Negotiating Task Decomposition and Allocation Using Partial Global Planning

Abstract To coordinate as an effective team, cooperating problem solvers must negotiate over their use of local resources, information, and expertise. Sometimes they negotiate to decide which local problem-solving tasks to pursue, while at other times they negotiate over the decomposition and distribution of tasks. They might negotiate by sharing all of their information, or by exchanging proposals and counterproposals, or by working through an “arbitrator.” In general, negotiation is a complex process of improving agreement on common viewpoints or plans through the structured exchange of relevant information. In this paper, we describe how partial global planning provides a versatile framework for negotiating in different ways for different reasons, and we examine in detail its utility for negotiating over whether and how problem solvers should decompose and transfer tasks to improve group performance. Finally, we propose how our approach can be extended to capture even more fully the complexity, flexibility, and power of negotiation as a tool for coordinating distributed problem solvers.