Analyzing a quantitative coordination relationship

Coordination is a crucial behavior in cooperative distributed problem solving (CDPS). Analyzing coordination requires an understanding of the interplay between the agents, their problem, and their environment. The core behaviors ofdistributed coordination in CDPS systems are the coherent specification and scheduling of tasks over the set of distributed agents working on sets of interrelated problems. The complexity of, and uncertainty about, the problem interrelationships make distributed task coordination difficult. This article describes a causal model of this process that links the interrelationships, calledcoordination relationships, to the local scheduling constraints of distributed agents. Besides coordination relationships, environmental uncertainty and the lack of infinite computational resources also make distributed coordination difficult.It is not only the presence or absence of a coordination relationship that is important, but its quantitative properties: how likely is it to appear, how significant is its effect, and so on. These aspects determine the usefulness of a particular coordination relationship in the context defined by an environment, a problem to be solved, and an agent architecture. This article discusses the analysis of coordination relationships, using as an example our abstract model for thefacilitates relationship. We detail the derivation and assumptions of this model and apply it to the design of a generalized coordination module that is separate from, and interfaces cleanly with, the local scheduler of a CDPS agent. A set of simulation experiments is described that test our assumptions and design process in the coordination of a group of real-time problem-solving agents.     

A Multiagent Model for Coordinated Distribution Chain Planning

The aim of this article is to show the advantages that the use of a multiagent model can provide in implementing vertical and lateral coordination among the components of a noncentralized distribution chain. This model has been implemented in Java language in order to allow for the development of a Web-based decision support system that can perform the coordination strategies, simulated in this article in a real logistics chain.

This article, after introducing the main concepts related to the adoption of coordination mechanisms within a supply chain, the main issues of agent-oriented technology, and a brief review of the related literature, presents the structure of the proposed model and the static and dynamic behaviors of the decision-making agents. The design issues of specific coordination models, the negotiation mechanisms introduced, and their proper tuning are then discussed. The models have been applied to a real two-level distribution system of an electromechanical company, made up of a supplier and a geographically distributed network of retailers. Experimental results showed the benefits derived from the adoption of coordination-based models, above all in supply contexts, characterized by relevant information sharing among the main tiers of the chain.     

Macrocognition in Collaboration: Analyzing Processes of Team Knowledge Building with CoPrA

Sophisticated collaboration software allows teams that are dispersed in space and time to work together. Nevertheless, to reach their common goals, distributed teams—and the professional facilitators who support them by intervention techniques—are faced with the communication challenges arising from dispersed settings, including task coordination and effective information exchange. When distributed teams use collaboration software, however, traces of their collaboration are left behind. These traces provide an underused source of data which can be analyzed and be used to inform the design of interventions aimed at improving collaboration in distributed teams. This paper investigates the untapped potential for understanding collaboration, and in particular, the macro-cognitive processes of team knowledge building. These processes rely on information shared and knowledge structures developed by team members which are also referred to as team cognition. We performed a qualitative content analysis applying the COllaboration PRocess Analysis technique, CoPrA, and a framework for measuring team knowledge building. Communication data was collected from 18 participants assigned to six distributed teams. While working collaboratively on a problem-solving task teams were supported with synchronous collaboration software. The results show that by using a cognitive perspective on teams, all the hypothesized processes of team knowledge building could be identified in collaboration traces. Moreover, our analysis shows that CoPrA enables us to identify key characteristics of (1) team behavior, e.g., whether teams are rather solution-oriented or problem minded, show consensus-oriented behavior, withhold evaluative arguments, discuss ideas in breadth and/or depth, or spend much effort on coordination as well as (2) behavior of team members, e.g., who show non-participation, are willing to share or predominantly guide coordination. Future research could adopt this approach to improve our understanding of the dynamics of collaboration patterns and its effects on team performance to inform collaboration facilitation in distributed settings.     

