Reducing Hazards in Multiagent Task Delegation

2015 | International Conference on Business Informatics | Citations: 0

Authors: Mueller, Marcus

Abstract: Delegation of tasks is a basic pattern of numerous interactions within multiagen ... Expand

Abstract: Delegation of tasks is a basic pattern of numerous interactions within multiagent systems. Since agents are selfish and exploit local knowledge about their actions as well as the environment, delegators face the hazard of losing outcome due to self-serving behavior of the “employed” agent. This research work adopts the economic theory of agency to study delegation relationships in multiagent systems and to design a mechanism for task delegation that prevents delegators from losing outcomes in such relationships. The contribution of this work is a mechanism for task delegation considering the economic situation of agents. The paper proposes the results of a simulation study to demonstrate the usefulness and efficacy of the provided artifact. Collapse

Topics: logistics management code walkthrough software agent

Methods: simulation experiment design artifact correlation analysis

Theories: agency theory economic theory

Organizing knowledge workforce for specified iterative software development tasks

2014 | Decision Support Systems | Citations: 5

Authors: Shao, Benjamin B. M.; Yin, Peng-Yeng; Chen, Andrew N. K.

Abstract: Organizing knowledge workers for specific tasks in a software development proces ... Expand

Abstract: Organizing knowledge workers for specific tasks in a software development process is critical for the success of software projects. Assigning workforce in software projects represents a dynamic and complex problem that concerns the utilization of cross-trained knowledge workers who possess different productivities and error tendencies in coding and defect correction. This complexity is further compounded when the development process follows a software release life cycle and involves major releases of alpha, beta, and final versions in the context of iterative software development. We study this knowledge workforce problem from three essential project management perspectives: (1) timeliness — obtaining shortest development time; (2) effectiveness — satisfying budget constraint; and (3) efficiency — achieving high workforce utilization. We explore ideal workforce composites with two strategic focuses on productivity and quality and with different scenarios of workload ratios. An analytical model is formulated and a meta-heuristic approach based on particle swarm optimization is used to derive solutions in a simulation experiment. Our findings suggest that forming an ideal workforce composite is a non-trivial task and task assignments with divergent focuses for software projects under different workload scenarios require different planning strategies. Practical implications are drawn from our findings to provide insight on effectively planning workforce for software projects with specific goals and considerations. Collapse

Topics: productivity systems development project management IT project knowledge work

Methods: simulation computational algorithm experiment design methodology pilot experiment