B2B Integration : A Practical Guide to Collaborative E-commerce

386 B2B Integration — A Practical Guide to Collaborative E-commerce
Smart
Agents
Collaborative
Learning Agents
Collaborative Interface
Agents Agents
Source: Hyacinth Nwana (1996)
Figure 13.3. — Collaborative agents
Negotiating Agents — Agents that negotiate with users or agents in a
given environment to achieve an optimum outcome for their users or
agents are classified as negotiating agents.
Commerce Agents — Agents that participate and collaborate in commerce
activities leading to transactions are categorized as commerce
agents. Seller and buyer agents are good examples of commerce agents.
• Seller Agents — Agents that represent sellers (e.g., suppliers and
resellers) and automate their activities, such as tracking buyer demand,
change in market dynamics, engage in competitive negotiations with
buyer agents, perform knowledge mining and even learn through
collaboration from buyer agents, are known as seller agents.
• Buyer Agents — Agents that represent buyers (e.g., consumers and
companies) and automate their activities, such as building and
maintaining relationships with seller agents or users, engaging in
competitive negotiations with seller agents, performing knowledge
mining and even learning through collaboration with seller agents are
known as buyer agents.