier to build a negotiating agent by assembling these standardised components rather than reinventing the wheel each time. Moreover, since these patterns are identified from a wide variety of existing negotiating agents(especially high impact ones), they can also improve the quality of the final systems developed. In addition, our methodology reveals what types of domain knowledge need to be input into the negotiating agents. This in turn provides a basis for developing techniques to acquire the domain knowledge from human users. This is important because negotiation agents act faithfully on the behalf of their human users and thus the relevant domain knowledge must be acquired from the human users. Finally, our methodology is validated with one high impact system
Conflict Management. The Contribution of the Christian Church
It is true now that man lives in a world of conflict. Conflict is an ever-present process in human relations. Conflict situations indeed appear frequently in daily, public and private life. Conflict may occur within and among families, groups, communities or nations; and they may be fuelled by ethnic, racial, religious, or economic differences, or may arise from differences in ideologies, values and beliefs. Conflict may be on a small or large scale. Conflict charge the people with tensions, threats, fears, anxieties and uncertainties. What makes a society ideal is the extent to which the conflicting interests and needs in a society are constructively managed so that violence does not threaten its continued existence. Since it is obvious that conflicts in any given society is inevitable, management and resolution of conflict is the very essence of talking about conflict. This is what this work is set to achieve and to offer suggestions on how to manage and resolve conflict thereby reducing its negative and destructive effects. This work showed the church has the potential to contribute to the management and resolution of conflicts in Nigeria
Coalition formation in multilateral negotiations with a potential for logrolling: An experimental analysis of negotiators' cognition processes
In the present study we analyse the topic of coalition formation in multi-issue multilateral negotiations under different voting rules when there is the opportunity of logrolling. We have carried out 3 experiments and compare our findings with the standard public choice theory predictions. In the first experiment we have shown that in a situation of 3-issues and 3-parties negotiations with majority rule, most of the subjects behave in a satisficing, not in a optimizing, way. They are found to be subject to a "Zone of Agreement Bias" (ZAB) which induces them to form suboptimal coalitions and to choose Pareto-dominated agreements. Moreover, we find that the cycling problem predicted by public choice theory in most cases does not arise. In experiment 2 we have shown that the adoption of the unanimity, instead of the majority, rule reduced the suboptimizing effect of the ZAB, and produced a much higher rate of optimal agreements. Experiment 3 shows that the results obtained in experiments 1 and 2 hold even when the level of complexity of the negotiation problem increases. To this aim we considered a situation of four-issues and four-parties negotiations under both the majority and the unanimity rule. --
On the Actual Inefficiency of Efficient Negotiation Methods
In this contribution we analyze the effect that mutual information has on the
actual performance of efficient negotiation methods. Specifically, we start by
proposing the theoretical notion of Abstract Negotiation Method (ANM) as a map
from the negotiation domain in itself, for any utility profile of the parties.
ANM can face both direct and iterative negotiations, since we show that ANM
class is closed under the limit operation. The generality of ANM is proven by
showing that it captures a large class of well known in literature negotiation
methods. Hence we show that if mutual information is assumed then any Pareto
efficient ANM is manipulable by one single party or by a collusion of few of
them. We concern about the efficiency of the resulting manipulation. Thus we
find necessarily and sufficient conditions those make manipulability equivalent
to actual inefficiency, meaning that the manipulation implies a change of the
efficient frontier so the Pareto efficient ANM converges to a different, hence
actually inefficient, frontier. In particular we distinguish between strong and
weak actual inefficiency. Where, the strong actual inefficiency is a drawback
which is not possible to overcome of the ANMs, like the Pareto invariant one,
so its negotiation result is invariant for any two profiles of utility sharing
the same Pareto frontier, we present. While the weak actual inefficiency is a
drawback of any mathematical theorization on rational agents which constrain in
a particular way their space of utility functions. For the weak actual
inefficiency we state a principle of Result's Inconsistency by showing that to
falsify theoretical hypotheses is rational for any agent which is informed
about the preference of the other, even if the theoretical assumptions, which
constrain the space of agents' utilities, are exact in the reality, i.e. the
preferences of each single agent are well modeled
Aha? Is Creativity Possible in Legal Problem Solving and Teachable in Legal Education?
