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Agents for Cross-Organisational Business Interoperability

  • Conference paper
Agent-Based Technologies and Applications for Enterprise Interoperability (ATOP 2005, ATOP 2008)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing ((LNBIP,volume 25))

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Abstract

Increasing complexity of products and services together with shrinking lead times means that demands are often best satisfied through dynamic networks of collaborating enterprises. Businesses seek agile partnerships where companies focus on core business activities and partners provide complementary expertise. Successful collaboration demands a tight yet flexible integration of business processes. In this paper we focus on issues of process interoperability and the use of agents to support cross-organisational process interoperability. We maintain that an informed decision on the place of agents within this context demands a systematic approach: such an approach forms the core contribution of this paper. We apply a modified version of the function-behaviour-structure (FBS) framework of Gero as an organising schema to develop a clarifying structure; and to help determine the role of software agents. In particular, we use the formal elements of the FBS framework to identify those areas where agents may be applied. We highlight the need to combine this with appropriate mechanisms to promote semantic interoperability.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Science and Technology, University of Teesside, Middlesbrough, TS1 3BA, UK

    Iain Duncan Stalker

  2. Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M15 6PB, UK

    Nikolay Mehandjiev

Authors
  1. Iain Duncan Stalker
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  2. Nikolay Mehandjiev
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. DFKI GmbH Saarbrücken, Stuhlsatzenhausweg 3, 66123, Germany

    Klaus Fischer

  2. Institut für Informatik, Technische Universität Clausthal, Julius-Albert-Str. 4, 38678, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany

    Jörg P. Müller

  3. Oslo Software, Inc., 3723 Haven Avenue, CA 94025, Menlo Park, USA

    James Odell

  4. SINTEF ICT, Foskningsveien 1, 0314, Oslo, Norway

    Arne Jørgen Berre

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© 2009 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Stalker, I.D., Mehandjiev, N. (2009). Agents for Cross-Organisational Business Interoperability. In: Fischer, K., Müller, J.P., Odell, J., Berre, A.J. (eds) Agent-Based Technologies and Applications for Enterprise Interoperability. ATOP ATOP 2005 2008. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 25. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-01668-4_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-01668-4_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-01667-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-01668-4

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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