Automating negotiation over B2B processes

Abstract

Business processes underpin the operations of every company. The procedural logic behind business activities is fundamental for effective and efficient management of resources. Effective coordination translates into better quality for products and services. Efficient management translates into cost reduction. In highly competitive environments, quality and cost constitute key competitive advantages for companies. Moving from the company to the supply chain, processes become even more important. Companies have access to internal resources beyond those specified in internal processes. Still, companies have access to other companies only in accordance with and within the scope of the interaction processes agreed in contracts. Interaction processes directly impact internal operations, and have direct cost implications. Hence, interaction processes are central to the negotiation of B2B relationships. In this paper, we present a framework for the automatic negotiation of business interaction processes. The main component of the framework is a technique for the automatic reconciliation of process proposals. Elements of the framework have been embedded in a prototype, which is also presented.