Coordination Structures and System Restrictiveness in Distributed Group Support Systems

Most GSS research has studied the impact of restricting group interaction to GSS-prescribed coordination structures with face-to-face groups, while Distributed GSS (DGSS) has been largely ignored. Due to the nature of mediated communication in asynchronous interaction, it is relatively difficult to coordinate distributed groups, and a special coordination structure must be arranged to overcome these difficulties. This study examines the effect of system restrictiveness of coordination structures in an asynchronous environment. A 2 × 2 factorial experiment was designed with two independent variables – sequential vs. parallel coordination mode, and with vs. without a leader – to construct coordination structures with varying degrees of restrictiveness. The study finds that less restrictive coordination structures are more appropriate to support asynchronously interacting distributed groups. Objective decision quality is equal for both parallel and sequential coordination mode, but is significantly better with a group leader. Groups with parallel coordination mode have a stronger belief that the decisions they made are of higher quality than those of groups with sequential coordination mode. In groups with a leader, communication effectiveness is better. Satisfaction with a decision process is higher in parallel coordination groups and in groups with a leader. There is also a significant interaction effect. Satisfaction with the decision process is higher in sequential coordination groups with a leader than sequential coordination groups without a leader.     

The Effects of Electronic Collaboration in Distributed Project Management

Abstact The emergence and widespread use of collaborative technologies for distributed project management has opened up opportunities for off-shore outsourcing and collaborative development. However, most tools and techniques for project management focus on on-site, long term relationships and sourcing strategies at a time when inter-organizational relationships are becoming more dynamic and geographically dispersed. This paper uses grounded theory to analyze data on virtual teams' projects. The analysis uncovers “effects” in the way in which distributed projects are managed. These effects relate to coordination, communication and adaptation to distributed electronic work environments. Following an analysis of these electronic collaboration “effects”, a model for distributed project management is presented.     

A Patterns System to Coordinate Mobile Collaborative Applications

Advances in wireless communication technologies and mobile computing devices open new possibilities to carry out computer-supported mobile collaborative work. However this opportunity brings also a number of challenges to designers, since collaborative applications supporting mobile activities involve requirements which are not present in stationary collaboration scenarios. For example, mobile collaborative applications should not use centralized components because it jeopardizes the autonomy required by mobile workers. In order to help designers to deal with these new requirements, this article presents a patterns system focused on the coordination support required for mobile collaborative work. Such patterns represent reusable designs that help reduce design risks, cost and time. The article also presents three mobile collaborative applications in which proposed patterns were included in their respective designs.     

'Coase vs Hayek': Economic Organization and the Knowledge Economy

Many writers argue that economic organization is undergoing major transformation in the emerging knowledge economy; authority relations are withering; legal and ownership-based definitions of the boundaries of firms are becoming irrelevant and there are increasingly few constraints on the set of feasible combinations of coordination mechanisms. The present paper critically deals with these claims, beginning from the basic idea that they may be analysed as turning on the implications for the Coasian firm of the Hayekian notion that the distributed knowledge is a strong constraint on the use of planned coordination. It argues that there are efficiency reasons for the existence of authority under Hayekian distributed knowledge; that the increasing importance of knowledge in production does not render legal and ownership-based notions of the boundaries of the firm irrelevant; and that coordination mechanisms will also cluster in certain, predictable combinations in the emerging knowledge economy. Thus, Coasian firm organization is consistent with Hayekian knowledge conditions.     

Coordinating electronic commerce activities in MANIFOLD

Modern electronic commerce environments are heavily web-based and involve issues such as distributed execution, multiuser interactive access or interface with and use of middleware platforms. Thus, their components exhibit the properties of communication, cooperation and coordination as in CSCW, groupware or workflow management systems. In this paper we examine the potential of using coordination technology to model electronic commerce activities and we show the benefits of such an approach. Furthermore, we argue that control-oriented, event-driven coordination models (which enjoy some inherent properties such as security) are more suitable for electronic commerce than data-driven ones which are based on accessing an open shared communication medium in almost unrestricted ways. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Integrating Web-based e-commerce applications with business application systems

