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Negotiation is one of the most important activities for the organisations in conducting electronic business. Traditional purchasing and selling have been conducted through complex processes involving negotiation that includes coordination and cooperation. To conduct automated negotiation for electronic business, a multi-agent system is needed where agents interact with each other. To perform this activity effectively and efficiently agents need to be able to negotiate, coordinate and cooperate with each other within the system. This book articulated the negotiation process in business-to-business transactions in supply chain management for multi-agent based electronic business. The investigation strategy utilized an exploratory case study framework, with methods from decision theory, game theory, fuzzy logic and simulation for analysis. A series of integrated studies were undertaken to develop: an automated negotiation protocol; negotiation strategies; and a coordination and cooperation model. These were analysed in the context of the case study, Trading Agent Competition Supply Chain Management game scenario.

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An academic of the University of Western Sydney, Australia, Dr. Gonenur Huq has keen interest in Computing and IT in the context of small and medium business organisations and researched on automated negotiation for her PhD. At present, she is involved in curriculum development and research in Web-Engineering.

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