Selection of Tasks and Delegation of Responsibility in a Multiagent System for Emergent Process Management

Abstract

Emergent processes are high-level business processes; they are opportunistic in nature whereas production workflows are routine. Emergent processes may not be managed; they may contain goal-driven sub-processes that can be managed. A multiagent system supports emergent processes. Each player is assisted by an agent. The system manages goal-driven sub-processes and manages the commitments that players make to each other during emergent sub-processes. These commitments will be to perform some task and to assume some level of responsibility. The way in which the selection of tasks and the delegation of responsibility is done attempts to reflect high-level corporate principles and to ‘sit comfortably’ with the humans involved. Commitments are derived through a process of inter-agent negotiation that considers each individual’s constraints and performance statistics. The system has been trialed on business process management in a university administrative context.