An Automated Negotiation Mechanism for Agents Based on International Joint Ventures

Abstract

One consequence of market globalization has been the growing incidence of collaborative ventures among companies from different countries. Small and large, experienced and novice, companies increasingly are choosing partnerships as a way to compete in global marketplace. International joint ventures have emerged as the dominant form of partnership in light of intense global competition and the need for strategic organizational viability. The success of international joint ventures depend on many factors, but the most critical is vendors selecteion from among many suppliers based on their ability to meet the quantity requirements, delivery schedule, and the price limitation. The supplier selection negotiation mechanism is often the most complex, since it requires evaluation and decision-making under uncertainty, based on multiple attributes (criteria) of quantitative and qualitative nature, involving temporal and resource constraints, risk and commitment problems, varying tactics and strategies, domain specific knowledge and information asymmetries, etc.