Stefan Strecker

Towards a Structured Design of Electronic Negotiations

Global communication networks and advances in information technology enable the design of information systems facilitating effective formulation and efficient resolution of negotiation problems. Increasingly, these systems guide negotiators in clarifying the relevant issues, provide media for offer formulation and exchange, and help in achieving an agreement. In practice, the task of analysing, modelling, designing and implementing electronic negotiation media demands a systematic, traceable and reproducible approach. An engineering approach to media specification and construction has these characteristics. In this paper, we provide a rationale for the engineering approach that allows pragmatic adoption of economic and social sciences perspectives on negotiated decisions for the purpose of supporting and undertaking electronic negotiations. Similarities and differences of different theories that underlie on-going studies of electronic negotiations are identified. This provides a basis for integration of different theories and approaches for the specific purpose of the design of effective electronic negotiations. Drawing on diverse streams of literature in different fields such as economics, management, computer, and behavioural sciences, we present an example of an integration of three significant streams of theoretical and applied research involving negotiations, traditional auctions and on-line auctions.

RiskM: A multi-perspective modeling method for IT risk assessment

Stakeholder involvement and participation are widely recognized as being key success factors for IT risk assessment. A particular challenge facing current IT risk assessment methods is to provide accessible abstractions on matters of IT risk that attend to both managerial and technical perspectives of the stakeholders involved. In this paper, we investigate whether a conceptual modeling method can address essential requirements in the IT risk assessment domain, and which structural and procedural features such a method entails. The research follows a design research process in which we describe a research artifact, and evaluate it to assess whether it meets the intended goals. In the paper, we specify requirements and assumptions underlying the method construction, discuss the structural specification of the method and its design rationale, present a prototypical application scenario, and provide an initial method evaluation. The results indicate that multi-perspective modeling methods satisfy requirements specific to the IT risk assessment domain, and that such methods, in fact, provide abstractions on matters of IT risk accessible to both a technical and a managerial audience.

e-Negotiation Systems and Software Agents: Methods, Models, and Applications

Negotiation is a decentralized decision-making process that seeks to find an agreement that will satisfy the requirements of two or more parties in the presence of limited common knowledge and conflicting preferences. Negotiation participants are agents who negotiate on their own behalf or represent the interests of their principals. When electronic negotiations enter the stage, these agents could be intelligent software entities that take part in the process of searching for an acceptable agreement. The degree of involvement of these “intelligent agents” in negotiations can range from supporting human negotiators (e. g. information search, offer evaluation) to fully automating the conduct of negotiations. Choosing the degree of involvement depends upon the characteristics of the problem in the negotiation. In this chapter, we review electronic negotiation systems and intelligent agents for negotiations. Different types of negotiation agents, their roles and requirements, and various methods for effective support or conduct of negotiations are discussed. Selected applications of intelligent negotiation agents are presented.

MetricM: a modeling method in support of the reflective design and use of performance measurement systems

Performance indicators play a key role in management practice. The existence of a coherent and consistent set of performance indicators is widely regarded as a prerequisite to making informed decisions in line with set objectives of the firm. Designing such a system of performance indicators requires a profound understanding of the relations between financial and non-financial metrics, organizational goals, aspired decision scenarios, and the relevant organizational context—including subtleties resulting from implicit assumptions and hidden agendas potentially leading to dysfunctional consequences connected with the ill-informed use of performance indicators. In this paper, we investigate whether a domain-specific modeling method can address requirements essential to the reflective design of performance measurement systems, and which structural and procedural features such a method entails. The research follows a design research process in which we describe a research artifact, and evaluate it to assess whether it meets intended goals and domain requirements. In the paper, we specify design goals, requirements and assumptions underlying the method construction, discuss the structural specification of the method and its design rationale, and provide an initial method evaluation. The results indicate that the modeling method satisfies the requirements of the performance measurement domain, and that such a method contributes to the reflective definition and interpretation of performance measurement systems.

Protocols for Electronic Negotiation Systems: Theoretical Foundations and Design Issues

Existing electronic negotiation systems (ENSs) typically implement a single, fixed negotiation protocol, which restricts their use to negotiation problems that were anticipated and established a priori by the system’s designers. The single-protocol restriction limits ENSs’ applicability in experiments and in many real- life negotiation situations. ENSs that allow for the use of different protocols also allow for the customization to users’ needs and abilities. We present theoretical foundations for the design of flexible and highly customizable protocol-driven ENSs.

Conceptual Modelling as a New Entry in the Bazaar: The Open Model Approach

The present contribution proposes to transfer the main principles of open source software development to a new context: conceptual modelling; an activity closely related to software development. The goal of the proposed “open model” approach is to collaboratively develop reference models for everyone to copy, use and refine in a public process. We briefly introduce conceptual modelling and reference models, discuss the cornerstones of an open modelling process, and propose a procedure for initiating, growing and sustaining an open model project. The paper concludes with a discussion of potential benefits and pitfalls.

Open Reference Models - Community-driven Collaboration to Promote Development and Dissemination of Reference Models

Reference models constitute a reification of a promising vision: Higher quality of information systems at less cost through reuse of confirmed domain knowledge and systems design. Paradoxically, however, development and, in particular, reuse of reference models has been rather limited both in practice and academia. In this paper, we develop the notion of open reference models based on analogies to free and open source software development. We show how “openness” of reference models affects their development and use, and outline strategic options for a first open reference modelling initiative. Our findings suggest that community-driven collaborative modelling projects resolve the current paradox of reference model research and practice. Earlier versions appeared as [FrSK07a] and [FrSK07b]. Preliminary considerations are provided in [KoSF06].

The Research Field “Modeling Business Information Systems”

The research field “Modeling business information systems” has a long tradition in the scientific discipline of Business and Information Systems Engineering (BISE). The present paper highlights research shaping the research field, discusses challenges impairing the development of the research field in the coming years, and outlines elements of a future research agenda.

Prolegomena of a modelling method in support of audit risk assessment - Outline of a domain-specific modelling language for internal controls and internal control systems

Internal controls constitute a key concept in the auditing domain. In the audit risk assessment process, auditors evaluate a firm’s internal control system to provide reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of the entity’s objectives. The present work reflects upon the design of a domain-specific modelling language for internal controls modelling. It investigates the potentials of an enterprise modelling approach to audit risk assessment, reconstructs technical terminology in the auditing domain, and discusses design decisions and design alternatives by means of tentative language specifications.

ControlML: A domain-specific modeling language in support of assessing internal controls and the internal control system

In this paper, we refine and extend an earlier language design to introduce a domain-specific modeling language (DSML) for internal control modeling as an extension to an enterprise modeling method. The language is aimed at supporting the assessment of a firms internal control system through the use of conceptual models of internal controls. In the paper, we report on the design of the modeling language, on its integration with the enterprise modeling method, present the language specification, and discuss language applications in the context of the assessment of an internal control system.