Towards an Agent-Oriented Business Collaboration Model

Abstract

Business collaborations have gained prominence in many domains mediated by information technology platforms. These collaborations, normally referred to as virtual enterprises (VEs) consider varying core competencies of participants. The VEs' dynamic nature requires participants to be dynamically selected and engaged. This requires a flexible systematic approach, lacking in existing literature, to handle varying forms of VEs. This study aims to consider a VE from an enterprise integration viewpoint and to develop an agent-based model that supports the VE's formation and operation phases. This model will provide support to business managers in making decisions efficiently by delegating part of the processes to software agents. An agent-based VE (ABVE) model prototype is developed. Case studies from various domains are used in the demonstration of the model's applicability and possible generalization. After evaluation it is shown that users are motivated to use the model as an effective tool for VE formation and collaborations in diverse domains with an 88.86% acceptance rate.