This article continues and expands on my earlier project of seeking to describe how legal negotiation should be understood conceptually and undertaken behaviorally to produce better solutions to legal problems. As structured problem solving requires interests, needs and objectives identification, so too must creative solution seeking have its structure and elements in order to be effectively taught. Because research and teaching about creativity and how we think has expanded greatly since modern legal negotiation theory has been developed, it is now especially appropriate to examine how we might harness this new learning to how we might examine and teach legal creativity in the context of legal negotiation and problem solving. This article explores both the cognitive and behavioral dimensions of legal creativity and offers suggestions for how it can be taught more effectively in legal education, both within the more narrow curricula of negotiation courses and more generally throughout legal education
Advancing Dispute Resolution by Unpacking the Sources of Conflict: Toward an Integrated Framework
Organizational leaders, public policy makers, dispute resolution professionals, and scholars have developed diverse methods for resolving workplace conflict. But there is inadequate recognition that the effectiveness of a dispute resolution method depends on its fit with the source of a particular conflict. Consequently, it is essential to better understand where conflict comes from and how this affects dispute resolution. To these ends, this paper uniquely integrates scholarship from multiple disciplines to develop a multi-dimensional framework on the sources of conflict. This provides an important foundation for theorizing and identifying effective dispute resolution methods, which are more important than ever as the changing world of work raises new issues, conflicts, and institutions
Incorporating Fairness into Development of an Integrated Multi-agent Online Dispute Resolution Environment
The paper describes the development of an integrated multi-agent online
dispute resolution environment called IMODRE that was designed to assist parties
involved in Australian family law disputes achieve legally fairer negotiated outcomes.
The system extends our previouswork in developing negotiation support systems Family_
Winner and AssetDivider. In this environment one agent uses a Bayesian Belief
Network expertly modeled with knowledge of the Australian Family Law domain to
advise disputants of their Best Alternatives to Negotiated Agreements. Another agent
incorporates the percentage split of marital property into an integrative bargaining
process and applies heuristics and game theory to equitably distribute marital property
assets and facilitate further trade-offs. We use this system to add greater fairness
to Family property law negotiations
Integrated game-theory modelling for multi enterprise-wide coordination and collaboration under uncertain competitive environment
In this work, an integrated Game Theory (GT) approach is developed for the coordination of multi-enterprise Supply Chains (SCs) in a competitive uncertain environment. The conflicting goals of the different participants are solved through coordination contracts using a non-cooperative non-zero-sum Stackelberg game under the leadership of the manufacturer. The Stackelberg payoff matrix is built under the nominal conditions, and then evaluated under different probable uncertain scenarios using a Monte-Carlo simulation. The competition between the Stackelberg game players and the third parties is solved through a Nash Equilibrium game. A novel way to analyze the game outcome is proposed based on a winâwin Stackelberg set of âPareto-frontiersâ. The benefits of the resulting MINLP tactical models are illustrated by a case study with different vendors around a client SC. The results show that the coordinated decisions lead to higher expected payoffs compared to the standalone case, while also leading to uncertainty reduction.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft
A decision support model for construction cash flow management
The excessive level of construction business
failures and their association with financial difficulties has
placed financial management in the forefront of many
business imperatives. This has highlighted the importance
of cash flow forecasting and management that has given
rise to the development of several forecasting models.
The traditional approach to the use of project financial
models has been largely a project-oriented perspective.
However, the dominating role of âproject economicsâ in
shaping âcorporate economicsâ tends to place the corporate
strategy at the mercy of the projects. This article
approaches the concept of cash flow forecasting and management
from a fresh perspective. Here, the use of forecasting
models is extended beyond their traditional role
as a guideline for monitoring and control of progress.
They are regarded as tools for driving the project in the
direction of corporate goals. The work is based on the
premise that the main parties could negotiate the terms
and attempt to complement their priorities. As part of this
approach, a model is proposed for forecasting and management
of project cash flow. The mathematical component
of the model integrates three modules: an exponential
and two fourth-degree polynomials. The model generates
a forecast by potentially combining the outcome of data
analysis with the experience and knowledge of the forecaster/organization. In light of corporate objectives, the generated forecast is then manipulated and replaced by
a range of favorable but realistic cash flow profiles. Finally, through a negotiation with other parties, a compromised
favorable cash flow is achieved. This article
will describe the novel way the model is used as a decision
support tool. Although the structure of the model
and its mathematical components are described in detail,
the data processing and analysis parts are briefly described
and referenced accordingly. The viability of the
model and the approach are demonstrated by means of a
scenario
- âŠ