The World Wide Web has become an environment for distributed applications of all kinds. The originally intended use of the Web as distributed system for knowledge-interchange seems to disappear, compared to the increasing number of electronic commerce Web applications. Organizations offer products and services in the Web, and use the Web as a means to integrate their (heterogeneous) business application systems. Offering Web-based products requires combining services of different application systems, which were built on the coarse-grained Web implementation model. Reusing the respective fine-grained services and application systems respectively integrating these cross-platform application systems increases quality and reduces costs of the new product. However, communication between (legacy) business application systems has to be ensured on an abstract level to realize this scenario. The Web as a global point of sale seems to be very promising but obviously suffers from its heritage – the coarse-grained implementation model. We introduce a generic integration layer that uses an object-oriented approach as well as the WebComposition Markup Language to facilitate the reuse of code and design, and show how inter-application communication can be provided by means of an additional basic integration layer. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

基于HLA的桥接合成联邦技术

HLA(高等体系结构)是现在广泛应用的一个分布式仿真标准，同时随着计算机技术和仿真应用的发展，对大规模仿真系统的需求越来越多。利用桥接技术，不需要对原有独立的联邦进行大量修改，通过设计和开发合适的桥邦元，就可以将这些联邦连接起来构建成大规模联邦。本文在介绍桥接技术的基础上，以簇网关为例具体实现了一个桥接合成联邦模型。     

Partner Selection,Interorganizational Coordination,and New Service Development Success in the Financial Service Industry

This study aims to investigate the relationship between partner selection and new service development (NSD) success. We identified three partner selection factors based on partner selection theory: partner reliability, partner expertise, and partner compatibility, and suggested product‐market experience and technological experience as moderators. We developed a questionnaire and distributed it to 446 financial service companies in Taiwan. Overall, we received 122 usable pairs of responses from each firm's sales manager and marketing manager. The results indicate that interorganizational coordination contributes to NSD success. Among the three partner selection factors, partner reliability and partner compatibility were found to positively affect interorganizational coordination. In addition, product‐market experience enhances the positive effect of interorganizational coordination on NSD success. Copyright © 2018 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Environmental coordination in dynamic oligopolistic markets

This article deals with the design of a coordination scheme which leads a set of firms competing on an oligopolistic market to achieve a global environmental constraint, for example, a global upper bound on some pollutant emissions. The concept of normalized equilibrium is used to design a noncooperative equilibrium under the global emission constraint. This equilibrium is based on the computation of a common multiplier for the global constraint, associated with a weighting vector, which indicates the relative importance given to each firm in the achievement of the constraint. This weighted multiplier is used to design an ad nominem tax scheme which induces the oligopolists to achieve the common global constraint. Finally it is shown that this equilibrium can be designed, for the long term, by restricting the analysis to an asymptotic equilibrium steady state, called turnpike equilibrium.Research supported by FNRS-Switzerland, FCAR-Quebec, and NSERC-Canada.     

Process Coordination Within a Health Care Service Supply Network

There are two manifestations of supply chains in health care. One involves the supply of equipment and materials used in health care delivery. The other supply chain involves the delivery of health care itself, wherein patients supply their physical conditions and service suppliers deliver health care services. This article considers the latter supply chain, analyzing a case study in which patients have comorbidities and thus require the services of a network of multiple health care providers. In the case study, we examine three schemes for coordination of care. In the first scheme, the patient herself is expected to manage the coordination. In the second scheme, physicians are expected to coordinate the care. In the third scheme, a third‐party coordinator manages care across network members. We examine these three possible coordination alternatives using a technique known as Process‐Chain‐Network (PCN) Analysis. PCN Analysis helps us document how coordination schemes are implemented and where they may fail. Our analysis of the case study leads us to the development of ex post theory about who should initiate coordination and how it should take place under conditions of comorbidities. Empirical data coming from the case study support the theory. We describe possible applications of the theory inside and outside of health care, and show how the PCN approach can guide process innovation.     

