Agent interaction protocols for the selection of partners for virtual enterprises

Abstract

A Virtual Enterprise can be described as an organisational form that emerges when individual entities form a team to achieve a specific goal. The ability to assemble the best team is key to the success of the Virtual Enterprise and this imposes strong demands on its formation. In this paper, we present an agent-based model of a Virtual Enterprise, where the partners of a Virtual Enterprise are represented by software agents. We show how this model can support the different processes that are used in selecting the partners. We do this by analysing the agent interaction protocols for the different partner selection processes and by adapting it to provide the necessary agent-based support. We also describe the contents of the knowledge base of a single agent and how it can be used in the selection processes.