The effects of interplay between negotiation tactics and task complexity in software agent to human negotiations

Modern networked business environment enables design of flexible and effective mechanisms of exchange between economic parties. Online negotiations allow geographically and temporally separated participants to engage in exchange of offers in search for acceptable agreements. The digital medium enables development of software agents, which can assist with negotiation tasks while saving time and human effort. The current paper investigates the prospects of utilizing software agents in negotiations with the human counterparts. It presents the findings from experiment where human subjects acted as buyers negotiating with software agent sellers over a mobile phone plan. An electronic negotiation system incorporating software agents was used in the experiment. The agents employed various concession-making schedules while engaging in negotiation tasks involving one of two complexity levels. Negotiation task complexity was manipulated using different number of issues involved in the negotiations. Subjects were recruited among university students. Negotiations between the subjects and agents took place during a two-day period in an asynchronous mode through the web. The findings suggest that interaction between negotiation task complexity and negotiation tactic has significant effects on negotiation outcomes and subjective assessments by the human participants. In particular, task complexity had a higher impact on the agreement rate when agents employed a competitive tactic vs. when they used a conceding one

ITIL-Based IT Service Support Process Reengineering

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) supports best practices, reengineering activities and IT service support processes. ITIL framework only provides recommendations, and companies need to utilize this framework to improve their IT service support processes and establish best practices. This study provides a methodology on how to apply the ITIL framework for evaluating the IT service support processes, its reengineering and alignment to best practices, and subsequent integration into a decision support system framework. A case study approach was used to identify a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) which were monitored by a decision support system (DSS) for triggering on-going reengineering of IT service support processes. This paper focuses on the implementation of the ITIL guidelines at the operational level, improvement of the service desk, and incident, problem, change, release, and configuration management. It also presents the implementation of the ITIL guidelines at the tactical level for the improvement of the service level, capacity, IT service continuity, service availability, and security management. We conclude by providing recommendations for future research

Modeling of surges caused by the release of breakup ice jams

In late winter and early spring, ice covers become weak in strength and break-up. The passage of the resulting ice floes may be arrested at a downstream location and create an ice jam. The increase in ice and water pressures may eventually cause the break-up of the blockage. The sudden release of the jam can result in violent ice runs and surges. Ice jam related floods can cause substantial damage to property, erode river beds, endanger hydraulic structures and affect safety at river crossings. The current understanding of the breakup ice jam phenomena is insufficient and therefore the state-of-the-art is not well advanced. There is an urgent need to improve it. The primary objective of this study is to identify and determine through laboratory as well as numerical modeling, the processes involved during the collapse of an ice jam and the formation, development and propagation of the resulting surges and ice run. The research work was carried out in three parts, namely the investigation of the phreatic water levels along an ice jam, the transport of accumulation ice covers, and the characteristics of surges and ice runs caused by the jam release. From this study, five different types of release mechanisms related to the break-up of ice jams were identified. It was evident that the surge characteristics depend primarily on the type of release mechanism and the prevailing initial hydrodynamic conditions prevailing immediately before release. Observations showed that during the collapse of the jam, its thickness profile at the toe of the ice jam undergoes redistribution for a short period of time and subsequently the ice mass moves downstream in a relatively single layer scenario, A two-dimensional two-layer model is formulated for the simulation of an ice jam release event. The model is capable of simulating the phreatic water surface profile along an ice jam, the formation, development and propagation of the surge and ice run after the release and the redistribution of ice jam thickness after release. The numerical model was validated by the experimental data of the present and post studies

Empirical Investigation of e-Supply Chain Management Experience in North American Electronic Manufacturing Services

The paper examines the effect of E-Supply Chain Management Systems in the North American electronics manufacturing services industry. A causal and descriptive research study was conducted based on a survey applied to thirty six individuals in EMS firms in order to determine the impact of e-SCM on their key supply chain operations. Results of the research revealed that e-SCM had a positive effect in the EMS industry as these showed that the profits of the firm increased and internal communications were improved due to the implementation of e-SCM. The research also showed that e-SCMs have many technical issues such as problems with process automation and transmission of supply chain data, e-procurement effectiveness, integration with existing systems and the monitoring of inventory systems and purchasing process. Several recommendations are made to overcome these challenges including employee training and re-engineering of business processes for better system integration