289,060 research outputs found
T2MAC: Targeted and Trusted Multi-Agent Communication through Selective Engagement and Evidence-Driven Integration
Communication stands as a potent mechanism to harmonize the behaviors of
multiple agents. However, existing works primarily concentrate on broadcast
communication, which not only lacks practicality, but also leads to information
redundancy. This surplus, one-fits-all information could adversely impact the
communication efficiency. Furthermore, existing works often resort to basic
mechanisms to integrate observed and received information, impairing the
learning process. To tackle these difficulties, we propose Targeted and Trusted
Multi-Agent Communication (T2MAC), a straightforward yet effective method that
enables agents to learn selective engagement and evidence-driven integration.
With T2MAC, agents have the capability to craft individualized messages,
pinpoint ideal communication windows, and engage with reliable partners,
thereby refining communication efficiency. Following the reception of messages,
the agents integrate information observed and received from different sources
at an evidence level. This process enables agents to collectively use evidence
garnered from multiple perspectives, fostering trusted and cooperative
behaviors. We evaluate our method on a diverse set of cooperative multi-agent
tasks, with varying difficulties, involving different scales and ranging from
Hallway, MPE to SMAC. The experiments indicate that the proposed model not only
surpasses the state-of-the-art methods in terms of cooperative performance and
communication efficiency, but also exhibits impressive generalization.Comment: AAAI2
Cooperative Purchasing Micro-Evolutions: A Longitudinal International Study
This paper deals with the evolution of relatively young purchasing groups. Although previous research focussed on macro-evolutionary phases of purchasing groups, no attention has yet been paid to the intra-phase developments, the so-called âmicro-evolutionsâ. Insight into micro-evolutions is crucial to better understand how purchasing groups (can) develop over time. We conducted three in-depth case studies in different countries and identified five dimensions of micro-evolutions: member relationships, objectives, activities, organisation, and resources. For each dimension, we provide an overview of micro-evolutions to guide purchasing groups in developing the dimension. We conclude that the dimension âactivitiesâ is very important and that purchasing groups do not have to develop the dimensions simultaneously
An Architectural Approach to Managing Knowledge Stocks and Flows: Implications for Reinventing the HR Function
Sustainable competitive advantage is increasingly dependent upon a firmâs ability to manage both its knowledge stocks and flows. We examine how different employeesâ knowledge stocks are managed within a firm and howâthrough their recombination and renewalâthose stocks can create sustainable competitive advantage. To do this, we first establish an architectural framework for managing human resources and review how the framework provides a foundation for studying alternative employment arrangements used by firms in allocating knowledge stocks. Next, we extend the architecture by examining how knowledge stocks (human capital) can be both recombined and renewed through cooperative and entrepreneurial archetypes. We then position two HR configurations to focus on facilitating these two archetypes. By identifying and managing different forms of social capital across employee groups within the architecture, HR practices can facilitate the flow of knowledge within the firm, which ultimately leads to sustainable competitive advantage
PACMAS: A Personalized, Adaptive, and Cooperative MultiAgent System Architecture
In this paper, a generic architecture, designed to
support the implementation of applications aimed at managing
information among different and heterogeneous sources,
is presented. Information is filtered and organized according
to personal interests explicitly stated by the user. User pro-
files are improved and refined throughout time by suitable
adaptation techniques. The overall architecture has been called
PACMAS, being a support for implementing Personalized, Adaptive,
and Cooperative MultiAgent Systems. PACMAS agents are
autonomous and flexible, and can be made personal, adaptive and
cooperative, depending on the given application. The peculiarities
of the architecture are highlighted by illustrating three relevant
case studies focused on giving a support to undergraduate and
graduate students, on predicting protein secondary structure, and
on classifying newspaper articles, respectively
The effect of functional roles on perceived group efficiency during computer-supported collaborative learning
In this article, the effect of functional roles on group performance and collaboration during computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) is investigated. Especially the need for triangulating multiple methods is emphasised: Likert-scale evaluation questions, quantitative content analysis of e-mail communication and qualitative analysis of open-ended questions were used. A comparison of fourty-one questionnaire observations, distributed over thirteen groups in two research conditions â groups with prescribed functional roles (n = 7, N = 18) and nonrole groups (n = 6, N = 23) â revealed no main effect for performance (grade). Principal axis factoring of the Likert-scales revealed a latent variable that was interpreted as perceived group efficiency (PGE). Multilevel modelling (MLM) yielded a positive marginal effect of PGE. Most groups in the role condition report a higher degree of PGE than nonrole groups. Content analysis of e-mail communication of all groups in both conditions (role n = 7, N = 25; nonrole n = 6, N = 26) revealed that students in role groups contribute more âcoordinationâ focussed statements. Finally, results from cross case matrices of student responses to open-ended questions support the observed marginal effect that most role groups report a higher degree of perceived group efficiency than nonrole groups
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