Towards an Integrated View of Autonomous Negotiating Agents

Abstract: Negotiations are omnipresent in society as means of resolving conflicts in resource allocation. Thus, persistent improvement of negotiation outcomes is an opportunity to boost the performance of companies. In addition to negotiations, digitalization is another strong factor for enhancing companies’ performance. Interestingly, the digitalization of negotiations through e-negotiation systems (ENS) has hardly arrived in business practice, yet. To successfully support negotiations in practice, ENS need a certain degree of autonomy which enables ENS to act as reliable agents. This autonomy can be conceptualized as a combination of the three components self-sufficiency, self-directedness, and support for interdependence. Through an extensive literature review and in-depth interviews with the developers of popular ENS their systems should be analyzed on each of the three dimensions of autonomy. The results of this paper will benefit a common understanding off the ongoing development process, establish a shared language and promote cooperation for collaborative approaches in future.

Keywords: autonomous negotiation agent, e-negotiation systems, business negotiation support

Topic: TECH   |   Format: Extended Abstract