A multi-agent framework for conflict analysis and negotiation: Case of COTS selection

The process of evaluating and selecting Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) products is complicated because of conflicting priorities of the stakeholders, complex interdependences among the evaluation criteria, multiple evaluation objectives, changing system requirements, and a large number of similar COTS products with extreme capability differences. Numerous COTS evaluation and selection methods have been proposed to address the complexity of the process. Some of these methods have been successfully applied in industry. However, negotiation to resolve stakeholder conflicts is still an ad hoc process. In this paper, we present a systematic model that assists the COTS selection stakeholders in identifying conflicts, as well,as in determining and evaluating conflict resolution options. Our model is facilitated by an agent-based decision support system, which has user agents that assist the stakeholders in the COTS evaluation and negotiation process. The agents utilize a hybrid of analytic and artificial intelligence techniques to identify conflicts and the corresponding agreement options. Moreover, each user agent analyzes the agreement options in detail before advising its client about which goals to optimize, and which goals to compromise in order to reach agreement with the other stakeholders. Finally, the community of agents facilitates information sharing among stakeholders in a bid to improve the quality of their COTS selection decisions.