廉价交谈文献综述

廉价交谈指的是没有直接支付后果的言论，它与经济理论的协调问题密切相关。本文概述了廉价交谈在协调问题中的作用，它起作用的关键在于言论是否“自我信号显示”和“自我执行”；综述了相关实验研究的成果；梳理了廉价交谈在共谋理论中的作用，即对达成共谋协议与卡特尔的作用和影响；最后对廉价交谈与机制设计、默契共谋等的关系以及反垄断法实践等问题进行了简要评述。     

Effects of Multichannel Coordination and E-Commerce Outsourcing on Online Retail Performance

This article assesses the role of multichannel coordination strategy in impacting online performance, and the need for E-commerce functions outsourcing at the initial stages of multichannel integration. Our findings indicate that a higher degree of interchannel coordination increases retailers' online sales. The article also concludes that integrated retailers that outsource more E-commerce functions, such as Web site hosting, site design, content development, order processing, E-mail marketing, Web performance monitoring, and E-logistics, do not show higher online sales performance than those who develop them in-house. Managerial implications of these findings are proposed, and directions for future research are outlined. Based on prior conceptual research, the article develops and empirically tests the construct of multichannel coordination.     

基于SNMP的网络管理系统分布式策略的研究

随着网络规模的增大以及复杂性的增加,分布式网络管理是一种必然选择。本文全面探讨了基于SNMP的网络管理系统的分布式策略、每一种策略需要解决的问题以及它们的适用场合。文中所述观点不仅可以用于设计支持分布式网络管理的网络管理系统的配置方案,而且对于网络管理系统的设计与实现,也具有一定的指导意义。     

虚拟网的资源管理

随着因特网的迅速发展，各种实时多媒体应用如远程教育、分布式仿真和网络游戏等得到了普通地应用，这些应用对网络系统有服务质量提出了较高的要求。如何通过网络资源的合理分配来满足不同应用之间的服务质量要求，是一个很重要的问题。本文利用虚拟网的概念来实现对网络资源的逻辑映射和统一管理，允许网络服务供应商和大公司客户实现灵活的可配置化管理，同时提高网络资源的复用效率。     

Searching Pareto Optimal Solutions for the Problem of Forming and Restructuring Coalitions in Multi-Agent Systems

Coordination is one of the fundamental research issues in distributed artificial intelligence and multi-agent systems. Current multi-agent coalition formation methods present two limits: First, computation must be completely restarted when a change occurs. Second, utility functions of the agents are either global or aggregated. We present a new algorithm to cope with these limits. The first part of this paper presents a coalition formation method for multi-agent systems which finds a Pareto optimal solution without aggregating the preferences of the agents. This protocol is adapted to problems requiring coordination by coalition formation, where it is undesirable, or not possible, to aggregate the preferences of the agents. The second part of this paper proposes an extension of this method enabling dynamic restructuring of coalitions when changes occur in the system.     

Developmental differences between distributed and face-to-face groups in electronically supported meeting environments: An exploratory investigation

This longitudinal pilot study compared the developmental patterns of groups in three types of electronically supported meeting modes: face-to-face, dispersed-synchronous, and dispersed-asynchronous. The modes differed primarily in interactivity, channel capacity, and synchronicity. Comparisons were made along several behavioral and socio-technical dimensions which influence the group development process. Face-to-face groups tended to exhibit more effective leadership and coordination competence over time as compared to the distributed groups. However, along several other group process dimensions such as cohesiveness and equality of participation, dispersed groups did not differ from their face-to-face counterparts. Moreover, groups in all three modes performed equally well in terms of the quality of outputs. These results suggest that electronically distributed work groups—with adequate time and training—can become cohesive and perform effectively in the long run.     

基于DSP＋ARM＋TINI平台的网络话音终端设计

为了解决分布式通信系统中话音信号点对点和点对多点传输问题,提出了以IP网络为基础的话音终端设计。从硬件及软件两个方面分别介绍了基于DSP ARM TINI平台的网络话音终端的设计,充分克服网络传输的弊端,有效保证网络传输质量,提高话音数据播放音质。